How to make Xiaomi look like an iPhone: the best themes and launchers for a full imitation of iOS

If you own a Xiaomi smartphone and dream of iPhone design, but are not willing to overpay for the Apple ecosystem – this article is for you. Modern themes and launchers allow you to transform the MIUI interface beyond recognition, adding the characteristic elements of iOS: from icons and animations to the control panel. We tested dozens of solutions and selected the top 5 options that work consistently even on budget models Redmi.

It's important to understand that full iPhone imitation on Android has limitations. For example, iOS 16+ navigation gestures cannot be played 100% due to architectural differences in systems. However, with the right settings, you'll get a visual similarity of 90%, including app icons, San Francisco fonts, notification style and even the blocking effect. Next, a detailed guide with step-by-step instructions, a comparison table and life hacks to optimize performance.

Why Xiaomi users want an interface like an iPhone

According to a survey by XDA Developers (2023), 38% of Android owners have tried to customize their smartphone for iOS at least once, and among Xiaomi users, this figure reaches 45% - for good reason:

• 🎨 Minimalist design: iOS is famous for a clean interface without unnecessary elements, which is something that many like after being overloaded MIUI.
• 🔄 Stability of animations: Smooth transitions between screens in iOS often seem more responsive than in Android-based shells.
• 📱 Social status: For some, the look of the iPhone is associated with premium (even if the inside is the Redmi Note 12).
• 🔒 Habit: Former Apple users who switch to Xiaomi often experience discomfort from changing the interface.

But there’s a flip side: simulating iOS on Android can increase battery consumption by 10 to 15 percent due to additional launcher processes and themes. In addition, some features (like Live Activities or Dynamic Island) are fundamentally impossible to play without root rights.

Top-5 themes and launchers for Xiaomi under iPhone (2026 year)

We tested 15 popular solutions on Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and POCO X5 models.

• ✅ They work without root rights;
• ✅ Do not cause critical lags;
• ✅ Supports the Russian language;
• ✅ Updated in the last 6 months.

The top performer is iOS 17 Launcher, which replicates not only the look and feel of iOS 17, but also the logic of how it works, from gestures to the blur control panel, but to work properly, you need to turn off the standard MIUI launcher through the default settings. More on that in the next section.

💡

Before installing the launcher, back up your home screen in Settings → Applications → Default Launcher → Backup. This will return the original view in 2 clicks.

Step-by-step: how to install the theme iPhone on Xiaomi

First, decide what you need:

• 📱 Appearance only (icons, wallpaper, fonts) → enough of those from MIUI Themes;
• 🔄 Complete imitation (gestures, control panel) → need a launcher;
• 🎛️ Maximum customization → launcher + themes + optional modules combination.

We'll look at a generic way using the iOS 17 Launcher launcher and iThemes themes, which gives you a 90% similarity with minimal resource input.

Download iOS 17 Launcher from [4PDA](https://4pda.to/)| Download iThemes theme from MIUI Themes| Disable battery optimization for launcher | Make a backup of the home screen-->

Step 1: Installation of the launcher

Download APK- file iOS 17 Launcher from a trusted source (we recommend 4PDA or APKMirror).

2. Before installing, go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Application Settings → Install unknown applications and allow installation from your browser.

3. After installation, open the launcher and click Set as default launcher.

Step 2: Set up the themes

1. Open the Themes app on your Xiaomi.

2.In search, type iThemes and select a theme from the developer MIUI Poland.

3. Apply the theme and restart the device.

Step 3: Additional settings

For the same thing:

• 🔊 Set the San Francisco font through Settings → Additional → Fonts;
• 📶 Replace the standard wallpaper with an archive with iOS 17 wallpaper.
• 🔔 Turn off MIUI style notifications through Settings → Notifications → Notification style → Minimalist.

Performance Comparison: How Topics Affect Battery and Speed

We tested the impact of themes and launchers on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ (Snapdragon 778G, 8 GB of RAM) and Xiaomi 13 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 12 GB of RAM).

Bottom Line: Even the heaviest launcher (Neon Launcher) increases battery consumption by only 10% compared to standard MIUI. However, on weak devices (for example, Redmi 9A) there can be slowdowns when multitasking.

💡

On flagships (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/2), the performance difference between MIUI and iOS launchers is almost invisible. On budget models, it is better to choose lightweight themes without widgets.

How to make a control panel like on the iPhone?

One of the key differences in iOS is the Control Center, which opens with a swipe on top, and MIUI uses a different logic by default, but you can change it:

Method 1: via MIUI settings (without root)

1. Go to Settings → Screen → Notification Panel.

2. Activate the option Separate notifications and control panel.

3. Turn Swipe down for the control panel (MIUI 14+ required).

Method 2: Using the iOS Control Center module (requires Magisk)

To simulate it completely:

1. Install Magisk and the iOS Control Center module from the Kitsune Mask repository.
2. In the module settings, select the style of iOS 17 and activate background blur.
3. Reset the device.

Warning: Magisk modules may conflict with some banking applications (e.g. SberBank Online or Tinkoff).

Frequent problems and their solutions

Even with the right settings, users encounter bugs. We have collected TOP-5 problems and ways to fix them:

⚠️ Warning: If the app icons are missing after installing the launcher, don't panic! This is a temporary cache glitch. Restart the device or clear the launcher data into Settings → Apps.

If none of these methods worked, try an alternative launcher (e.g. Launcher iOS instead of iOS 17 Launcher). Also check compatibility with your version of MIUI - some themes only work on MIUI 13/14.

Alternative methods: without launchers and themes

If you don’t want to install third-party apps, you can achieve some similarity with the iPhone standard MIUI tools:

• 🎨 Icons: Use the iOS Glyphs icon package through the Icon Pack Studio app.
• 📱 Wallpaper: Download iOS 17 wallpaper in your screen resolution (e.g., 2400×1080 for Redmi Note 12);
• 🔊 Sounds: Replace system sounds with iPhone sound archives via Settings → Sounds
• 🔄 Gestures: Set up swipes to Settings → Screen → Gestures as close to iOS as possible (e.g. swipe up to return home).

The advantage of this method is that it has no effect on performance and battery, the disadvantage is that it looks like 60 to 70 percent of the same, and it still requires a launcher to completely transform.

💡

If you only want a look without functional changes, just replace the icons, wallpaper and fonts, which is the safest and most resource-efficient way.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions