How to make a theme on Xiaomi like on iPhone: a complete guide to transforming MIUI in iOS

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a dilemma: on the one hand, powerful hardware and flexible MIUI settings, on the other – the desire to get a concise and familiar interface of the iPhone. Fortunately, modern themes and tools allow you to transform the appearance of your Redmi, POCO or Mi beyond recognition, bringing it closer to the style of iOS.

In this article, we will analyze not only standard themes from the Theme (which often give only superficial imitation), but also deep settings through launchers, iconpacks, system tweaks and even ADB-You'll learn how to change animations, fonts, control panels, and even notification sounds to make your Xiaomi look and work almost like an iPhone 15. And also, what pitfalls lie ahead and how to avoid them.

Why MIUI Theme Store themes don’t look exactly like iPhones

The first thing that comes to mind when looking for iPhone-like themes is Xiaomi’s official Theme Store, and there are dozens of options marked “iOS-style” on the store, but most of them suffer from key flaws:

• 🎨 Incomplete interface coverage: Themes only change wallpaper, icons and partially notification bar, but do not affect system menus, transition animations or keyboard style.
• 🔄 Conflicts with updates MIUI: After the system update, many theme elements are reset or displayed curved.
• 📱 Limitations of free themes: Really high-quality themes (like those with animations like iOS) are often paid or require subscriptions.
• ⚙️ No deep customization: it is impossible to change the behavior of swipes, the location of elements in the Control Panel or the style of system dialogues.

Moreover, many themes simply impose superficial changes without affecting the logic of interaction. For example, in iOS, the notification panel and the control panel are two different gestures (a swipe from the top down and a swipe from the top down on the right), whereas in MIUI they are combined. No theme from the store can fix this.

⚠️ Attention: Installation of topics from third-party sources (APK-Xiaomi is actively fighting pirated themes, so use only official store or proven launchers.

Top.-5 Launchers for Xiaomi, which are as similar as possible to iOS

If you want to be more than just "similar" and almost like an iPhone, you can't do without a third-party launcher, and we tested dozens of options and selected the ones that best mimic iOS 16/17 on Xiaomi:

For maximum similarity with the iPhone 14/15 recommend iLauncher — it copies not only the appearance, but also the logic of interaction: swipe down for search (like Spotlight), long-click on the icon for the context menu, animation when opening folders. However, for a full experience you will have to buy a premium version (about 300 rubles).

How to install icons like on iPhone: the best icons for Xiaomi

Even with the best launcher, the interface won't look like iOS if the icons remain standard. Fortunately, there are a few ways to replace them:

• 📦 Iconpacks for launchers: Most launchers (like Nova or Apex) support the installation of icon packages. Best options for iOS are: iOS 17 Icon Pack (an exact copy of the icons from the latest version), iCons for iOS (more than 5000 Apple-style icons), Elun (minimalist icons with the effect of depth)
• 🎨 Manual replacement through MIUI Theme Editor: If you use a standard launcher, you can edit the theme manually by replacing the icons with those downloaded from the Internet (format) PNG, permit 192×192 pixel).
• 🔧 ADB-commands to replace system icons: For advanced users, there is a way to replace system application icons (such as Settings or Phone) through ADB. However, this requires an unlocked bootloader and can cause crashes.

The easiest way to use an icon pack + Launcher, like the iLauncher combination + The iOS 17 Icon Pack is almost perfect, but there's a caveat: not all apps will have custom icons. You need to manually assign icons through the launcher settings (Nova Launcher does this with a long tap on the icon). → Edit → Icon).

Download iconpack (e.g. iOS 17 Icon Pack)|Install supported launcher (Nova/Apex)|Application iconbox in launcher settings |Manually replace icons for applications without support |Reboot launcher for application changes-->

Setting up the control panel and notifications for iOS

One of the most notable differences between MIUI and iOS is the notification bar and the quick settings panel, which are separated on the iPhone:

- Swipe from top to center → notification panel.

- Swipe from top right → control panel (with brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.).

In MIUI, everything is combined into one panel by default, but this can be fixed:

1. Use gesture-enabled launcher: For example, in iLauncher, you can configure a swipe on the top right to open the control panel, and a center swipe for notifications.
2. Install Xposed/EdXposed: For advanced users, there is an iOS Control Center for MIUI module that completely replaces the control panel with the iOS style.
3. Manually adjust through ADB: You can disable the combined notification bar with the command: adb shell settings put global heads_up_notifications_enabled 0 And then install a third-party app for the control panel (like Control Center iOS). 17).

Another important point is widgets. In iOS 17, they look different than in MIUI. To get them closer to the Apple style, install iWidgets or Widgetsmith, which allow you to create iOS-style widgets (weather, calendar, music, etc.).

⚠️ Note: Using Xposed or EdXposed modules can lead to unstable system operation and security problems (for example, ban in banking applications). → Additionally. → Backup.

How to change animations and transitions to iOS

Even with the right icons and launcher, the interface will look “not like an iPhone” if animations remain standard for MIUI. In iOS, the transitions between screens are smooth, with zooming effect, and in MIUI they are often sharp or with unnecessary “waves.”

• 🔄 Launcher settings: Nova Launcher or Lawnchair can select transition animations. Optimal settings for iOS similarity: Opening animation app: Closing scale Animation: Decreasing animation speed: 1x (iOS-like)
• 🎬 LSPosed module: For devices with Magisk, you can install the iOS Animations module, which replaces all system animations with similar ones from iOS 16/17.
• ⚙️ Developer Settings: Enable Developer Mode (click 7 times on Version) MIUI In Settings → About the phone), then turn off the animations of windows and transitions: Settings → Additionally. → For developers → The scale of window animation: 0.5x Scale of transition animation: 0.5x It won’t make animations like iOS, but it will remove unnecessary waves".

If you want completely identical animations, you can't do without LSPosed or custom firmware, but you can also consider that this can affect performance and stability.

💡

To check what animations will look like before installing modules, check out YouTube video reviews with a search term for “your Xiaomi model + iOS animations.”

Replacement of system sounds and fonts with iOS style

The visual part is only half the story, and in order for Xiaomi to really sound like an iPhone, you have to replace the system sounds and the fonts.

1. Replacement of notification and signal sounds

Download the archive with sounds from iOS (can be found on the 4PDA or XDA-Developers forums) and transfer the files to the folder: /sdcard/MIUI/sound/

Then go to Settings → Sound → Notification sounds and select new tunes.

2. Install fonts as in iOS

The iOS font uses San Francisco, which can be installed on Xiaomi:

1. Download the SF-Pro.ttf font file (available on sites like FontSpace).
2. Place it in the /sdcard/MIUI/font/ folder.
3. Go to Settings → Screen → Font and select San Francisco.

3. Replacement of lock and unlock sound

This will require a Zedge app or manual editing of system files (requires root). In iOS, lock sound is a short high-frequency signal that can be downloaded separately and set through Settings → Sound → Lock Sound.

⚠️ Warning: Replacing system sounds through root may result in a cyclical reboot if the files are in the wrong format or access rights.Always back up the original sounds before replacing them.

Additional Tweaks: Keyboard, Browser and Applications

To make the transformation complete, it is worth replacing standard MIUI applications with analogues from the Apple ecosystem (or their clones for Android):

For full immersion, you can even install an alternative lock screen through apps like Lock Screen iOS 17 (available in the Play Market).However, note that such applications can be reset after a reboot or conflict with MIUI system services.

FAQ: Frequent questions about setting up Xiaomi for iPhone

💡

For maximum similarity with the iPhone on Xiaomi, you need a comprehensive approach: launcher (iLauncher) + icon pack (iOS 17 Icon Pack) + control panel (Control Center iOS 17) + system tweaks (animations, sounds, fonts).