Xiaomi smartphone users often encounter mysterious menu items, system messages or features that are labeled “Other” or have a vague description. MIUI, one of the most deeply modified Android shells, contains many layers hidden from the eyes of the average owner. When you search for the answer to the question “Xiaomi what is different”, you are probably trying to understand where memory has gone, what process consumes resources or how to find a hidden feature that is not carried out on the home screen.
In this article, we'll go into detail what's behind the term in different contexts of use. Android and its add-ons often group disparate elements into one category to simplify the structure, but for the user it becomes a black box. We'll open this box and see what's inside.
Understanding these hidden mechanisms will not only free up gigabytes of memory, but also secure your data. Xiaomi’s Outer folder can take up to 30 percent of the storage capacity due to messenger cache and residual files from remote applications. Let’s figure out how to manage this.
What is the “Other” category in the data warehouse?
When you go into the memory settings of a Xiaomi smartphone, you often see a frightening diagram where a large part is occupied by a gray area called "The Other" — it is not a single file, but a collection of heterogeneous data that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos or music, which includes archives, documents, APK files of installers and, most importantly, the cache of applications.
Social media cache is a big deal: Messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp have been accumulating photos and videos you’ve watched for years, even if you don’t see them in chat, and Xiaomi sees these files as “app data,” but when cleaned by standard means, they often remain, moving into the “Other” category.
- 📁 Residual files: Folders and logs from long-deleted games and programs.
- 📦 Archives and documents: Downloaded ZIP, RAR, PDF and DOCX Files that are not in the category "Documents».
- 🔄 Cache updates: Files of temporary versions MIUI, which were not removed after the update.
- 📱 Offline map data: Cache of navigation applications, which takes up gigabytes.
It's important to understand that automatic cleaners are often afraid to touch this area so as not to disrupt the program. However, manual analysis allows you to safely remove the excess. Use the built-in "Safety" -> "Clean" -> "Deep Clean" for a more detailed view.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from the folder Android/data manually through the file manager, if you don't know exactly what they're responsible for, this can result in resetting game settings or losing progress in applications.
To effectively combat bloating in this category, it is recommended to regularly check the settings of specific “heavy” applications. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, select the messenger and click Memory to see the real size of the cache and clear it.
Hidden menu "Other settings" in the MIUI system
In the structure of the settings menu Xiaomi has a section called “Additional” or “Other settings” (depending on the version of the translation MIUI), which hides features that developers considered secondary, but for advanced users, they can be critical.
This is where you can manage special features that are often ignored, like one-handed control, screen zoom in, or text output to the lock screen, and you can also hide date and time settings, including automatic network synchronization, which is important for security certificates to work properly.
The language and input section is particularly noteworthy, where you can set the keyboard vibration, voice input, and, most interestingly, turn on or off Google Voice Typing. Many users don't realize that the physical keyboard settings (if connected via OTG) are right here.
In older versions of firmware, you could find an engineering menu here, but now Xiaomi has moved most of the diagnostic functions to the Service and Feedback app or hidden behind the codes. However, the Other Settings section remains the control center for system parameters that are not directly related to the network or display.
Developer Mode and Hidden Parameters
If your question “xiaomi what is different” is about wanting to access hidden features, then you need a developer mode. It’s a hidden menu section that’s locked by default so inexperienced users don’t harm the system, activating this mode gives you access to fine-tuning animations, USB debugging, and background management.
To get there, you need to quickly click on the MIUI version number seven times in the About Phone section, and then a new item will appear in Other Settings, and here you will find the Do Not Close Apps option, which forces the system to keep more programs in RAM, sacrificing autonomy for performance.
Settings → About the phone → (7 times tap according to MIUI) → Other settings → For developersOne of the most useful features for older device owners is to adjust the animation scale, changing the values from 1x to 0.5x, you visually speed up the interface. However, be careful with the item "Limit background processes": setting a strict limit can lead to the fact that the music will stop playing in the folded player.
- 🚀 Accelerating animation: Makes the interface more responsive.
- 📡 Debugging by USB: Necessary for installing applications from PC.
- 📍 Bluetooth Location: Allows you to scan devices nearby.
- 🔋 Battery statistics: Shows accurate discharge by clock.
⚠️ Attention: Enable the option “Factory Unlocking» (OEM Unlocking) is necessary to unlock the bootloader, but this action may result in loss of warranty and data reset on the first boot.
System Processes: What is Android System and Other
Task Manager or running applications often show processes with obscure names, and users ask, "What's different" in the list of services that are running? Most often, these are the system demons that keep the operating system running.
The Android System process is the core of the hardware-software interaction, and if it consumes a lot of battery, it means that some application is constantly waking up the phone or there is a problem with the network signal, the Media Server process is responsible for processing audio and video, and its high activity is observed when watching videos or listening to music.
Sometimes, processes with names like com.xiaomi.metoknlp or com.miui.cloudservice appear on the list, and these are the services of the Xiaomi ecosystem responsible for finding, geolocating and synchronizing the cloud, and it is not recommended to turn them off forcibly through ADB, as this can disrupt the search and voice assistant.
You can use ADB commands or third-party monitors to analyze what exactly is behind the process name, but in most cases, the “other” in the process list is just the regular work of the Android framework, optimized by Xiaomi engineers for specific hardware.
How to safely complete the process?
Version comparison MIUI: where the Other hides»
The location and functionality of the hidden partitions changed from version to version. In MIUI 11, many of the settings were scattered, and in MIUI 12 and 13, the company began to actively centralize, understanding these differences helps to find the desired function faster.
| Function/Section | MIUI 10-11 | MIUI 12-13 | HyperOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer mode | Supplemental settings | Supplemental settings | Supplemental settings |
| Notification of annexes | Annexes | Notifications and DCC | Notifications and DCC |
| Special opportunities | Supplemental settings | Supplemental settings | Special opportunities |
| Frequency of update | Screen. | Screen. | Screen and brightness |
As you can see from the table, the basic structure is maintained, but the names and groupings change. The new HyperOS shell tends to be simplified, with some deep settings being put into a separate Advanced Settings menu or hidden in a search by settings.
If you can’t find a feature that was in the older version, try using the search bar at the top of the settings menu. Type in the keyword and the system will redirect you to the desired hidden section, even if it is deep in the Other menu.
Optimization: How to Reduce the “Other”
So back to the most painful issue, memory deficits, and if the Other category has grown to the sky, standard cleaning might not be enough, and there's a more radical, but effective, method of cleaning through the computer.
Connect your smartphone to your PC in file transfer mode. Turn on hidden files in Windows Explorer. Find Android/media and Android/data folders. It stores Telegram, Spotify and other applications caches. By deleting the contents of specific application folders (e.g. org.telegram.messenger), you free up space that the system considers “different.”
☑️ Checklist for memory cleanup
It's also worth checking the folder. MIUI/debug_log. In some cases, it can be written down by error logs that take gigabytes, and it's safe to delete them, and another source of garbage is the cache folder at the root of the internal memory, but you only have to touch it if you're confident in what you're doing.
⚠️ Warning: Before manually cleaning folders through your computer, be sure to back up important data. Deleting system files can lead to unstable phone operation.
Regular prevention takes 5-10 minutes a month, but allows you to keep your smartphone in good shape without having to buy a new model due to space shortages.
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Tip: Use the Cleanup feature in the built-in Security app once a week to delete temporary files that the system flags as safe to delete, preventing the Other category from growing.
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The Other category is not a bug, it's a repository for all the data that didn't fall into the standard categories, and regular manual cleaning of heavy app cache is the only way to keep it under control.