How to easily create your own dial for Xiaomi Mi Band 4: from design to installation

The Xiaomi Mi Band 4 fitness bracelet is still one of the most popular activity-tracking gadgets, despite the release of new models. Its key advantage is the ability to install custom dials that transform the appearance of the device and add unique features. However, many users face the challenges of where to get templates, how to edit them correctly and download them to the bracelet without errors?

In this article, you will find step-by-step instructions for creating your own dial, from choosing a design program to final installation on the Mi Band 4. We will break down the free tools, reveal the secrets of optimizing images for the bracelet screen, and show you how to avoid typical boot errors. And also share life hacks for adding animations and interactive elements that will make your dial not just beautiful, but truly functional.

Whether you want to recreate the corporate style of your favorite game, add a photo of a pet or develop a minimalist design with a unique font – after reading this article, you can do it yourself without resorting to paid services.

Why you should create your own dial for Mi Band 4

Xiaomi’s standard dials are quickly boring: their design is template and their functionality is limited. Creating your own dial has several key advantages:

• 🎨 Unique style: Your bracelet will stand out from thousands of them, and you can use your favorite colors, logos, or even photos.
• ⚡ Additional features: Custom dials often support real-time weather, battery, steps, and heart rate displays — things that aren’t available in standard versions.
• 🔄 Update flexibility: You can change the design every day to fit a mood or event (e.g., a themed New Year’s or birthday dial).
• 💰 Savings: You don’t have to buy premium versions of dials in stores — everything is done for free.

And the dial creation process is a great way to develop creative skills, and even if you've never done design, simple tools like the Amazfit WatchFace or Facer allow you to assemble professional layouts from pre-made elements, like a designer.

⚠️ Warning: Not all custom dials are compatible with the latest Mi Band 4 firmware. If the bracelet starts to glitch or discharge quickly after installation, return the standard dial via the Mi Fit app.

What programs are suitable for creating dials

There are several specialized programs for the design of the dials for the Mi Band 4. We selected the top-3 tool that will suit both beginners and experienced users:

For most users, Amazfit WatchFace is the best choice. The program is free, has a Russian-language interface and automatically adjusts the layout to the screen resolution of the Mi Band 4 (120×240 pixels). If you want more advanced features (for example, interactive elements or complex animations), pay attention to Facer.

For those who prefer to work manually, GIMP (free analogue of Photoshop) with the plugin Mi Band 4 Watch Face Template is suitable.

• 📏 Resolution: 120×240 px (vertical orientation).
• 🎨 Format: PNG-24 with transparency (for layers).
• 🔢 File weight: no more than 1 MB (otherwise the bracelet will not load the dial).

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If you use Photoshop, download the Mi Band 4 markup template on AmazfitWatchFaces, which will help you to correctly arrange the elements (time, date, icons) without errors.

Step-by-step: create a dial in Amazfit WatchFace

Let's take the Amazfit WatchFace, the simplest tool for beginners, and follow the instructions, and in 10 minutes you'll have a full face!

1. Download Amazfit WatchFace from the official website (available for Windows and macOS). Install the program and run it. When you first open, select the device model Mi Band 4.
2. In the main menu, click New Project → Mi Band 4. The program will offer some basic templates (analog/digital watches, minimalist designs). Choose the nearest to your idea or start with an empty canvas (Blank Template).
3. Adding elements In the left panel are all available widgets: ⏰ Time: analog hands or digital format (24/12 hours). 📅 Date: day of the week, date, month. 🏃 Activity: steps, calories, distance. ⚡ Battery: charge level of the bracelet and smartphone. 🌡️ Weather: temperature, weather icon.

Drag elements onto canvas and adjust their appearance (color, font, size).

Uploading your images

To add personal graphics (photo, logo), click Import Image and select the file. The optimal size is 120×240 px. The program will automatically crop the picture under the bracelet screen.

Preview and export

Press Preview to see how the dial will look on the bracelet. If all is well, export the project to.bin (Export → Mi Band 4 button).

Critical: If the program produces an error "Invalid file size" when exporting, reduce the number of layers or compress the images in TinyPNG to a size of less than 1 MB.

How to install a custom dial on Mi Band 4

You have to transfer the.bin file to the bracelet, and there are two proven ways to do this: through the Mi Fit app or through the Notify & Fitness for Mi Band utility, and we'll go through both.

Method 1: Mi Fit (official method)

1. Connect the bracelet Make sure that the Mi Band 4 is synced to the smartphone via Mi Fit (version at least 4.6.0).
2. Copy the.bin file Connect the phone to your PC and move the dial file to the Mi Fit/watchfaces folder on the smartphone's internal storage. If the folder is not, create it manually.
3. Update the dials in the App Open Mi Fit, go to Profile → Mi Band 4 → Dials. Scroll to the end of the list, your custom dial will appear there. Click on it and confirm the installation.

Method 2: Notify & Fitness (for advanced)

If the official method doesn’t work (for example, due to regional restrictions), use a third-party utility:

1. Install Notify & Fitness for Mi Band from Google Play.
2. In the application settings, activate the Custom Watchfaces option.
3. Select the.bin file through the built-in file manager and wait for synchronization.

⚠️ Warning: After setting a custom dial through Notify & Fitness, some Mi Fit features (such as call notifications) may not work properly. To regain stability, reboot the wristband: Settings → Reboot.

Top-5 errors in dial creation and how to avoid them

Even experienced users sometimes have problems loading custom dials, and we have collected the most common errors and ways to solve them:

If none of these things worked, try resetting the bracelet to the factory settings: Settings → Reset. Then reset the dial. 90% of the time, that solves the problem.

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Before installing a custom dial, always back up the standard one through Mi Fit. This will quickly return the bracelet to work in case of a failure.

Where to download ready-made templates and elements for design

Do you want to create a face from scratch? Use ready-made templates and sets of elements from the community:

• 🌐 AmazfitWatchFaces: a site with thousands of free dials for the Mi Band 4/5/6. There is a filter by styles (minimalism, cyberpunk, retro).
• 🎨 Facer Community: a platform where designers share their work, and you can download.facer files and convert them to the Mi Band.
• 📁 GitHub repositories: search for Mi Band 4 watchface template. They often put PSD- templates for Photoshop.
• 🖼️ Freepik/Flaticon: Free icons and background images (for example, for weather or activity).

When downloading templates, pay attention to the license: some authors prohibit commercial use or require attribution. Also check compatibility with Mi Band 4 - not all dials for the Mi Band 5/6 will work correctly on the fourth model.

If you find a design you like, but it's.facer or.watch, use online converters like Mi Band 4 Tools, which convert files to.bin in seconds.

Additional features: animation, interactivity and hidden functions

Standard dials are static, but with custom designs, you can add dynamic elements that make the bracelet livelier:

• 🌀 Stopwatch Arrow Animation: In Amazfit WatchFace, select the Seconds Hand widget and activate the Animated option. Animation speed is set to FPS (optimally 12-15 frames/sec).
• 🌈 Color transitions: For background or icons, you can set a gradient that will vary depending on the time of day (e.g. blue in the morning and red in the evening).
• 🔄 Interactive Zones: Adjust taps across the screen for quick access to the menu (e.g. swipe up for weather, swipe down for pulse).
• 📊 Dynamic data: Display the progress of daily activity as a pie chart or histogram.

For advanced users, if you can work with JSON, you can manually edit the dial configuration file (config.json) and add unique triggers, such as making the background red when the battery is low.

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So that animation doesn't eat up the battery, limit the duration of the animation, for example, the second hand can only move smoothly for the first 10 seconds of each hour, and then go into discrete mode.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions