Xiaomi Mi Band 4: Full bracelet setup from connectivity to hidden features

The Xiaomi Mi Band 4 fitness bracelet remains one of the most popular activity tracking gadgets even years after its release. Its simplicity, reliability and rich functionality at a minimal price attract both beginners and experienced users of smart electronics. However, many owners face difficulties when first setting up: the bracelet does not connect to the phone, data is not synchronized or notifications are not working. In this article, we will analyze all the stages of settings from unpacking to fine-tuning notifications and sports modes.

The Mi Band 4 is compatible with both Android and iOS, but the connection process and the features available may be different, and we'll take both platforms into account, and we'll also reveal hidden features of the bracelet that are not mentioned in the official instructions, such as how to turn on the weather display on the screen or set up automatic sleep tracking without manually starting. If you just bought the bracelet or want to recheck its settings, this article will help avoid errors and use the gadget 100%.

1. Preparation for setting up: what to do before connecting

Before you start syncing the Mi Band 4 with your phone, follow a few mandatory steps, which will eliminate connection problems and disruptions.

First, check the compatibility of your smartphone. The bracelet works with Android 5.0 devices.+ or iOS 10.0+, But full functionality (such as notifications about calls) may require a more recent version of the OS. On the iPhone, some features are limited due to Apple's policy - for example, you can not respond to messages directly from the bracelet.

• 📱 Update your phone’s operating system to the latest version (especially for iOS).
• 🔋 Charge the bracelet to at least 50% - with a low charge, synchronization failures are possible.
• 🌐 Connect your phone to the Internet (preferably via Wi-Fi, not mobile data) – this will speed up the download of firmware.
• 📲 Remove old versions of Mi Fit or Zepp Life if they were installed earlier.

Also, pay attention to the region of your Xiaomi account. If you bought the bracelet in China or on AliExpress, you may need to change the region in your account settings to "Russia" or "Global", otherwise some features (for example, the Russian language interface) may not be available.

⚠️ Note: If you use an iPhone, turn off the “Tracking Limit” feature in your privacy settings (Settings) → Confidentiality → Geolocation services → Otherwise, the bracelet will not be able to track the jogging routes correctly.

2.Installation and configuration of the Mi Fit/Zepp Life app

The official Mi Band 4 management app is called Mi Fit, but since 2022 Xiaomi has been gradually moving users to a new app, Zepp Life. Both work with a bracelet, but Zepp Life has a more modern interface and additional health analysis features. We recommend installing Zepp Life if your bracelet supports this firmware.

Download the application from official sources:

• 🤖 Mi Fit for Android or Mi Fit for iOS
• 🌐 Zepp Life (official website)

After installation, follow the following steps:

1. Open the app and register for Xiaomi account (or sign in if you already have one). Use a valid email, which will receive notifications about backups of data.
2. In the main menu, click Add Device and select Mi Smart Band 4.

⚠️ Attention: On Android 10+ After connecting the bracelet, go to the phone settings → Annexes → Mi Fit/Zepp Life → Permissions and turn on Auto Start and Background Operations, otherwise notifications may be delayed or not arriving at all.

3.The first connection of the bracelet to the phone

Once the app is installed, you can start syncing. Turn on Mi Band 4 by clicking on the touch button below the screen. QR-code, you need to scan it through the app. QR-The code is not displayed, try it:

• 🔄 Reset the bracelet (press the touch button for 10 seconds).
• 📱 Restart the Mi app Fit/Zepp Life.
• 🔌 Make sure your phone is Bluetooth and geolocation enabled.

If the bracelet is not located, try the manual connection:

1. In the appendix, click "I can't see" QR-code".
2. Select Mi Smart Band 4 from the list of devices.
3. On the bracelet, confirm the connection (click on the tick on the screen).

After successful synchronization, the app will suggest updating the bracelet firmware. Always agree to an update, this will fix bugs and add new features. The process will take 5-10 minutes, do not interrupt the connection to the phone!

The bracelet is displayed in the list of devices in Mi Fit/Zepp Life|

On the screen of the bracelet appeared dial|

App has requested permissions for notifications|

The bracelet firmware has been updated to the latest version-->

4. Set up the main parameters of the bracelet

After connecting, you need to configure the basic functions to make the bracelet work correctly. Go to the bracelet menu in the application (Profile) → Mi Smart Band 4 and Configure are the following parameters:

Pay special attention to setting up notifications. From the Call and Message Notification menu, select the apps that should be duplicated by the bracelet.

• 📞 Calls – turn on for all contacts or only for select ones.
• 💬 Messages – select messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber).
• 📧 Mail – specify which addresses to show notifications from.

On Android, notifications also need to work correctly:

1. Go to the phone settings → Notifications → Additional settings.
2. Find Mi. Fit/Zepp Life and Enable "Show Notifications".
3. In the Mi Fit application itself, activate “Show Content” in the notification settings (otherwise, the bracelet will only have an application icon without text).

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If notifications come with a delay, add Mi Fit to the list of apps not optimized by the battery (Settings) in your phone settings → Battery → Optimizing the battery → All applications → Mi Fit → Not optimize).

5. Installation of dials and screen personalization

One of the key benefits of the Mi Band 4 is that you can set custom dials, and standard templates get boring, and you can find thousands of designs for every taste on the Internet, and here's how to install them:

Method 1: Through the official annex

1. In Mi Fit/Zepp Life go to Profile → Mi Smart Band 4 → Dials.
2. Choose your favorite design from the collection (there are categories: sports, minimalism, games, etc.).
3. Press "Install" - the dial synchronizes with the bracelet in 10-20 seconds.

Method 2: Installation of informal dials

This will require:

1. Download a.bin dial file from sites like AmoledWatchfaces.
2. Install the Notify & Fitness for Mi Band app on your phone (available on Google Play).
3. In the application, select "Install dial" and indicate the path to the downloaded file.

⚠️ Note: Unofficial dials may contain errors or display data incorrectly (such as pulse or weather.

You can also set the display of information on the screen:

• 🌡️ Weather – included in the bracelet settings in the application (data taken from the phone).
• 🏃 Steps/calories – Select what data to show on the home screen.
• 🔋 Charge level – displayed automatically at low charge.

6.Set up sports regimes and health monitoring

The Mi Band 4 can track 6 sports modes: walking, running, cycling, gym, swimming and walking on stairs.

1. In the app, go to Profile → Mi Smart Band 4 → Training.
2. Select "Autoid Activity" - the bracelet itself recognizes the beginning of a jog or a bike ride.
3. Set your goals in steps and calories (we recommend starting with 8,000 steps a day).
4. Enable a "Sleeping Reminder" (e.g. every 45 minutes without moving).

For monitoring heart rate:

• 🩺 Turn on "Continuous monitoring of heart rate" (every 1-5 minutes) - this will increase battery consumption, but will give more accurate data.
• 📊 Set up pulse over-notifications (for example, if your heart rate is above 120 beats at rest).
• 💤 To track sleep quality, activate the Smart Alarm – the bracelet will wake you up in the light sleep phase 30 minutes before the set time.

If you are swimming before training:

1. Turn the pool mode on the bracelet menu.
2. Specify the length of the pool (25 or 50 meters).
3. After training, synchronize data with your phone – the bracelet will show the distance traveled, average speed and calories.

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For accurate tracking of running or cycling, always take your phone with you - the bracelet uses GPS - No route phone. GPS Distance data will be approximate.

7 Advanced settings and hidden features

Many users are unaware that the Mi Band 4 supports undocumented features that can be activated through third-party apps or special commands.

1. Enable the "Do Not Disturb" mode on schedule

To prevent the bracelet from vibrating at night:

1. In Mi Fit go to Profile → Mi Smart Band 4 → Don't disturb.
2. Set the interval (for example, from 23:00 to 7:00).
3. Activate "Repeat daily."

2. Customization of gestures

The bracelet supports gesture control:

• 👋 Shake your hand to find the phone (the phone will make a sound).
• 🙌 Double touch of the screen – quick switching between dials.

Activated in Bracelet Settings → Gestures.

3. The hidden mode of the developer

To access additional settings (e.g. pedometer calibration):

1. In Mi Fit, click on the firmware version 5 times in a row (in the bracelet menu).
2. The item "Developer Mode" will appear.
3. You can include “Data Log” (for diagnostics) or “Vibration test”.

4.Use of the bracelet as a camera remote

If you have a Xiaomi smartphone, you can remotely control the camera:

1. Open the standard Camera app on your phone.
2. On the bracelet, swipe down and select the Camera icon.
3. Press the button on the bracelet and the shutter will work.

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If the bracelet is no longer synced with the phone, try "resetting the cache" of the Mi Fit app (phone settings). → Annexes → Mi Fit → Memory. → Clear the cache. 80 percent of the time, it solves the problem without completely resetting the bracelet.

8. Troubleshooting and frequent errors

Even after setting up correctly, the Mi Band 4 can malfunction, and let’s look at the typical problems and their solutions:

If the bracelet is frozen or does not respond to pressing:

1. Connect it to charging for 10 minutes – sometimes “rebooting” through charging helps.
2. If the screen does not turn on, perform a hard reset:

Problems with data synchronization:

• 🔄 Reboot your phone and bracelet.
• 📱 Remove the bracelet from the list of devices in Mi Fit and connect again.
• 🌍 Check that the phone settings include automatic date and time.

⚠️ Note: If after updating the firmware bracelet began to work worse (for example, quickly discharged or does not show notifications), you can roll back to the previous version of the software. 4PDA I'm going to use Notify & Fitness for Mi Band.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions