How to change the color of the watch on Xiaomi on a locked screen

Owners of wearable gadgets from the Chinese giant often face the desire to personalize their device by changing the appearance of the interface. However, when the screen of the device went out and went to sleep mode, can be confusing, as standard menus become unavailable. A locked screen in a smartwatch is not just protection, but a mode of energy saving, which limits interaction with the system to a minimum.

However, there are proven ways to change the visual design even if the display is gone. MIUI For Mi Band and other third-party solutions offer advanced features, but the standard tools allow you to work wonders. In this article, we will break down all the nuances of setting up dials for Xiaomi Mi Watch, Mi Band and other compatible models.

To begin with, it is worth understanding that a complete design change without waking up the device is impossible for security and logic reasons of the operating system Wear OS or Proprietary OS. However, we can set up an automatic shift or use hidden triggers that will achieve the desired result without unnecessary movements. The key point is to pre-configure the settings through the companion application before the screen goes out.

Why the screen goes out and how it affects settings

Modern gadgets are equipped with accelerometers and light sensors that automatically turn off the display to save charge. When the screen goes into AOD (Always On Display) mode or completely goes out, the touchscreen often deactivates or goes into standby mode of simple commands, this is a fundamental feature of lithium polymer batteries and matrixes.

Users often confuse locking with freezing. If your Xiaomi Smart Band or Mi Watch device doesn't respond to touch, it doesn't mean it's broken. The system just waits for an interrupt from the motion sensor or button. Trying to change the settings directly on the black screen without prior preparation will not lead to anything.

⚠️ Warning: Attempts to keep the screen on to change settings will cause a critical battery discharge in a few hours and can cause the device to overheat.

Understanding the operating system logic helps avoid unnecessary actions. Rather than looking for a non-existent button on a black screen, it is better to set up the device's behavior scenarios in advance. AMOLED-Matrices that consume less energy, but still require competent management.

Use of Mi Fitness and Zepp Life

The main tool for managing your watch is your smartphone. The Zepp Life apps (formerly Mi Fit) and Mi Fitness (formerly Wear) serve as a central hub for customizing the look and feel, and it is through these that you can download new dials that will then appear on the device, even if it is in sleep mode.

The synchronization process is in the background, you pick the design you like in the directory on your phone, you click "Install," and the data is transmitted over Bluetooth Low Energy, and once you successfully install the new dial, it will become active as soon as you lift your wrist or unlock the screen.

It is important to note that directories in apps can vary depending on the model of the gadget connected. One set is available for the Mi Band 7 or 8, and a completely different set for the Mi Watch Lite. Make sure you download dials that are compatible with your particular device's screen resolution.

Always on Display and Automatic Change

Always On Display allows you to maintain the visibility of time and date even when the main interface is disabled. In the settings of many Xiaomi and Amazfit models, you can choose a separate, simplified dial for this mode, which creates the illusion of changing color or style without active user intervention.

To activate this option, you need to enter the dial settings in the companion app, and there you will find the item "AOD Dial" or "Always-on display." If you choose a contrasting and bright design, you will get the desired effect of "colored watch" on the locked screen.

Automatically changing the dials on a schedule is another useful feature, so you can set the system so that the bright color dial is displayed during the day and dark at night so that you don't shine in the eyes, and this is implemented through the Autoshift function in the design menu.

Third-party dials and customization

Official directories sometimes limit the user's imagination, and in such cases, third-party resources and design apps come to the rescue, programs like Notify for Mi Band or web-based dial creation services allow you to embed any color and graphics.

The process of installing custom dials is a little more complicated, you will need to download the dial file (usually with the.bin or.watchface extension) and transfer it through a special menu in the application, often requiring you to switch the region in the application settings to China, since the servers may vary.

Using dial designers gives you complete control over the color of every second hand, background and font. You can create a design that reads perfectly even in energy saving mode. It's the best way to get a unique look that no one else has.

⚠️ Note: Installing dials from unverified sources can lead to a bootloop if the file is corrupted or does not match the firmware version.

Sensor problems and screen calibration

Sometimes the user wants to change the theme, but the screen does not respond to touch, it may not be a lock, but a sensor malfunction or calibration, and on Xiaomi devices with Wear OS or HyperOS, you can diagnose through the engineering menu.

To check the sensor, a combination of actions or logging into a special menu through code is often used. For example, on some models, repeatedly pressing the power button or holding it for a long time helps. If the sensor is "glutting", then changing the color on the locked screen will become impossible until a hardware or software error is corrected.

Screen calibration is a process that is rarely required by the user manually, but in case of response problems, you can try resetting to factory settings. This will delete all data, but return the touchscreen to work correctly. The path to reset is usually in Settings → System → Reset.

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If the sensor stopped responding after installing a new dial, try restarting the device by pressing the power button for 15-20 seconds, which often resolves software conflicts.

Advanced settings through the engineering menu

For advanced users, there is access to hidden system functions, and the engineering menu allows you to test components and change parameters that are not available in a normal interface, but logging in requires caution and understanding of actions.

In some versions of MIUI for Watch firmware, you can access the tests through the Testing or Dialer app (if you can type in), where you can check the accelerometer, which is responsible for waking the screen when you raise your hand.

adb shell am start -n com.xiaomi.watch.health/com.xiaomi.watch.health.ui.activity.EngineeringModeActivity

This command (for devices based on the Android/Wear OS plugged ADB) But remember, changing unknown parameters in the engineering menu can disrupt the device. 1

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

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Changing the dial on the locked screen is possible only through pre-setting in the companion application or using the automatic change function on a schedule. Direct control "touch" without waking the display does not exist.