How to Set Up Notifications on Xiaomi Mi Band 3: The Complete 2026 Guide

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 fitness bracelet remains popular even years after its release, thanks to its balance of price, functionality and reliability. One of the key features of the device is displaying notifications from your smartphone: calls, SMS, messages from messengers and social networks. However, many users face problems: no alerts come, duplicate messages are duplicated or the bracelet vibrates for no reason.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can set up notifications on Mi Band 3, from basic synchronization with Mi Fit to fine-tuning for individual apps, and why notifications might not work and how to fix them without resetting the device.

If you just bought a bracelet or updated your smartphone, first check the compatibility of versions: Mi Band 3 officially supports Android 4.4+ and iOS 9.0+, but for stable notifications, Android 6.0+ or iOS 12+ is recommended. On older versions of the OS, there may be delays or miss alerts.

Preparation: What to do before setting up notifications

Before setting up notifications, make sure the bracelet is properly connected to the smartphone and synced with the Mi Fit app. Without this step, alerts simply won't be transmitted to the device.

Minimum requirements for the operation of notifications:

• 📱 Smartphone with Android 5.0+ iOS 10+ (older versions may have problems).
• 🔄 Latest version of the Mi Fit app (update to Google Play or App Store).
• 🔋 Bracelet charge at least 20% (at low charge, some functions are turned off).
• 📶 Stable Bluetooth 4.0 connection+ (On Android, check in the settings that Bluetooth is not optimized for battery savings).

If you are switching from another fitness bracelet, reset the Mi Band 3 settings to factory:

1. Open Mi Fit → go to the profile of the bracelet.
2. Select Settings → Reset to factory.
3. Confirm the action and wait for the device to restart.

⚠️ Note: After resetting all data from the bracelet (steps, pulse, notification history) will be deleted.

Basic notification settings in Mi Fit

By default, Xiaomi Mi Band 3 does not show notifications – this feature must be activated manually. This can only be done through the official Mi Fit application (alternative firmware like Notify & Fitness is considered in a separate section).

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Mi Fit and select your bracelet at the top of the screen.
2. Go to Notifications (on Android) or Alerts (on iOS).
3. Activate the slider Enable notifications.
4. In the list of applications, tick those alerts from which you want to see on the bracelet (for example, WhatsApp, Telegram, VK).

On Android, you can also see the contents of notifications — if you turn it on, the text of the message (up to 128 characters) will appear on the bracelet screen, not just the sender’s name. On iOS, this feature works differently — because of Apple’s limitations, the bracelet only shows the app icon and the notification header.

Set up notifications for individual applications

By default, Mi Fit offers to enable notifications for all supported applications, but this is not always convenient. For example, alerts from games or news services can quickly discharge the bracelet. Let's consider how to pinpoint notifications for key messengers and social networks.

Telegram

To have the bracelet show messages from Telegram:

1. In Mi Fit, enable notifications for Telegram.
2. In Telegram itself, go to Settings → Notifications and sounds.
3. Make sure the channels (if any) are not turned off – the bracelet does not show alerts from muted chats.

WhatsApp

For WhatsApp, it’s important to allow notifications in Android settings:

1. Go to Phone Settings → Apps → WhatsApp → Notifications.
2. Turn on the slider Allow notifications.
3. In Mi Fit, activate the option to Show content to see the text of messages.

VK and other social networks

With social media (VK, Facebook, Instagram), there's a nuance: the bracelet only shows notifications of new posts, not likes or comments.

• 🔧 In the social network application settings, disable unnecessary types of alerts (for example, "Birthdays" in the social network). VK).
• 📵 If notifications do not come, check whether the power saving mode on the smartphone blocks them.

⚠️ Note: On iOS, the bracelet does not support notifications from VK Use alternative clients (like Kate Mobile) or switch to Android.

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If notifications from a particular app don’t come, try removing it from the Mi Fit list, restarting the bracelet and adding it again.

Notification problems: why they don’t come and how to fix them

If you have set everything according to the instructions, but notifications do not appear on the bracelet, the reasons may be as follows:

1. Energy conservation constraints

On Android, many vendors (e.g., Xiaomi, Samsung, Huawei) are aggressively optimizing the background of apps.

• 🔋 Go to your phone settings → Battery → Optimizing the battery.
• 🔍 Find Mi Fit in the list and select Without Limits.
• 📱 For Xiaomi: in Settings → Annexes → Application management → Mi Fit Enable Auto Start and Background Activity.

2. Conflict with other devices

The Mi Band 3 can only connect to one smartphone at a time, if the bracelet was previously paired with another phone:

1. On an old phone, turn off Bluetooth or remove the bracelet from the Mi Fit.
2. On the new phone, perform full synchronization (in Mi Fit, click Update).

3.Mi Fit malfunctions

Sometimes the app forgets the notification settings after the update, to reset the cache:

• 📱 On Android: Settings → Annexes → Mi Fit → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 🍎 On iOS: Remove and reinstall Mi Fit (the data will be saved in the account Xiaomi).

Alternative Firmware: Notify & Fitness for Advanced Features

The official Mi Fit app limits notification functionality, such as filtering keyword alerts or customizing vibrations for different contacts, with custom firmware Notify & Fitness for Mi Band.

Advantages of alternative firmware:

• 🎨 Full customization of notifications (color of text, icons, animations).
• 🔍 Keyword filtering (e.g., only showing posts with the word “urgently").
• 📱 Support for all notifications (including phone charging system alerts).
• 🔋 Optimized energy consumption (bracelet discharges more slowly).

How to determine:

1. Download Notify & Fitness from Google Play (Android 5.0+ required).
2. Connect the bracelet through the application and select Install custom firmware.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen (the process will take ~5 minutes).

⚠️ Attention: Installing custom firmware will void the bracelet warranty, and there may be bugs with step-pulse synchronization. Before installing, back up your data to Mi Fit.

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Notify & Fitness is suitable for advanced users, but requires manual adjustment. For most tasks, there are enough features of the standard Mi Fit.

Setup of vibration and sound signals

By default, the Mi Band 3 vibrates with a single short pulse when notified, but you can adjust the intensity and vibration patterns for different types of alerts.

How to change the vibration:

1. In Mi Fit, go to Bracelet Profile → Notification settings.
2. Select Vibration and set the duration (from 0.5c to 3c).
3. For repeated notifications (such as a missed call), turn on the Reminder option at intervals of 5–30 minutes.

On Android, you can also adjust the audio signal (the bracelet emits a short squeak through the smartphone speaker).

• 🔊 In the Mi Fit notification settings, turn on the Sound Signal.
• 🎵 Choose a tune from the standard or upload your own (file must be in format.mp3, duration).

Important: the audio signal only works when Bluetooth is connected and the Mi Fit application is active in the background. On iOS, this feature is not available.

Frequent questions and answers