Daemon in Xiaomi: The Hidden Processes That Control Your Smartphone

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO Task Manager and seen mysterious processes called daemon? Or noticed that the battery is going down faster than usual, and the list of active applications shows something like com.xiaomi.midrop.daemon? If so, you're not alone. These hidden system services (demons) run in the background on all devices running MIUI, but most users do not even know they exist.

In this article, we will take a closer look at what daemon is in Xiaomi, what tasks they perform, why they sometimes eat up your phone’s resources, and whether you can turn them off without harming the system, how to distinguish a useful system process from a potentially harmful one, which demons are responsible for updating, synchronizing and operating smart Mi Home devices, and also get a checklist for troubleshooting. If your smartphone is slowing down, warming up or discharged too quickly, the reason may lie in these background services.

What is Daemon and Why You Need It in Xiaomi

The term daemon comes from the Unix world and refers to a background process that works without direct user interaction, and in Xiaomi’s context, these are system services that run automatically when you turn on your phone and perform critical functions:

• 🔄 Software Update: Demons Check for New Versions MIUI And load them in the background.
• 📱 Data Synchronization: Responsible for backup in Mi Cloud, synchronization of contacts and notes.
• 🏠 Smart home: manage the connection to Mi Home devices (lamps, sockets, sensors).
• 🔒 Security: scan the system for viruses and monitor suspicious activity.

For example, the com.xiaomi.midrop.daemon process is responsible for the Mi Drop function (file transfer between Xiaomi devices), and com.miui.daemon is responsible for the basic operation of the MIUI shell. Without these services, many of the phone’s functions will simply stop working.

⚠️ Warning: Some demons disguise themselves as system-based, but they are actually part of malware. If you see a process called daemon, but you can't find information about it in official sources, that's an excuse to check your phone for viruses.

Unlike regular applications, demons do not have a graphical interface and do not appear in the application menu; they can only be seen in the task manager (for example, through Settings → Applications → Launched) or using specialized utilities like ADB.

The main types of demons in the firmware MIUI

Xiaomi firmware uses several types of demons, each of which is responsible for its own area, and below we list the most common ones found on Redmi, POCO and Mi devices:

Critical: The com.miui.daemon demon cannot be turned off under any circumstances, it will lead to a phone blink (completely inoperable) and require a flashing through Fastboot. The rest of the processes can be deactivated, but only if you understand exactly what they are responsible for.

Some demons only appear under certain conditions, such as com.xiaomi.miplay.daemon activates when you plug your phone into Mi. TV for screen broadcasting, and com.xiaomi.scanner.daemon for scanning QR-codes through a standard camera app.

💡

If you notice an unknown demon with a name containing a random set of letters (such as a1b2c3.daemon) it is almost certainly a virus. Delete it via Settings → Apps or reset the phone to factory settings.

How to Check Out Active Demons on Xiaomi

To see the list of running demons, you don't need root rights or special knowledge, just use standard MIUI tools or free utilities from Google Play.

1. Through Task Manager: Open Settings → Applications → Launched. Task System Processes (can be called All Processes). Look for names that contain daemon.
2. Through ADB (for advanced users): adb shell ps -A | grep daemon This command will display a list of all active demons.
3. Using the application CPU Monitor OS Monitor: 📊 Show the loading of the CPU and RAM by processes. 🔍 Allows you to sort the processes of resource consumption.

If you see a demon consuming more than 10-15% of the CPU in standby mode, that’s a good thing to be alert to. The normal load for system processes in the background should not exceed 1-3%.

Check the list of processes in the task manager|Notice the unfamiliar names of Daemon"|Google the name of the process + "Xiaomi"|Check consumption CPU and RAM|Compare the system demon table above-->

Can I turn off the demons on Xiaomi without root?

You can technically disable some demons without superuser rights, but you have to be very careful. Here are the ways you can do this and the consequences.

• ⚙️ Through Application Settings: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management. Find a process (e.g. Mi Drop for com.xiaomi.midrop.daemon).Click Stop or Disable.

⚠️ Warning: After the phone is restarted, the demon may be activated again. ADB root.

Through ADB (no root):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop

This command will disable Mi Drop for the current user. Replace com.xiaomi.midrop with the desired package.

App Inspector

They allow you to see hidden processes and turn them off, but they require caution.

It is important to understand that disabling some demons can lead to:

• 🚫 Loss of functionality (for example, Mi Cloud will not work or Find the device).
• ⚠️ Unstable operation of the system (hangs, restarts).
• 🔋 Increased battery consumption (if the demon was responsible for optimizing power consumption).

If the problem persists, it's possible that the demon is damaged or infected by a virus.

• 🛡️ Scan your phone with an antivirus (Dr.Web, Kaspersky).
• 🔄 Check your phone via Fastboot (instructions are available on the phone). 4PDA Xiaomi Community).

Demons in POCO and Redmi firmware: are there any differences?

POCO and Redmi are based on the same MIUI, so most of the demons are identical.