Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where the device starts to work slower, and applications are unloaded from memory faster than you would like, the problem lies in the features of the MIUI proprietary shell or its new version of HyperOS, which actively use the system resources to ensure smooth animations and background services.
Understanding what processes consume RAM is key to optimizing your gadget. Unlike stock Android, the Chinese manufacturer’s system has its own unique power and memory management mechanisms that are not always obvious to the average user.
We’ll take a closer look at why Android’s system process can take up to 40% of RAM right after it’s turned on, and whether it’s worth fighting against, as well as the developer’s hidden settings and native cleaning tools that will help bring the smartphone back to its former speed.
MIUI architecture and resource allocation
MIUI is all-inclusive, which means multiple services are active even when they are simple, so that instant notifications and real-time updates are made to the widgets, which means high RAM consumption.
System processes like System UI and miui.core take up a significant amount of RAM to provide instant interface response. When you reboot your smartphone, you may notice that only 30-40% of memory is available, which is normal behavior for modern firmware versions.
But there are background services that are not critical, but are still in memory, including analytics, cloud sync services, and various system demons that collect telemetry.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to force system processes to stop through the Developer Menu or ADB-This can lead to a cyclic reset or a bootloop».
It is important to distinguish between “busy” memory and “leakage” memory: in the first case, resources are used to caching frequently used applications, in the second case, a failure occurs in which the application does not release RAM after closing.
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High memory consumption in MIUI is a multitasking fee and rich interface functionality, not necessarily a sign of a virus or bug.
Top processes-eaters: system and user
To understand what is loading a system, you need to look at the memory usage statistics, and you can see a process list in the settings menu, sorted by the amount of space you occupy.
The top-ranked services are almost always the system components of Google Play Services and Mi Service Framework, which are responsible for running the app store, push notifications and account synchronization, so they are always active.
- 📱 Google Play Services is the primary service in the Google ecosystem, consuming resources for geolocation and notifications.
- 🛡️ Mi Security / Antivirus - built-in protection that scans memory in real time and occupies its segment RAM.
- 🌐 System WebView – a component that allows you to open web pages inside applications, often “eats” a lot of memory when working on social networks.
Custom apps, especially social networks like Telegram, VK or TikTok, are also prone to sprawl, using aggressive caching strategies to make content load faster when reopened.
Special attention should be paid to applications with constant access to geolocation or microphone, they may not close completely, but go into standby mode, continuing to occupy space in RAM.
Hidden Developer Settings for Memory Management
To gain more control over the system, you need to activate the Developer Menu, which can be done by quickly clicking 7 times on the build number in the About Phone section.
In the menu that opens, we're interested in the background section, where you can limit the number of applications running simultaneously, which will free up resources for the current task.
Be careful though: setting a “No Background Processes” limit will force the system to constantly restart applications, which will increase the load on the processor and battery.
☑️ Configuring the process limiter
Also in this section is the “Do Not Stay Activity” feature, which is useful for testing, but in everyday use will cause data loss in open applications when switching between them.
Another important parameter is the limitation of background activity, which in newer versions of Android and MIUI can be configured more flexibly for each application separately through battery settings.
⚠️ Warning: Changing the “Log Buffer Size” or “Background Process Limit” settings may lead to unstable system operation and loss of data in unsaved documents.
Analysis of consumption through ADB and PC
For detailed information about what the memory eats, you can use USB debugging and the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) utility, which will give you access to statistics hidden from the average user.
Connect your smartphone to your computer, enable debugging over USB, and enter a command to output a list of processes sorted by memory usage.
adb shell dumpsys meminfoThis command will produce a detailed report where Total PSS shows the actual amount of physical memory the process is taking up, and compare that with what the built-in monitor shows.
If you see a process called com.android.systemui that takes up an abnormally large amount of memory (over 500MB in idle), this may indicate a leak in the current firmware version.
To clear memory through ADB, you can use a command to force a specific packet to stop, but you need to do this with caution so as not to “drop” the system interface.
Comparison of models: how much memory is really needed
Memory consumption is directly dependent on the amount of RAM installed and optimization of a particular model. Owners of versions with 4 GB and 6 GB of memory can feel the difference in the behavior of the system.
| Model/Substantive RAM | Occupied by the system (in plain) | Features of work | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redmi Note 10 (4GB) | ~2.1 GB | Aggressive background closure | Turn off animations. |
| Xiaomi 13 (8GB) | ~3.5 GB | Retention of 5-7 applications | Optimal for playing. |
| POCO F5 (12 GB) | ~4.2 GB | Maximum cache | No cleaning required. |
| Redmi 9A (3GB) | ~1.8 GB | Critical shortage | Lite versions of applications |
As you can see from the table, systems with more memory tend to take up more space, which is normal for the Linux kernel on which Android is based: free memory is considered wasted.
On models with 3-4 GB of memory, the system is forced to constantly unload background tasks, which can create the illusion of “brakes” when switching between heavy applications.
What is Virtual Memory Extension?
Methods of optimization and cleaning of RAM
There are several ways to free up resources, and the easiest way is to use an integrated optimizer, and click on the broom icon in the Security app to close the background tasks.
A more radical method is to set up individual energy saving for each application. Go to Settings → Battery and select No Limits mode for the right messengers only, and set strict limits for the rest.
- 🧹 Regular reboots - once in a while 2-3 Turn off your smartphone completely, it resets system errors and clears the cache.
- 🚫 Disabling Auto Updates – Stop app stores from updating via mobile or in the background.
- 📉 Use Lite versions – replace heavy applications (Facebook, Messenger) with their lightweight counterparts.
Also, check the boot list. In the settings, find the "Out-Start" option and disable all applications that do not need to start with the system.
⚠️ Note: Installing third-party memory cleaners (Clean Master and analogues) on Xiaomi often hurts more than it helps, as they conflict with the built-in optimization system MIUI.
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For quick memory cleanup without logging into the menu, use the Memory Cleanup widget on your desktop or add the Accelerate button to the control panel.
Impact of Android Updates and Versions
With the release of new versions of Android (12, 13, 14), memory requirements are increasing, and updating the firmware on an old device may cause the system to start running slower due to increased demands on new services.
Xiaomi developers regularly release patches that fix memory leaks. If you notice a sharp increase in RAM consumption after the update, wait for the next patch or consider rolling back the version.
The HyperOS version claims improved memory performance, but on devices with a small amount of RAM (up to 6 GB), the effect may be reversed due to the increased visual component of the interface.
It is important to make sure that apps are also updated, and older versions of the software may not work properly with newer versions of Android, causing resource leaks.
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Regular updates to firmware and applications are the best way to prevent the accumulation of errors leading to overspend of RAM.