What does “app works in the background” on Xiaomi smartphones and how to manage it

Have you ever noticed that some apps on your Xiaomi continue to consume battery power or mobile traffic even when you don't open them? or received a notification that "the app is running in the background"? This Android feature is both a boon and a potential problem. On the one hand, background work allows instant messaging, music services to play tracks when the screen is locked, and navigators to update the route in real time. On the other, uncontrolled background processes can drain the battery in a few hours, slow down the system and "eat" gigabytes of mobile Internet.

On Xiaomi smartphones (especially those running MIUI or HyperOS), the management of background apps has its nuances: the manufacturer actively optimizes power consumption, sometimes too aggressively, which causes users to face problems like “no notifications from VKontakte come” or “music stops when the screen is locked.”

• 🔍 What is the background mode and what tasks are performed by applications “behind the scenes»;
• ⚡ How background processes affect battery, performance and traffic;
• ⚙️ Wherever MIUI/HyperOS are set up to control background applications;
• 🛠️ Step-by-step instructions for limiting or allowing background work;
• ⚠️ Common User Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

Separately, we will dwell on the unique “chips” of Xiaomi, which are not available on pure Android – for example, on the autorun function, hidden restrictions for third-party applications and how to circumvent them without root rights.

Background mode on Android: how it works technically

Background mode is the state of an application when it is not displayed on the screen but continues to perform certain tasks.

• 📱 Services: Android components that work without an interface (e.g., email sync or location tracking);
• 🔔 Broadcast receivers – “receivers” of events (for example, alarm clock or push notification);
• 🔄 JobScheduler – A task scheduler that runs operations at the optimal time (e.g., backup at night).

On Xiaomi smartphones, the management of background processes is responsible for:

1. MIUI Battery Saver - built-in optimizer, which forcibly closes the "voracious" applications;
2. Security App – controls auto-run and permissions
3. HyperOS Task Manager (in new models) – manages process priorities more flexibly.

It's important to understand that not all background processes are equally useful, like messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp need to work in the background to get messages, but Candy Crush or AliExpress in the background only spend resources on analytics and advertising.

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To check which apps are active in the background, open Settings → Applications → Launched. This shows all the processes sorted by RAM and CPU consumption.

How background apps affect the smartphone: battery, speed, traffic

Uncontrolled background activity can cause three main problems:

For example, in tests on Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 with HyperOS, TikTok’s application consumed up to 15% of its charge in the background during the hour, even when the user was not interacting with it, while standard YouTube Music spent only 2-3% when playing tracks in the background during the same period.

⚠️ Note: If your Xiaomi smartphone has become discharged in 2-3 hours without active use, check the background activity through Settings → Battery → Battery use: often the culprits are social media (Facebook, Instagram) or games with aggressive advertising.

Where in MIUI and HyperOS are settings background applications

Background management on Xiaomi is scattered across several menus, and here are the key paths (relevant to MIUI 14 and HyperOS 1.0):

• 🔋 Battery background restriction: Settings → Battery → Select battery mode. Here you can turn on Power Saving mode, which will limit background activity for all applications.
• 📱 Manual settings for individual applications: Settings → Annexes → Application management → [Select the application] → Battery → Background activity.
• 🚀 Autostart: Settings → Annexes → Application management → Auto-run. You can prevent apps from running automatically when you turn on your smartphone.
• 🔒 Special permissions (for HyperOS): Settings → Confidentiality → Special permits → Background activity.

On new models (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi K70), some of the settings are moved to the Security App menu.

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Optimization or Acceleration section.
3. Click AutoRun or Background Apps.

Step-by-step: how to allow or prohibit background work

Consider two scenarios: how to allow background work for critical applications (messengers, navigators) and how to prohibit it for “gluttonous” services.

🔓 Allow background work (for example, for WhatsApp or Google Maps)

Open Settings → Applications → Application Management | Select the desired application (e.g. WhatsApp) | Go to Battery | Enable Background Activity | In the AutoStart menu, allow automatic start |In Special Permissions (HyperOS) turn on Without Limits-->

For navigators (Google Maps, Yandex.Maps) additionally:

1. In the application settings, enable the Exact Location.
2. In the Battery menu, select No Limits mode.
3. In Settings → Location add the app to the list Always Allow.

🚫 Prohibit background work (for example, for AliExpress or games)

For applications that should not work in the background:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → [Select App].
2. In the Battery section, select Limit background activity.
3. In the AutoRun menu, disable automatic start-up.
4. In Mobile Data, disable Background Data Use.

⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi models (e.g, POCO F5 or Redmi Note 11) after upgrading to HyperOS, the settings are reset. Check them after each major update!

Common User Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many Xiaomi owners are facing problems due to misconduct in setting up background processes, and here are the most common mistakes:

• ❌ Completely shutting down the background for all applications to save battery life, resulting in no notifications, no weather updates, no widgets working.
• ❌ Background resolution for all apps “just in case” result: the battery goes down in 3-4 hours, the smartphone brakes.
• ❌ Using accelerators from the Play Market (such as Clean Master) these applications often shut down important processes and can break the system.
• ❌ Manually clean RAM through Task Manager. Android manages memory itself - forcing applications to close only increases battery consumption when they are restarted.

How to do it right:

• ✅ Segment apps by importance: messengers, navigators, music services – allow background; games, stores, rarely used social networks – limit.
• ✅ Use built-in tools (MIUI Battery Saver or HyperOS Optimizer instead of third-party cleaners».
• ✅ Check your consumption statistics once a week: Settings → Battery → Battery utilization.

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Xiaomi’s HyperOS smartphones have introduced Adaptive Optimization, which determines which apps to restrict. Include it in Settings → Battery → Battery settings to balance performance and power consumption.

Hidden functions Xiaomi for background management: what will not tell in the instructions

MIUI and HyperOS have some unobvious features that few people know about:

• 🔄 “No Limits” Mode for Individual Applications: C Settings → Annexes → [Select the application] → You can choose the battery without restrictions, this will cancel all battery optimizations for this application (useful for navigators or fitness trackers).
• 📵 Hidden list of "Secure Apps": HyperOS has an undocumented list of apps that the system never closes. To add your app, use the command to ADB: adb shell cmd appops set <package> RUN_ANY_IN_BACKGROUND allow (you can find the application package through the App Inspector from the Play Market.)
• ⚡ Set priorities through Developer Options: Enable Developer Mode (7 times click on Version) MIUI In Settings → About the phone, then in Settings → Additionally. → For developers, find options: Do not save actions – limit background processes after closing the application; Limit background processes – set a limit (for example, maximum 2 processes).

⚠️ Note: Change the hidden settings through ADB or Developer Options can cause unstable system operation.Before experimenting, back up your Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

FAQ: Frequent questions about background apps on Xiaomi