How to view app activity on Xiaomi: Hidden MIUI features and tools for analysis

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones offer users extensive opportunities to monitor the activity of installed applications, from basic usage statistics to detailed analysis of background processes. However, many device owners do not even suspect that their gadget can show not only screen time, but also hidden program activity: automatic updates, background synchronization, mobile traffic consumption in standby mode or even suspicious network requests.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can check your application activity on Xiaomi, from built-in MIUI tools to advanced ADB and third-party tools, how to identify programs that secretly consume your device’s resources, and what to do if standard settings don’t show the full picture, and focus on the hidden processes of system applications (such as Mi Push Service or Xiaomi Cloud), which often go unnoticed but significantly affect the autonomy of your smartphone.

MIUI Integrated Tools: Basic Use Statistics

So to start with the simplest of them all, the standard MIUI features that are available without any additional software, and even if you've never looked at the statistics section, it keeps a detailed record of all the applications' activity, and to access it, you can see:

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance.
2. Go to Battery Use (on some versions - Battery Statistics).
3. Click on the graphic icon in the upper right corner (or swipe down) to see the advanced data.

Here you'll see:

• 📊 Charge consumption schedule by hour with indication of active applications.
• 🔋 Percentage of battery consumption by each application (including system).
• ⏳ Time of activity in the foreground and in the background.
• 📶 Mobile data consumption (if the appropriate switch is switched on).

Note apps marked "Background Activity" that continue to work even when you're not using them. For example, instant messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) or social networks (Facebook, TikTok) often remain active to receive notifications, but some games or utilities may abuse this mechanism.

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If you see a high-power Android System or MiuiDaemon system app on the list, that's OK. But if it takes up more than 20% of the charge, check the device for viruses or reset the network settings in Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings.

Section 2: Security: monitoring rights and activities

A less obvious but equally useful tool is hidden in the Security section, where you can see not only the permissions of applications, but also their network activity, access to contacts, location and other sensitive data.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the Resolution tab (or Autostart on older versions of MIUI).
3. Click on the Activity Monitor (may be called the Activity Log).

In this section you will find:

• 🔍 List of applications with camera/microphone access and time of last use.
• 📡 Apps that use mobile data in the background (even when you’re not connected to Wi-Fi).
• 📍 Geolocation activity – which programs requested your location.

It is especially useful to check this section after installing new applications, for example, if a game or photo editor suddenly requests access to your contacts or SMS is a reason to be alert. MIUI 14+ also has the option to limit background activity, which allows you to manually block suspicious processes.

3. Hidden developer settings: advanced analysis

For those who are willing to dig deeper, MIUI has a hidden developer mode that gives you access to detailed process statistics to activate it:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Find the MIUI version and click on it 7 times in a row (you will be notified "You became a developer!").
3. Go back to the basic settings and open a new section for developers.

Inside you are interested in the following options:

• 📈 Process statistics - shows CPU, RAM and network activity in real time.
• 🔄 Do not save actions – disables background activity for selected applications (caution: may break notifications!).
• 🛡️ Limit background processes – allows you to set a limit on the number of working tasks (by default 20, you can reduce to 4).

For example, if you notice that Xiaomi Cloud is constantly using the Internet, sync is disabled, you can force the process to stop, but be careful: some system applications (SecurityCenter, MiuiHome) are critical for stable shell operation.

4.Using ADB: Professional Analysis

For advanced users who are ready to work with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), there are almost unlimited opportunities to monitor activity, which requires connecting a smartphone to a PC, but allows you to get data that is not available through the GUI.

Here are the teams that will help you analyze the activity:

To use these commands:

1. Download ADB Tools and unpack it on PC.
2. Enable USB debugging in the developer settings on your smartphone.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and run the command line in the folder with ADB.
4. Enter adb devices to make sure the device is detected.
5. Execute commands from the table above.

Install Xiaomi drivers on PC

Enable debugging over USB in the developer settings

Connect your phone with the original cable (not all cables support data transfer)

Start the command line on behalf of the administrator

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⚠️ Attention: dumpsys and netstats commands can produce a huge amount of data. To save output to a file, use redirection:

adb shell dumpsys battery > battery_log.txt

5. Third-party utilities: alternatives to standard tools

If the built-in functions MIUI It's not enough, third-party apps come to the rescue, and they often offer a more user-friendly interface and advanced analysis capabilities.-5 Utility for monitoring activity on Xiaomi:

• 📊 AccuBattery shows real battery wear and details how much it costs across applications, including background activity.The free version is limited, but the basic features are enough to analyze.
• 🔍 Greenify — allows you to force applications to euthanize that wake up for no reason. ADB full-time.
• 🛡️ NetGuard is a rootless network blocker that shows which apps are using the Internet in the background and allows them to be disabled.
• 📈 Simple System Monitor – displays the CPU, RAM, network and temperature in real time with the ability to filter by application.
• 🔋 GSam Battery Monitor – an advanced alternative to standard battery statistics with support for widgets and notifications about “gluttonous” programs.

Important: Some utilities (such as Greenify) require unlocking the bootloader or superuser rights to work properly. On Xiaomi, this can lead to loss of warranty and problems with the user. OTA-Check compatibility with your smartphone model before installing.

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Applications like AccuBattery or GSam show more accurate data than standard MIUI statistics because they take into account the actual battery voltage, rather than the percentage of charge that is often smoothed out by the system.

6. Analysis of system logs: for experienced users

If you suspect that an application is behaving suspiciously (e.g., sending data to a server without your knowledge), you can analyze system logs, which is a complex but most reliable way to detect hidden activity.

For this:

1. Install Android Studio (or Platform Tools only) on your PC.
2. Connect your smartphone and launch Logcat via the command line:

adb logcat | findstr"your_app_package_name"

To simplify the analysis, use filters:

• 🔍 adb logcat | Findstr"Network" - will show network activity.
• ⚡ adb logcat | findstr "Battery" - events related to the consumption of charge.
• 📱 adb logcat | findstr"ActivityManager" - Start and stop applications.

⚠️ Note: System logs contain sensitive information (phone numbers, authorization tokens, etc.) Never share full logs in public sources.

To automate analysis, you can use tools like Logcat Reader or PidaLog that visualize data and highlight critical events, for example, if you see repeated requests to api.ad.xiaomi.com in logs, it could indicate reklam modules in system applications.

7. Frequent problems and their solutions

When monitoring the activity of applications on Xiaomi, users often face typical problems, and here are the most common ones and how to solve them:

If none of the methods helped identify the source of the problem, try resetting to factory settings (pre-saving the data!) in 80% of cases, this solves problems with uncontrolled application activity, especially if they are caused by conflicts after the update.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions