How to find out how much time you spent in applications on Xiaomi: a step-by-step guide

Monitoring your smartphone time is becoming more and more important, especially when it comes to social media, games or instant messengers. Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones offer several built-in tools to monitor activity, but not everyone knows where to look for this data. Moreover, the functionality may vary depending on the firmware version and device model, from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can check your time in your applications, from standard Digital Well-Being settings to hidden features and third-party utilities. You’ll also learn how to set limits on how to use specific programs and why statistics can sometimes be reset once you upgrade. If you want to take control of your digital time, read on.

1. Built-in statistics MIUI: «Digital well-being»

The most obvious and versatile way is to use the Digital Wellbeing tool, which is available on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 10 and later, which not only shows the time you use apps, but also allows you to set limits, remind you of breaks and block distracting programs.

To find the statistics:

1. Open the Settings.
2. Go to Digital Well-Being and Parental Control (some models may simply refer to Digital Well-Being).
3. Slap on the icon of the Hourglass (or Dashboard).
4. Select the tab Usage Statistics.

Here you'll see:

• 📊 Total time of use of the smartphone per day / week.
• 🎯 Top of applications by time (by hour).
• 📱 Number of screen unlocks.
• 🔋 Time without recharging (on some firmware).

Note that if you use Xiaomi with MIUI for the global market (e.g. POCO X5 Pro), the section name may sound like Screen Time. On Chinese firmware (China ROM), the path will be different, as we will discuss below.

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If the statistics are not updated, try restarting your phone or enabling data sync in your Mi Account settings.

2.The alternative path: "Battery and performance"

Few people know, but some of the data on app usage times can be found in the Battery section**.This shows not only the charge consumption, but also the actual activity time of each app in the background and on the screen. This is useful if you need more technical details - for example, how long Instagram was in the background.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance.
2. Slip on Battery Use.
3. Select a period (for example, the Last Charge or 24 hours).
4. Scroll down to the list of apps and click on the desired.

In the window that opens, you will see:

• ⏱️ Time on the screen (foregroud).
• 🔄 Time in the Background (Background).
• 📉 Battery consumption as a percentage.

This method is especially useful for identifying “gluttonous” applications that consume resources even when you are not using them, for example, Telegram or Viber can waste charge due to constant synchronization of messages.

3. Hidden feature for Chinese firmware (China ROM)

If your Xiaomi runs on Chinese firmware (like the Redmi K60 Pro with China ROM), the path to statistics will be different. In these versions of MIUI, the Digital Well-Being section is often missing or hidden deeper, instead using a Security tool with built-in monitoring.

How to find it:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Optimize tab (Optimization).
3. Put it on Battery.
4. Select App Battery Use (Battery Use)

Here you'll see the time of activity of each application, but without detailed statistics by day, and you'll need to use third-party utilities to fully analyze them (we'll talk about them later).

⚠️ Note: Some features may be blocked on Chinese firmware without being linked to your Mi Account. If you see a notification This feature is not available, try changing the region in your account settings.

4. Third-party applications for detailed analytics

Xiaomi’s built-in tools provide basic information, but if you want advanced reports (for example, by week/month or by app category), you should pay attention to third-party services.-3 tested:

To install these applications:

1. Download APK from the official website (for example, APKPure).
2. Allow installation from unknown sources in Settings → Apps → Special Permits.
3. Launch the utility and provide access to usage statistics (Usage Access permission).

The advantage of third-party apps is that they work even after resetting or updating MIUI, whereas the built-in statistics are often reset.

Include unknown sources|Download APK verified|Grant permission to Usage Access|Disable battery optimization for utility-->

5. How to set restrictions on the use of applications

Knowing the statistics is only half the story. To really reduce smartphone time, MIUI has tools to set limits, like you can block TikTok after 1 hour of use or set "sleep time" for all entertainment apps.

Step-by-step:

1. Discover Digital Well-Being → dashboard.
2. Slip on the App Timer (or App Timers) icon.
3. Select an app from a list (such as YouTube).
4. Set a daily limit (from 5 minutes to 23 hours 55 minutes).
5. Activate the option to block after expiration.

Additional settings:

• 🛡️ Focus Mode: Blocks all notifications from selected applications for a given period.
• 🌙 Sleep time: automatically disables access to games/social networks at night.
• 👨‍👩‍👧 Parental Controls: Restrictions for Children (requires Mi Account Linking).

⚠️ Note: If you use Xiaomi with an unlocked bootloader or custom firmware (such as Pixel Experience), the built-in limits may not work.

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The limits in MIUI are reset after the phone is restarted. To avoid this, activate the option “Save settings” in the “Advanced” section.

6.Why statistics may or may not be displayed

Many users experience a time-of-use data suddenly being reset or not updated, and here are the main reasons and ways to eliminate it:

If none of these methods worked, try:

• 🔄 Clear the cache of the application Digital Well-Being in the settings.
• 📱 Reset settings (without deleting data) via Settings → The phone. → Resetting settings.
• 🔧 Update MIUI Up to the latest version (sometimes bugs are fixed in new builds).

On some models (for example, Xiaomi 13T with MIUI 14), the statistics may not be saved due to a firmware error, in which case you just have to wait for the official patch or use third-party trackers.

7. Comparison of methods: which way to choose

To make it easier for you to determine, we have compiled a comparative table of all the methods described:

If you want maximum accuracy and customization capabilities (for example, eliminating working applications from statistics), it is better to use ActionDash or Digital Wellbeing from Google. MIUI.

On models with MIUI for Android One (e.g. Xiaomi Mi A3), the Digital Wellbeing section has been replaced by Google’s standard Digital Wellbeing, which has the same functionality, but the interface may differ.

FAQ: Frequent questions about time in Xiaomi apps