How to Enable Zenly Background Mode on Xiaomi: 5 Steps to Stable Work

Snap Inc.’s Zenly app allows you to track friends’ location in real time, but on Xiaomi smartphones it often faces the problem of blocking background processes. MIUI aggressively optimizes power consumption by closing applications in the background – this saves battery power, but breaks down key Zenly functions: no longer receive notifications about the movement of friends, the current geolocation disappears, and sometimes the application does not start at all without manual opening.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways to allow Zenly to work on Xiaomi, including hidden MIUI settings that are not obvious to most users. The instructions are relevant for devices on MIUI 12-15 (including HyperOS), and also take into account the features of the Redmi Note 12/13, POCO F5/X5 and Xiaomi 13/14. If you encounter that Zenly “falls asleep” 5-10 minutes after closing or does not show friends on the map, this article is for you.

Why Xiaomi is blocking Zenly in the background?

The problem lies in the three levels of optimization that MIUI applies to applications:

1. Autocleaning RAM – the system forcibly closes “unnecessary” processes when the screen is locked or the charge level is low.
2. Background activity restriction – MIUI by default prohibits applications from using GPS, mobile data or Wi-Fi in the background.
3. Energy saving profiles – even in Performance mode, some features (such as accurate GPS) may be turned off.

Zenly is particularly vulnerable because:

• 📍 Uses a permanent GPS-tracking (high energy consumption).
• 🔔 Requires background notifications for friend movement alerts.
• 🔄 Depends on regular network requests to update location.

As a result, MIUI perceives it as a resource-intensive application and blocks it, and fortunately, all restrictions can be manually disabled, and that's what we'll talk about.

Step 1: Autostart permission for Zenly

The first thing you need to do is allow auto-start, and without that, Zenly won't be able to restart after cleaning up the RAM or restarting the device.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Zenly in the list (use search if necessary).
3. Slip on Autostart and switch on the switch.
4. Go back and select Permissions → Auto Run (in some versions of MIUI, this is a separate item).

If there is no Auto Start:

• 🔍 Try the way: Settings → Battery and productivity → Battery management → Choice of applications.
• 🔧 On some firmware (POCO) First you need to turn on System Processes (three dots in the upper right corner).

Find Zenly in the list of applications|Enable autostart|Checking Background Activity Permits|Reboot your phone to apply changes-->

⚠️ Attention: MIUI 14+ After activating auto-run, you may need to manually run Zenly 1-2 times to "remember" it as an active application.

Step 2: Battery setting and energy saving

MIUI offers three power consumption profiles, and only one is suitable for Zenly:

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Mode.
2. Choose Performance.
3. Return to Battery Management → Applications Selection
4. Find Zenly and install it for it without limits.

On MIUI 15 (HyperOS), the path has changed: Settings → Battery → Battery settings → Battery Optimization → Turn off optimization for Zenly.

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If Zenly still doesn't work after setting up, try temporarily turning off Adaptive Battery mode in the battery settings, which can help if the system ignores manual exceptions.

Step 3: Location Permits and Notifications

Zenly requires accurate GPS and background location access, and without that, the app won't be able to track your movement when the screen is locked.

How to check permissions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management → Zenly → Permissions.
2. Make sure it's on: 📍 Location → Always (not "Only during use"). 🔔 Notifications → all categories included. 📶 Mobile data and Wi-Fi in the background.

If the option is always available for location:

• 🔧 Go to Settings. → Confidentiality → Permits → Location and find Zenly in the list.
• 📱 On some devices (POCO X3, Redmi 9) you need to first enable the exact location in the settings GPS.

⚠️ Note: If you use a second space (Dual Apps) or a mode for children, permissions must be configured separately for each profile.

Step 4: Disabling MIUI Optimization for Zenly

Even after all the settings, MIUI can continue to block Zenly through the hidden function "Clear RAM at Lockdown".

Method 1 (for most devices):

1. Turn on Developer Mode (shoot 7 times on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Find the option Do not save actions and turn it off.
4. Also, disable Background Process Limitation (set a Standard Limit).

Method 2 (for MIUI 14+):

• 🔧 Use it. ADB-Adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.zenly (requires PC connection and enabled debugging) USB).
• 📱 Alternative — annex MIUI Optimization Disabler from Google Play (without root).

Step 5: Checking and troubleshooting

After setting up, check if Zenly works correctly:

• 🔄 Test 1: Close the app (swipe up) and wait 10 minutes. Open Zenly - if the friends' location is updated, the background mode works.
• 🔔 Test 2: Ask a friend to change location. If the notification comes, the notifications are set correctly.
• 📱 Test 3: Look at the settings → Battery → Battery usage – Zenly should appear on the list (means it is not blocked).

If Zenly doesn't work,

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If none of these works, try reinstalling Zenly from the official site (not from Google Play).

Additional Tips for Stable Work

To ensure that Zenly works without failure:

• 🔋 Eliminate battery optimization for Zenly in Google Play Services settings (sometimes they block background activity).
• 📶 Turn off traffic savings for Zenly in Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Saving traffic.
• 🔄 Update. MIUI regularly – in new versions, bugs with background processes are corrected.
• 🛡️ Don't use "Purifiers." RAM" (Xiaomi Security, for example, they are forced to close Zenly.

For owners of POCO and Redmi with custom firmware:

• 📱 If you use Xiaomi.eu, upgrade to the latest version – they often fix problems with Zenly.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Zenly on Xiaomi