Many Xiaomi smartphone users face intrusive aggression from the MIUI or HyperOS system towards third-party voice assistants. When you turn on music or just roll up Yandex with a voice assistant, the system ruthlessly kills the process in a few minutes to save battery power.This leads to Alice not responding to the command "I am Alice" and can not perform background tasks such as a timer or reminder.
The problem is the deep optimization of memory that is characteristic of Chinese shells. Standard settings are often not enough to convince your phone to keep the application alive. A full-time assistant job requires a comprehensive approach, from changing system constraints to using special debugging tools. In this article, we will discuss all the available methods that will allow your device to “forget” about saving energy for the sake of a particular application.
It's worth noting that power management algorithms may differ from firmware to firmware. What worked on MIUI 12 may have a different menu location in HyperOS. But the basic principles of Android remain the same: you need to explicitly prioritize the process, and we'll go from simple menu settings to more advanced methods available to every Xiaomi owner.
Basic power consumption setting in MIUI
The first and most obvious step is to change the power profile for the Yandex application itself. The default system sets a limiter that prevents the program from running in the background. You need to manually switch this setting to No Limits mode, which will give the application the right to consume CPU resources even when the screen is off.
To do this, go to Settings → Applications → All apps and find Yandex. Click on “Battery Saving” and select “No Limits.” It’s also important to go to “Other Permits” and make sure that autostart is enabled. Without this step, the system can block service from starting when the phone is restarted.
⚠️ Note: Even after activating the "No Limits" mode, the system MIUI You may reset your settings after a while if you think the application is consuming too much resources.
You can also attach the app to the running task menu. Open Yandex, swipe from the bottom up to the multitasking menu, find the app window and pull it down (or press the lock, depending on the version of the shell), and you will see a lock icon that prevents the system from unloading the application when you clean the memory with the Crustic button.
Special opportunities and access rights
The voice assistant requires advanced access rights that are not on by default, and specifically, Alice needs access to the microphone in the background and the right to display content over other windows. Without permission to "Above Other Apps," you won't be able to activate the assistant with voice when the screen is locked or another app is open.
Go to Settings → Security → Special features. You need to find the item “Display on top of other applications” and allow this action for Yandex. Also in the “Out-Start” section, make sure that the slider is active. Some versions of the shell require a separate permission for “Background Activity”, which can be found in the “Notifications” menu inside the application card.
☑️ Checklist of basic permits
And if you're using scenarios like "Alice, turn on the lights at home" or geolocation reminders, access should be in "Always" mode, not "Only in use," which is critical to making a smart home work properly through voice commands.
Use of Developer Mode and ADB
If standard methods don't work, developers help, there's a hidden setup in MIUI that prevents the system from forcibly closing applications, but for a deeper intervention, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which allows you to change system flags that are not available through the usual settings menu.
To start, activate the developer menu. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on MIUI seven times. Then, in the advanced settings, turn on “Debugging USB.” Connect the phone to your computer and use the command to change the status of background activity restriction.
adb shell pm grant com.yandex.searchclient android.permission.REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONSThis command forcibly adds the app to the system-level power-saving exception list, a more reliable method than manual switching of switches, since it works at the Android resolution level, not just the MIUI shell. Once you complete the command, restart the device.
What to do if your computer can’t see your phone?
There is also a command that prohibits the system from “killing” processes in the background, but it can negatively affect the autonomy of the entire smartphone, so use it with caution. ADB, as shown above.
Problems with background activation by voice
A common problem with Xiaomi users is that Alice doesn’t hear the activation command when the screen is off.This is because the Android system limits the microphone for apps to constant operation in the background for security and energy savings. Unlike the built-in Google Assistant, third-party assistants don’t have system priority.
To circumvent this limitation, the “Voice Activation” option must be enabled in the settings of the Yandex app itself (in profile → Settings → Voice) but Xiaomi phones often require additional permission to allow the app to work in the background through the Miui Daemon system service or similar system processes, although this is not always effective.
| Symptom of the problem | Possible cause | Method of decision |
|---|---|---|
| Alice is silent when the screen is off | The system shut down the microphone. | Allow background access to the microphone |
| The app leaves in 5 minutes. | Aggressive Memory Cleansing | Secure the task manager |
| No reaction to “Listen, Yandex” | Background activity is off. | Check the battery settings and ADB |
| Voice control works only in the application | No display permission | Insert “Above other windows” |
It is important to understand that constantly listening to the microphone in the background significantly increases battery consumption. MIUI system can ignore your settings if the charge level drops below 15-20%, forcibly turning off background processes to preserve the possibility of calling.
The influence of Android and HyperOS versions
With the release of the new HyperOS shell, memory management algorithms have become even stricter. Whereas older versions of Android (10, 11) only had to give permissions, Android 13 and 14 have tighter restrictions on background activity, and now the system requires explicit user confirmation to work services in the background after a certain period of downtime.
Owners of HyperOS devices are encouraged to check the Battery Usage section regularly. If you see an hourglass icon or restriction next to an application, it needs to be re-shooted. Security updates that come once a month can reset some user privacy settings.
It’s also worth considering that global firmware versions (Global ROMs) may have different restrictions than Chinese versions (CN ROMs), and Chinese firmware has historically been more aggressive to background processes, so owners of such devices may need to have a deeper setup via ADB.
⚠️ Note: On devices with less than 4GB of RAM, the system may not be physically able to hold the heavy Yandex application in memory permanently, in which case the background work will be unstable regardless of the settings.
Alternative solutions and widgets
If you can't get the voice activation back to work properly, you can use alternative use cases, like installing a Yandex widget on the home screen, and while this doesn't solve the problem of activation with the screen off, it does allow you to quickly start the assistant with a single touch, bypassing the application search.
Another option is to use automation scenarios, if they are supported by your version of the software, and you can set the application to start when you connect your headphones or charger, and this will not make Alice completely background, but automate her start at the right moments.
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Use the My Station widget or quick access to Yandex Browser with Alice fixed to minimize delays at launch.
Some users install modified versions of applications, but this is strongly not recommended with a Yandex account, as this can lead to a service blocking or leakage of personal data.