Creating your own theme for Xiaomi: from idea to publication in Mi Theme Store

Creating your own Xiaomi theme for smartphones is not only a way to express your creativity, but also the opportunity to share a unique design with millions of MIUI users around the world. Unlike standard wallpaper or widgets, a full-fledged theme changes the look of the system at a deep level, from app icons to screen lock animations. If you ever wondered how developers create themes that appear in the Mi Theme Store, this article will be your guide.

The process may seem complicated, but in fact it consists of clear steps: design preparation, working with templates. MTZ-We're going to go through every step in detail, from choosing a color palette to avoiding common mistakes that might cause a topic to be rejected when moderating. MIUI 14 and MIUI 15 requirements for themes have tightened, so even experienced designers will have to take into account the new design rules.

You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to create a quality theme. You have to be patient, you have to be careful and you have to experiment. In this article, you'll find not only a theoretical framework, but also practical tips that will save you hours of work. For example, we'll tell you how to automate icon creation with scripts, or where to download free templates to speed up the process. Are you ready to start?

1.Preparation: What is needed to create a topic

Before you start designing, make sure you have everything you need, and without the right tools, the process can take a long time or even stop halfway.

• 📱 Xiaomi's device on MIUI 12/14/15 (I'd preferably with an unlocked debugging bootloader. 10 or POCO X3 Pro – the main thing is that the firmware version is relevant.
• 💻 Windows computer 10/11 On Linux, there may be problems with official tools from Xiaomi.
• 🎨 Graphic editors: Adobe Photoshop (for working with layers), GIMP (Free alternative, Figma or Adobe Illustrator (for vector elements).
• 📂 Xiaomi theme templates (download from the official website theme.mi.com in the developer section).
• 🔧 Developer tools: Mi Theme Editor (official software), APKTool for decompilation APK, Android Studio (optional, for deep customization).

Pay special attention to the MIUI versions on your device. Themes created for MIUI 12 may not display correctly on MIUI 15 due to changes in the structure of system files. If you plan to publish a theme in the Mi Theme Store, check the current requirements on the official developer portal. For example, from 2023 all the themes must support dark mode and dynamic wallpaper.

⚠️ Attention: If you are using POCO Launcher or custom firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience), some themes elements may not apply. Test the design only on clean MIUI.

2. Design development: where to start

The first step is to decide on the concept of the theme, which can be a minimalist style, a futuristic design, an anime-based theme, or even a replica of the interface of another OS (for example, iOS or ColorOS), the main thing is that all the elements fit together harmoniously.

Start with the color palette. Use tools like Adobe Color or Coolors to find combinations that won't cut your eyes over long periods of use. Remember, MIUI has limitations on text contrast: if the background is too dark, system labels must remain readable. Use WebAIM Contrast Checker to check.

• 🎨 Application icons: must be in.png format with transparent background, size 192×192 px (for px) MIUI 14+). To speed up the process, use Python scripts with the Pillow library for batch processing.
• 🖼️ Wallpaper and lockscreen: minimum resolution — 1080×2340 px (for camera cutouts, consider safe display area).jpg and.png formats are supported.
• ⚙️ System elements: buttons, checkboxes, sliders - all of them must be in vector format (.svg) to scale to different screen resolutions.

If you’re not sure about your design skills, use pre-made icon sets from sites like Flaticon or IconFinder, but make sure the license allows commercial use. Alternatively, AI-powered icon generators like Iconify or App Icon Generator.

💡

Save all the original files (.psd,.ai,.fig) in a separate folder, which is useful if you need to make edits after moderation in the Mi Theme Store.

3. The structure of the topic: we understand the MTZ-format

The theme file for Xiaomi is.mtz (Mi Theme Zip) and is an archive with a rigid folder structure. If even one file is not in its directory, the theme will either not load or will not display correctly.

your_theme.mtz


│




├── description.xml #Metadata topics (title, author, version)




├── preview.png # Preview for Mi Theme Store (size 720×1280 px)




├── icon.png # Theme icon (128×128 px)




├── wallpaper/ # Desktop and lock wallpaper




│   ├── lockscreen.jpg




│   └── homescreen.jpg




├── icon/ # App icons




│   ├── com.android.settings.png




│   ├── com.miui.home.png




│   └── ...




├── style/ # CSS- Styles for system elements




│   ├── colors.xml




│   └── styles.xml




└── anim/ # Animations (optional)




├── bootanimation.zip




└── lockscreen_anim.zip

The most important file is description.xml. It says:

• Unique. theme_id (generator: UUID Generator)
• Theme Version (versionCode and versionName)
• Supported screen resolutions (screen_dpi)
• Minimum version MIUI (min_mui_version)

You can use any text editor to edit description.xml, but the most convenient is Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code with an XML plugin. An error in the syntax (for example, an unclosed tag) will result in the theme not appearing in the list of available ones.

⚠️ Note: If you are copying theme_id If you're not a theme, your theme won't be moderated in the Mi Theme Store.

4. Tools for assembling theme

Manually collecting.mtz is a time-consuming process, so Xiaomi provides the official Mi Theme Editor, which can be downloaded from the developer portal after you register your account.

• 📁 Import graphics files to the right folders automatically.
• 🔍 Check the structure of the theme for errors before packaging.
• 📦 Export a ready-made.mtz file for testing.

Alternative tools:

If you plan to publish a theme in the Mi Theme Store, use only Mi Theme Editor — other tools can make changes that will make the theme reject. For example, manually editing description.xml via Notepad++ sometimes adds invisible characters that break the structure of the file.

5. Testing the theme on the device

Before publishing, you need to test the topic on a real device.

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Copy the file. your_theme.mtz folder MIUI/theme/ internal.
3. Open the Topics app on your phone and find your theme in the My Topics section.

Pay attention to the following points:

• 🔍 Icons: Did all apps get new icons? Are there any stretched or blurred images?
• 🎨 Colors: Do the system accents match the palette you select? Check the settings settings → Screen. → Colors.
• 🔒 Lockscreen: Do watches, notifications and wallpapers display correctly? Some devices (such as Xiaomi 13 Pro) may require a separate setup for Always-on Display.
• 📱 Animations: If you’ve added custom transitions, make sure they don’t slow down the interface.

For advanced testing, use ADB-team:

adb shell am start -n com.android.themes/.ThemePreviewActivity

This command runs a preview of the theme without using it, which is convenient for checking individual elements.

⚠️ Note: On devices with HyperOS (new shell from Xiaomi) some themes for MIUI Before publishing, check compatibility on Xiaomi 14 or Redmi. K70.

💡

Test the theme on at least 2-3 devices with different screen resolutions, which will help to identify problems with scaling elements.

6.Published at Mi Theme Store

Once the theme is ready and tested, it can be published in the official store.

1. Register as a developer on dev.mi.com (you will need to link your phone number).
2. In the Theme Developer section, download the.mtz file and fill in the metadata: Theme title (maximum 20 characters). Description (up to 200 characters, supported by emojis). Category (Minimalism, Anime, Dark, etc.) Screenshots (minimum 3 pieces, resolution 1080×2340 px).

Pay a registration fee (around $10 for international developers).

Send the subject to moderation. The verification period is 3 to 7 days.

Frequent reasons for rejecting topics:

• 🚫 Plagiarism: even partial copying of other people’s works (for example, icons from another topic).
• 🚫 Non-compliance: lack of support for the dark mode or incorrect size of previews.
• 🚫 Technical Errors: Broken Links in description.xml or missing files.
• 🚫 Obscene content: even abstract images that can be interpreted in two ways.

If the theme is approved, it will appear in the Mi Theme Store within 24 hours, revenue from sales (if the theme is paid) goes to your Mi Pay account once a month, the average price of the themes is $0.99 to $2.99, but popular designs (such as those based on Genshin Impact or Cyberpunk) can make hundreds of dollars a month.

7. Promotion and updating of the topic

Posting it to the Mi Theme Store is just the first step, so that your theme becomes popular:

• 📢 Social media: post screenshots on Reddit (r/XiaomiThemes), group VK or Telegram channels dedicated to MIUI.
• 📊 Analytics: Keep track of download statistics in the developer's personal account. If the topic is not gaining popularity, update the preview or description.
• 🔄 Updates: Release new versions regularly with bug fixes or additional wallpaper. users receive update notifications.
• 💬 Reviews: Respond to comments in the Mi Theme Store.This increases user loyalty.

An example of successful promotion: the theme "Neon Glow" from the developer @miui_designer dial 500K You can download a month's worth of downloads from a viral clip on TikTok showing her animations. If you're not good at marketing, partner with bloggers who review topics for Xiaomi.

Important: Xiaomi periodically holds promotions for developers, where the best themes receive additional promotion in the store.

FAQ: Frequent questions