How to make the application work in the background on Xiaomi: full instruction

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones are known for aggressive battery optimization, which often blocks application backgrounds: Messengers stop showing notifications, activity trackers stop recording steps, and music services play tracks when screen locks, a problem that affects everything from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

In this article, you will find current ways to unlock background work for MIUI 14/15 (including global and Chinese versions), as well as solutions for specific applications like Telegram, WhatsApp or Google Fit. We will analyze both standard system settings and hidden settings through ADB - without the need for root rights.

Why Xiaomi is blocking the background of applications

MIUI firmware uses three levels of optimization that directly affect background activity:

• 🔋 Battery Optimization – The system automatically suspends applications that are not actively used to save charge.
• 🚫 Automatic closure — MIUI Forced-stop applications through 5-30 minutes after leaving the background (depending on the model).
• 🔄 Auto-Run Restriction – Applications cannot run on their own after rebooting the device.

In practice, this means that even if you manually opened Viber or Spotify, within minutes of locking the screen, they will stop.

• 💬 Messengers (Telegram, Signal, Discord)
• 🎵 Music Services (YouTube Music, Apple Music)
• 🏃‍♂️ Fitness trackers (Google Fit, Strava)
• 📍 Geolocation services (Yandex.Maps, Waze)

The manufacturer attributes this behavior to concern about battery life, but in fact it creates problems for users who need stable back-end services. Fortunately, all restrictions can be circumvented.

Method 1: Setup auto-start and background activity in MIUI

The easiest method is to use built-in optimization settings, which is suitable for most applications and does not require technical skills.

Open Settings → Applications → Application Management and select the desired application.

1. Slip on Autostart and switch on.
2. Go back and select Permissions → Other Permits → Turn on Show Over Other Windows (if any).
3. Go to Battery Optimization and select No Limits.
4. In the "Background Activity" section (if any) set "No Limits".

For MIUI 15, the path may be slightly different: Settings → Applications → Permissions → Autorun, where you need to manually add the application to the list of allowed ones.

Auto-start on.|Battery optimization is offline|Permission to "Show over other windows"|Background activity without restrictions-->

⚠️ Note: On some models (Redmi) 10C, POCO M5) The "Background Activity" section may not be available. In this case, use Method 3 s ADB.

Method 2: Add to "Secure Applications"

Secure Applications allows you to bypass the standard MIUI restrictions for selected programs, which is especially useful for messengers and navigators.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Special permissions → Secure applications.
2. Slip on "Add Apps" and select the ones you need from the list.
3. Confirm the choice – now the application will not close when the screen is locked.

On MIUI 14, the path for the global version can look like Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management → Secure Applications.

⚠️ Note: On the Chinese versions MIUI (For example, on Xiaomi 13 Pro for the Chinese market, the section "Secure Apps" may be called "Apps without restrictions" ().

Method 3: Disable ADB optimization (for power users)

If standard methods don't work, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to deeply customize the restrictions, which works on all versions of MIUI and doesn't require root rights.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ A computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and ADB (download)
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on the phone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times tap to unlock Developer Settings)
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original)

Step-by-step:

1. Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
2. Open the command prompt (cmd) in the folder with ADB.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must display the serial number of your device.
4. Run the command to disable battery optimization (replace com.example.app with your app package, such as org.telegram.messenger): adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.example.app
5. To disable background restrictions, use: adb shell cmd appops set com.example.app RUN_ANY_IN_BACKGROUND allow

Critical detail: after the MIUI update, all ADB settings are reset. They need to be re-used!

Method 4: Using "Developer Mode" for background work

MIUI has hidden settings that allow you to turn off background restrictions globally, and you need to activate the developer mode and change a few settings.

How to turn on:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version.
2. Tap the version number 7 times until the notification “You became a developer!” appears.
3. Return to the basic settings and open a new section Additional → Developer Settings.

Now find and change the following parameters:

• 🔄 "Limitation of background processes" → Set a "Standard Limit" or "No Limitations".
• 🚫 "Stay active" → disable (this prevents the killing of applications when blocked).
• 🔋 "Optimization MIUI" → Disable (may be called Aggressive Optimization").

⚠️ Attention: Disabling "Optimizations" MIUI" It can increase battery consumption by 10-15%. Use this method only if other methods do not help.

💡

If you block apps after you change your developer's settings, try restarting your phone, and sometimes you only change after you reboot.

Solving problems for specific applications

Some programs require additional actions to work in the background, and here are the instructions for the most popular cases:

Telegram and WhatsApp (no notifications)

• ✅ Turn on Autostart and turn off battery optimization (see Method 1).
• ✅ In the settings of the Telegram go to Settings → Notifications → Show notifications and select "Always".
• ✅ For WhatsApp, additionally enable “Permanent Notification” in chat settings.

Google Fit and Mi Band (not counting steps)

• ✅ Add Google Fit to "Secure Apps".
• ✅ In the Mi Band settings, turn off “Power Optimization” for the Zepp Life app.
• ✅ Install Google Play Services manually via APKMirror if steps don't sync.

Spotify/YouTube Music (music stops)

• ✅ Enable "Stop" and "Without battery restrictions".
• ✅ In the application settings, disable "Traffic Savings".
• ✅ For Spotify, additionally enable "Caching Music" in playback settings.

💡

For fitness trackers (Google Fit, Strava), it is critical to disable optimization for Google Play services (com.google.android.gms).

What to do if nothing helps

If after all the manipulations, the applications are blocked anyway, try the following steps:

1. Update MIUI to the latest version – in new builds, bugs with background work are often fixed.
2. Install an alternative firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience or LineageOS) if your model is supported.
3. Use crawler apps like Don't Kill My App! (available on Google Play) that automatically restart blocked services.
4. Reset to factory settings (last option) – sometimes helps with system failures.

For Xiaomi models on Qualcomm Snapdragon (such as Redmi Note 11 Pro+), you can try rolling back the MIUI version to a more stable build via Fastboot.

⚠️ Note: On some devices (POCO F4 GT, Black Shark 5) Application backgrounds may be blocked due to game mode. Turn it off in Settings → Special facilities → Game mode.

FAQ: Frequent questions about background work on Xiaomi