What Xiaomi Redmi apps should work in the background: full guide 2026

Xiaomi Redmi smartphones are known for their energy efficiency, but aggressive MIUI battery optimization often blocks the background of applications that are critical to user experience. Have you ever noticed that notifications from instant messengers come with a delay, music is interrupted when the screen is locked, and activity trackers stop recording steps?

In this article, we’ll look at which apps should work in the background on Xiaomi Redmi (including Redmi Note 12/13, Redmi 10/11, POCO X5, and others), how to set them up correctly through Settings → Apps → Permissions → Auto Run, and why some MIUI “optimizations” only spoil the user experience.

Spoiler: Even after you set up some apps (like Google Play Services) correctly, MIUI can reset their permissions after updates — it's not a bug, it's a feature of Xiaomi's power saving. But we'll teach you to get around those limitations.

Why Xiaomi is blocking the background of applications?

MIUI uses an aggressive battery management policy inherited from older versions of Android.

• 🔋 Charge savings: By default MIUI It limits the background activity of all applications except system ones to extend battery life, especially on Redmi’s 4000-5,000mAh battery models.
• ⚡ Performance: Background processes consume RAM. On devices with 4-6 GB of RAM (for example, Redmi Note 10 Pro), the system forcibly closes “unnecessary” applications.
• 🤖 Google policy: Starting with Android 8.0 Oreo, Google has tightened the rules of background work, and Xiaomi has further tightened them in the Internet MIUI 12–14.

The problem is that MIUI doesn’t know how to distinguish important notifications from spam, for example, it’s equally likely to block WhatsApp’s background (where you get important messages) and a random game you launched a month ago.

⚠️ Note: If you use Redmi with custom firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience or LineageOS), background process settings may be drastically different. MIUI Global/EEA.

Top.-10 Applications that must work in the background

Not all applications require constant background activity, and here is a list of those that are critically important to add to the exceptions to avoid losing functionality:

Google Play Services is a system application that is responsible for synchronizing your account, push notifications and many Google services, and if you turn off its background work, notifications from Gmail, YouTube and other services will stop coming, even if these applications are allowed to work in the background.

How to set up auto-start and background work on Xiaomi Redmi

To allow the application to run in the background, you need to perform three key actions:

1. Disable battery optimization (prevents forced closure)

Instructions for MIUI 14 (relevant to Redmi Note 12, POCO F5 and later):

Open Settings → Applications → Application Management

Select the desired application (for example, Telegram)

Turn on the Autostart switch

Go to Permits → Additional → Battery Optimization and Choose Without Limits

Go back and turn on the background activity (if there is such a item)

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For older versions of MIUI (12–13), the path may be different:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → [Select App] → Permissions → Auto Run (include)


Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management → [Select App] → Without Limitations

⚠️ Note: Some Redmi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A) Background activity may not be available, in which case you can configure Autostart and Battery Optimization.

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If notifications still don’t come after setting up, check your sync settings in your Google account: Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google → Data Sync (should be enabled).

What happens if you allow all applications to work in the background?

Many Xiaomi Redmi users make the mistake of “just in case” turning on auto-start and disabling battery optimization for all installed applications.

• 🔋 Fast battery discharge: Each application in the background consumes 1% to 5% charge per hour.+ — The phone will discharge in 4-5 hours.
• 🐢 Lags and slowdowns: Background processes take up RAM. On Redmi with 4GB of RAM, this leads to a forced reboot of applications.
• 📡 Increased traffic: Many applications (e.g. social networks) are constantly updating data in the background, consuming mobile Internet.

How do you find balance? Use the built-in battery monitor:

Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Use

This is the most energy-consuming apps, unless one of them is our top.-10", But it works in the background - limit it.

Hidden MIUI settings for advanced users

If standard settings don’t help (for example, WhatsApp still doesn’t show notifications), you can use hidden MIUI features:

1. High Performance Mode: Activated via Settings → Battery & Performance → Performance Mode → High Performance. Disables most restrictions for background processes, but reduces battery life by 15-20%.
2. ADB-Commands for Forced Background Resolution: Connect your phone to your PC and execute: adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.whatsapp Replace com.whatsapp with the desired application package (you can find it through the App Inspector in the Play Market).
3. Disable MIUI Optimization: In Developer Mode (Settings → Additional → Developers), disable MIUI Optimization. This will bring back “clean” Android without aggressive memory management, but can cause lags on weak devices (such as Redmi 8A).

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-commands and shutdown MIUI Optimization can cause the phone to run unstable.Before experimenting, back up through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

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The most reliable way to ensure the operation of background applications is to use high performance mode + manual autorun setting for critical applications.

Frequent problems and their solutions

Even after setting up correctly, Xiaomi Redmi users face typical problems:

If the problem persists, check:

• 📵 Power saving mode: Turn it off in Settings → Battery and productivity.
• 🔒 Notification permissions: Make sure they are enabled for the application in Settings → Notifications.
• 🔄 Updates MIUI: After the system update, the auto-start settings are reset!

FAQ: Answers to popular questions