Autorun on Xiaomi: settings for stable application operation

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the problem when important notifications do not arrive on time or apps fall asleep in the background. This is due to the aggressive MIUI battery optimization system and the new HyperOS, which forcibly unloads processes to save energy. Understanding which programs need to autorun is the key to keeping your device running smoothly without delaying messages.

The Chinese company’s Android shell system is designed so that without manual permission, many services simply cannot start on their own after rebooting the phone. If you notice that the alarm doesn’t ring, the step tracker is reset, and messages from WhatsApp come only after opening the application, then the autorun settings require your intervention. In this article, we will discuss which categories of applications are critical for setting up.

It's worth noting that turning on auto-start for all programs is not a good idea, because it can lead to faster battery discharge. You need to find a balance between performance and functionality. Google's system services and security services need to stay active at all times, regardless of the power saving settings. Let's take a closer look at who needs start permission.

Critical Google System Processes and Services

System services are the foundation of any Android smartphone. On Xiaomi devices, they are often hidden from the user’s eyes, but their proper operation determines the stability of the entire operating system. Disabling autoruns for key components can lead to incorrect display of time, GPS malfunctions or account synchronization problems.

Google Play is the first service to be considered, and it's responsible for push notifications, card operation, contact sync, and authorization in many third-party applications. If you block them from auto-starting, notifications may stop coming until the sender's application is manually opened, and it's also important not to touch Daemon's MIUI system process and security services, as they control the basic shell functions.

To ensure that geolocation and device search work properly, you need to keep GPS and network services active. Often users accidentally turn off the services responsible for Find Device, which makes it impossible to find a phone if you lose it. Below is a list of processes that should always work:

• 🔧 Google Play Services – Provide Push Notifications and Synchronization.
• 📍 Geolocation services – necessary for the work of navigators and phone search.
• 🛡️ Xiaomi Security – controls antivirus protection and memory cleanup.
• ☁️ Mi Cloud Synchronization – Responsible for Data Backup.

Messengers and applications for communication

The most common category of applications suffering from Xiaomi’s energy saving policy are instant messengers. WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Signal and other similar programs require a constant connection to the server for instant message delivery. Without setting up autorun, you risk missing an important call or getting a message a few hours late.

The problem is that the system considers an inactive chat window to be an “extra” process that consumes resources, and to avoid this, you need not only to enable auto-start, but also to fix the application in memory or add it to battery exceptions, which ensures that the background process is not “killed” by the system even if there is a shortage of RAM.

Also, it is worth checking the settings for carrier applications if you use them to manage your fare or balance.Although they are used less frequently, getting SMS with confirmation codes on time is critical.

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For instant messengers, it is not enough to just enable auto-start. Go to the battery settings for a particular application and select No Limits mode so that the system does not block background activity.

Corporate smartphone owners or those who use work chats in Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord should pay special attention to this section. A missed work message due to the app’s “sedation” can create an awkward situation. So for all communication tools, the rule is one: autorun must be activated.

Smart home and automation: Xiaomi Home and more

Xiaomi’s smart home ecosystem is one of the most popular in the world, and its stability depends on the background. Xiaomi Home (Mi Home) is the central hub for managing light bulbs, robot vacuum cleaners, cameras and sensors. If it does not have auto-run rights, automation scenarios will cease to run, and notifications from surveillance cameras may not arrive on the lock screen.

Imagine if the water leak sensor went off, but the app is asleep and can't send you a Push notification of the accident, or if the smart speaker doesn't turn on the lights on schedule because the control service has been offloaded from memory, to avoid such scenarios, all applications related to home management must run with the system.

This isn’t just about Xiaomi’s native apps. Third-party platforms like Home Assistant, Yandex with Alice or Google Home also require constant background processes to integrate with devices.If you use the phone as a gateway to ZigBi or Bluetooth devices, disabling auto-run will result in lost communication with the gadgets.

List of smart home apps that need attention:

• 🏠 Xiaomi Home – the control center for all devices of the ecosystem.
• 🤖 Roborock/Dreame – Robot Vacuum Control Apps (Important for Maps and Schedules).
• 📹 Mi Camera/Yoosee – for instant traffic notifications from cameras.
• 🔌 Smart Life / Tuya – if you use third-party devices.

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Smart home apps work as a bridge between the internet and your gadgets. Without auto-run, that bridge collapses and the home ceases to be "smart" until your next manual intervention.

Fitness trackers, watches and health monitoring

Users of Mi Band fitness bracelets, Amazfit watches or Huawei Watch are well aware of the problem of disconnection.A companion app (such as Zepp Life or Mi Fitness) must be constantly hanging in memory to transmit data about pulse, steps and notifications from the phone to the wrist.Absence of auto-start causes the bracelet to "fall off" and you lose statistics.

In addition, health apps often use GPS to track jogs or bike rides, and if the background service is stopped by the system during exercise, the track may be interrupted and the route will not be maintained, especially for those who use the phone as their primary activity recorder.

Also worth mentioning is the standard Health app, which collects data from all sources, it needs to have priority access to resources to correctly calculate calories and miles traveled, and without auto-run, data synchronization with the cloud will only occur when you manually start up, which makes the statistics incomplete.

For owners of devices in this category, it is recommended to create a separate list of exceptions in battery settings. Don't rely on automatic optimization algorithms - they are too aggressive for wearable electronics. It is better to sacrifice a couple of percent of the charge than to get a broken gadget at the right time.

Navigation, maps and transport applications

Navigation applications such as Yandex.Maps, 2GIS or Google Maps require access to GPS and the Internet even when the screen is off and the phone is in your pocket. The navigation system must continue to plot the route and report corners with voice. If autostart is disabled, the navigator can “sleep” minutes after turning off the screen, leaving you without.

Also in this category are taxi aggregators (Yandex Go, Uber) and public transport applications, which need to track your location in the background so that the driver can find you, and you can see the movement of the car on the map, and these applications can be disrupted by system settings that can lead to lateness and unnecessary costs.

It is important to understand the difference between active use and background work: the navigator must have a permit to work in the background, but does not need to start immediately when you turn on the phone, unless you plan to go anywhere. However, for taxi applications, auto-start is desirable so as not to miss the order or arrival notification.

The table below will help you to orient which types of applications require an immediate start, and which can be left to the system:

How to properly set up auto-start and exceptions

Now that we've decided on the list of programs we need, let's figure out how to technically implement these settings on Xiaomi. The interface may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI or HyperOS, but the logic remains the same.

There are two main ways to set up the system: through the Security menu (the old method) and through application settings (the more detailed method), and it is recommended to use both methods for guaranteed results. The system sometimes resets the settings after major updates, so periodic checks will not be unnecessary.

The first step is to enable autorun. To do this, go to the Safety app (green zipper icon), find the Permissions section, and select Autorun. Here you will see a list of all the programs installed, find the desired application in the list and activate the switch to the right of it.

The second, and equally important, step is to set up energy saving. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Find the right application, click on it, then select Battery Saving (or Battery). Select No Limits. This will prevent the system from killing the process even if memory becomes scarce.

⚠️ Warning: Don’t turn on No Limits mode for games and rarely used apps, which will cause them to be permanently hanging in RAM, consuming charge, and slowing down your smartphone as a whole.

Step three is to lock in memory (optional for very important applications). Open the running app menu (bottom-up swipe and hold or menu button). Find the app window and pull it down (or tap the lock, depending on the OS version), and a lock icon will appear, which means that the app will not be closed when you clear the memory with the Crestik button.

For advanced users familiar with USB debugging, there is the option of using ADB commands for deeper customization, but in 95% of cases, standard interface settings are enough. If after all the manipulations, the application still does not work correctly, try to remove and install it again, immediately providing all the requested permissions.

⚠️ Note: On some global firmware versions, the AutoRun menu may be hidden or renamed. If you don't find this item in the Security app, search the phone's settings by entering the word "AutoRun" or "Autoboot».

Frequent questions and troubleshooting

Even after careful setup, there may be nuances related to specific versions of Android or software conflicts, and the answers to the most common questions that help solve the remaining problems are summarized below.