Background apps on Xiaomi: how to know what works in hidden mode

Have you ever noticed that your Xiaomi battery is running out too fast when you barely use your phone? Or your smartphone is starting to slow down for no apparent reason? The culprit is often background apps — programs that continue to work even after closing. They consume CPU resources, RAM and battery power, sometimes unnoticed by the user.

In this article, we will look at how to find all applications running in the background on Xiaomi, including hidden system processes. You will learn what tools are provided in MIUI 14/15, how to distinguish useful background tasks from parasites, and what to do if the application does not appear in the standard settings.

The company’s hidden services, which often go unnoticed but can consume up to 30% of battery life per day, are relevant to all modern models, from the Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Why Background Apps Are Dangerous for Xiaomi

Background processes aren't always evil, and some of them are necessary for a smartphone to function properly, like synchronizing contacts, pushing notifications, or updating the weather, but many apps abuse this mechanism to become real "energy vampires."

Main risks:

• 🔋 Accelerated battery discharge — even when in standby mode. Facebook or TikTok, for example, can eat up to 15% of the charge per night.
• 🐢 Slowdown due to overload of RAM. If there's 20 in the background+ The system starts to “hang».
• 📡 Increased traffic – some programs (such as Mi Cloud or Google Play Services) constantly exchange data with servers.
• 🔒 Data Leakage – Individual applications (especially from unverified sources) may transmit information about your activity.

According to AVG, Android smartphones have an average of 12 background processes, of which the user is only aware of 3-4, the rest masquerading as system services or hiding in the developer’s settings.

⚠️ Note: Some applications (such as Mi Security or Google Play Protect) may weaken the protection of your smartphone against viruses when forced to shut down.

Method 1: Standard MIUI settings (without root)

The easiest way to see background apps is through the built-in MIUI tools, which works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones with the MIUI 12 firmware version and later.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Tab “Workers” (or “Active”, depending on the version).
3. You'll see a list of all the processes that are organized by resource consumption: 📱 User applications (messengers, social networks, games). ⚙️ System services (e.g. MiuiDaemon or Android System). ☁️ Google Play Services (GmsCore, Google Play Services).

• “Battery use” – how much of the charge it spent.
• "Permissions" - what functions of the system it uses (camera, microphone, geolocation).
• “Autostart” – can the application start itself when the phone is turned on?
• Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
• Find the Task Manager (or Processes) option and turn it on.
• Now, a new icon will appear in the notification bar – tap it to see the full list of processes.

The task manager displays:

• 🔴 Active Apps (the ones you use right now).
• 🟡 Cache processes (closed but ready for quick start-up).
• ⚪ Sleeping services (background tasks that can be safely stopped).

⚠️ Warning: Don’t stop processes called mediaserver, surfaceflinger or zygote, which are critical components of Android.

💡

If you see a high-consumption com.android.phone process in the task manager CPU, This may indicate a problem with SIM-Try restarting your phone or resetting your network settings to Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings

Method 3: Through ADB (for Advanced)

If standard methods do not show all background processes, you can use ADB debugging. This method requires connecting the phone to the computer, but gives the most complete information, including hidden system services.

Instructions:

1. Download and install Platform Tools (part of the Android SDK).
2. Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB and enable debugging over USB in the developer settings.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or the terminal (Mac/Linux) and type:

adb shell dumpsys activity processes

This command will list all active processes with:

• Package names (e.g. com.android.chrome)
• Status (FOREGROUND, BACKGROUND, CACHED)
• RAM consumption.

To see only background processes, use a filter:

adb shell ps -A | grep -E 'background|cached'

For a detailed analysis of a particular app (e.g. Facebook):

adb shell dumpsys package com.facebook.katana

⚠️ Warning: Force-stop or kill commands can disrupt the system if applied to critical processes. Always check the name of the package before stopping.

How to distinguish “good” background processes from “bad”

Not all background tasks need to be stopped. Some are critical to the stability of a smartphone. Here's how to classify them:

✅ It's safe to leave in the background:

• 🔄 Sync – Google Sync, Mi Cloud, Contacts.
• 🔔 Push notifications – Google Play Services, Mi Push Service.
• 🔒 Security: Mi Security, Google Play Protect.
• 📡 Network Services – Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth Share.

❌ You can turn it off (if you don’t use it):

• 🎮 Game Turbo, Xiaomi Game Center.
• 📺 Media players - Mi Video, Music (if you don't listen to music in the background).
• 🛒 Advertising services — MSA (Mi Advertising), Analytics.
• 🗺️ Geolocation – Baidu Maps, Mi Location (unless you use Chinese maps).

⚠️ Dangerous to disconnect (risk of failure):

• 🤖 System processes - android.process.media, system_server.
• 📞 Telephony - com.android.phone, RIL (responsible for the calls and SMS).
• 🔄 Updates - Updater, Software Update.

If you are not sure if you can turn a process off, use the Package Name Viewer app (available on Google Play) to provide a detailed description of any package named after it.

How to permanently ban applications from working in the background

If you identify a voracious application, you can not only stop it, but also block auto-run, and this will prevent the process from reappearing in the background.

Ways:

1. Through MIUI settings

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the desired application → «Auto-start».
3. Turn off the slider.
4. Also go to the "permissions" and deny access to the: 📍 Geolocations 🔋 Optimization of the battery (if there is such a point) 🔔 Notifications

2. Through "Battery Optimization"

MIUI 14/15 has a hidden feature that allows you to limit background activity for individual applications:

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management.
2. Select the app from the list.
3. Set the “Limited” or “Strict” mode (depending on the MIUI version).

💡

The most effective way to reduce background activity is to turn off autostart and limit the background through battery settings. This does not require root rights and is safe for the system.

What to do if the app does not appear in the list

Sometimes malicious or system processes are disguised as harmless names or not shown in the standard settings. If you suspect that something “extra” is working on your phone, but you don’t see it in the App Management menu, try this:

1. Check through Safe Mode

Load your phone in Safe Mode (hold the shutdown button → long tap on Turn off → Reboot in Safe Mode) and only system applications work in this mode. If the problem (like fast discharge) disappears, the culprit is among the user programs.

2.Use VirusTotal or Malwarebytes

Download the APK file of a suspicious application (available via APK Extractor) and check it for viruses. Many malware masquerades as system services, but antiviruses recognize them.

3. View the system logs

For power users: connect your phone to your PC and follow the command:

adb logcat | grep -i "package_name"

This will show the activity of a particular packet in real time, and look for suspicious activities, like frequent network access, access to contacts, or geolocation.

4. Check traffic flow

Some applications (such as cryptocurrency miners) run in the background and consume the Internet to calculate them:

1. Go to Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Using traffic.
2. See which apps consume data in the background.
3. If you see an unfamiliar package with a lot of traffic, check it out through Google or antivirus.

⚠️ Note: Some legitimate apps (like Google Play Services) can consume up to 1-2 GB of traffic per month.+ GB from an unknown package is cause for concern.

FAQ: Frequent questions about background apps on Xiaomi