Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often notice a pre-installed app that raises questions: YouTube Music, Google’s dedicated streaming service designed specifically for listening to music and music videos, is a service that is tailored to audio formats, offering smart recommendations and background playback, unlike regular video hosting.
On the MIUI or HyperOS shell, the app has its own features associated with an aggressive energy saving system. Users may experience music suddenly stop playing when the screen is off. Understanding how the background mode works in Android will allow you to enjoy the tracks without interruptions and unnecessary actions.
In this article, we will discuss in detail why this application is needed, how it differs from the usual YouTube, and how to properly configure it on Xiaomi devices. You will learn about the hidden features, benefits of a paid subscription and ways to optimize battery consumption when actively using streaming.
The main differences between YouTube Music and regular YouTube
The main difference lies in the intended purpose of the interface and functionality. The regular YouTube app focuses on video content: blogs, reviews, movies and clips with a focus on the visual component. YouTube Music focuses on the audio stream, providing convenient access to albums, singles and live recordings, where video is often sidelined or absent.
An important feature is the ability to switch between modes. You can play a music video and then go to audio only with one click, which significantly saves traffic and battery power. Conventional YouTube does not offer such flexibility for background work without a premium subscription.
The recommendation algorithms also work differently, so if you're offered a cooking master class after watching a video in the main app, the music version will have an artificial intelligence that picks up tracks of a similar genre, mood or tempo, creating a continuous stream of music that's perfect for training or work.
- 🎵 Audio-Oriented Interface: Large Control Buttons, Real-Time Song Lyrics and Smart Playlists.
- 📱 Background playback: the ability to listen to music when the screen is off or in other applications (requires settings or Premium).
- 🧠 Smart Search: Search for lines from a song, even if you don’t know the name of the track or artist.
Features of the service on the shell of MIUI and HyperOS
Xiaomi smartphones are known for their efficient but rigorous resource management system. MIUI shells and the new HyperOS can force background processes to close down to save energy.This often leads to YouTube Music stopping playing tracks when you lock the screen or go to a heavy app.
To avoid interruptions, you need to manually configure permissions for the application. The system must “understand” that this service is important to the user and it does not need to be “freezed.” Standard Android settings on Xiaomi are supplemented with its own optimization layers that require special attention.
⚠️ Warning: Without the right power saving setting, the app may not receive notifications of new tracks or interrupt playback via 10-15 screen-down.
Also, consider the work of the built-in memory cleaner. If you are used to running the system “acceleration” regularly, make sure that the music service is added in exceptions. Otherwise, the process will be killed every time you manually clean the RAM.
💡
Add the YouTube Music widget to your desktop. In some versions of MIUI, this helps the system consider the application active and prioritized, preventing it from being uploaded from memory.
Step-by-step setting up background work and notifications
To work smoothly on Xiaomi devices, you need to perform a number of actions in the system settings. This is not a complicated procedure, but it is necessary for comfortable use. First, find the application icon on your desktop and pinch it to call the context menu.
Go to the app information section and find Activity Control or Energy Saving, and select No Limits mode, which will allow the system to not apply aggressive sleep algorithms to that particular process.
Next, make sure that auto-run and display are enabled on top of other windows. This is especially true if you plan to use widgets or a floating player. Check also the permissions to access the network, making sure that there is a checkmark for Wi-Fi and Mobile Internet.
☑️ Set up YouTube Music on Xiaomi
After these steps are completed, it is recommended to fully restart the device, which will allow you to apply new parameters and start the services in the correct order. If the music is still interrupted, check if the system has a Do Not Disturb mode with strict restrictions.
Comparison of Free and Premium Versions
The service offers two use models: free with restrictions and a YouTube Premium subscription (which includes Music). Understanding the difference will help decide whether to switch to a paid tariff. The free version is functional, but contains advertising inserts between tracks.
The key difference between the paid version is the lack of advertising and the ability to download music to listen to offline, which is critical for those who are often in places with poor network coverage or want to save mobile traffic, and Premium also provides access to high-quality audio.
| Function | Free version | YouTube Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | Present. | Absent. |
| Background mode | Limited (depending on region/settings) | Full access |
| Offline mode | Unavailable. | Available. |
| Sound quality | Standard. | High. |
It is worth noting that the subscription is valid on all devices where you sign in to your Google account, which means that the purchased Premium tariff will remove ads on Android TV, tablet, and smartphone.
Family subscription
Solving common problems and errors
Xiaomi users sometimes experience an app not starting or a connection error, often due to time desynchronization or cache issues. The first step should always be to clear the cache through the app's settings, not completely reinstall it.
If music is late playing or constantly buffered with good internet, try changing the type of network. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile internet and back. Sometimes resetting the network settings in the YouTube Music app itself through Settings → Privacy & Other → Clear Listening History (partially) helps.
If the app crashes immediately after launch, check for updates in the Google Play store or GetApps. The older version may conflict with Google’s new security protocols. Also make sure the device has the latest version of Google Play services installed.
⚠️ Note: Do not use modified versions of the app (Vanced, ReVanced) on major Google accounts.
If the problem is systemic, try removing the app updates to the factory version and then updating it again through the official store.
Optimizing battery consumption when using streaming
Constant data transmission and screen operation (if you watch clips) puts the battery on a lot. However, if you listen to only audio, the consumption should be minimal. On Xiaomi smartphones, you can further optimize this process through built-in tools.
Use the audio effects function inside the app itself to avoid triggering third-party equalizers that consume CPU resources, and in the MIUI settings, you can turn off touch vibration and system sound effects, which will slightly prolong the battery life.
It is important to keep an eye on what other apps are running in parallel. If background music is interrupted, there may be a lack of RAM, and close down heavy games or navigation devices if they are not currently in use.
💡
The optimal setup is a balance between sound quality and energy saving mode, and for daily listening in headphones, standard quality is enough, which will save up to 15% of battery life.