Modern Xiaomi smartphones, which are based on MIUI or HyperOS shells, have a powerful memory management system that is often hidden from the eyes of the average user. However, there are situations when the device starts to run slower, the battery runs suspiciously fast, or you just want to make sure that the confidential program is completely closed.
Unlike standard lists of recent tasks, the system resource monitor shows the real strain on RAM and CPU. Background processes can consume significant resources even if you folded an application a few hours ago. Understanding how to access this information is key to effectively managing your gadget's performance.
In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can view running applications, from standard interface tools to advanced developer tools, and learn how to distinguish system services from user programs, and understand which ones are really worth closing manually to speed up the system.
The standard way through the menu of recent tasks
The most obvious and accessible method for every smartphone owner is to use the built-in multitasking menu, which on Xiaomi devices is called by swiping from the bottom up with a finger held (when navigating gestures) or pressing a square button (when navigating with three buttons), which displays sketches of recently used programs, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
For a deeper analysis, the same menu often features a memory clear button marked with an X or an "X" button. Clicking on it forcibly ends the processes associated with the windows displayed. However, the MIUI system can leave some services active for quick reboot, which is normal behavior for optimizing the user experience.
- 📱 Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold your finger to open the menu.
- 🧹 Click on the cross for mass cleaning of background tasks.
- 🔒 Use the lock to fix important applications in memory.
⚠️ Warning: Forcing system services to close through the multitasking menu can cause the interface to run unstable or unexpectedly restart important features, such as receiving notifications.
It's worth noting that visual display of windows doesn't always correlate with real CPU load. Some applications may be hanging on the list, but not consuming resources while others hidden in the back of the system are actively mining or collecting data, so this method is suitable for quick cleaning, but not for deep diagnostics.
Use of the built-in Security application
A more effective tool for analyzing running processes is the system application Security, which is preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones.It provides access to real memory consumption (RAM) and allows you to see a list of active services that are not displayed in the usual task menu.
To get to the desired section, you need to run the application and select Memory Cleanup or Accelerate, and here you will see a pie chart showing the amount of RAM occupied, and a list of applications that can be closed with a single touch, this is a system optimizer that operates at a lower level than the standard task manager.
Inside this module, there is often more information about which application takes up how much memory at a given time, which allows you to identify resource eaters that can slow down the device, and regular use of this tool helps keep the system on track without the need to install third-party software.
- 🛡️ Open the Security app on the desktop.
- 📊 Select the Memory Cleanup section to view details.
- ⚙️ Click on the gear to set exceptions and autoclean.
It is important to understand the difference between cached data and active processes. Security first frees RAM by unloading program code from it, which is especially useful before running heavy games or resource-intensive tasks when you need maximum free resources.
💡
Set up auto-cleaning memory in the Security app so that the system automatically closes the background applications when less than 20% of the free RAM is left.
Developer menu and process statistics
For users who need a professional level of control, there is a hidden menu for developers, and this is where the most detailed list of running applications, including system services, drivers and background processes, the existence of which many do not even know.
To activate this mode, go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on MIUI or HyperOS seven times. Once you have a message about a successful activation, a new option will appear in the main settings Additional → For developers.
Settings → About the phone → (7 times tap according to MIUI) → Additional → For developers → Process StatisticsThis list shows the actual memory consumption of each process in megabytes. You can see that a simple alarm clock or voice recorder can take up a significant amount of RAM. Here you can force any process to stop, even system processes, although you need to be extremely careful with the latter.
| Parameter | Description | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|
| USS (Unique Set Size) | Unique process memory | High – the program takes a lot of RAM |
| PSS (Proportional Set Size) | Proportional memory | Average – Takes into account general libraries |
| VSS (Virtual Set Size) | Virtual memory | Low – often does not reflect the real load |
| Uptime | Time of the process | Long - the process hangs in the background for a long time |
⚠️ Attention: Stopping processes in the For Developers section may disrupt system functions such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or cellular. Use this feature only if you understand what a particular process is responsible for.
Why should you limit the background processes?
Analysis of battery consumption as an indicator of activity
Often, the user does not need to see a list of processes in real time, but just to understand which applications have been active in the background in the past hours, the best indicator of this activity is the statistics of energy consumption, if the application is closed, but consumes charge, then its processes continue to run.
Go to Settings → Battery → Energy Consumption. Here is a detailed graph and a list of programs, sorted by energy expended. Pay attention to applications with a high percentage of "background activity." This is a direct signal that the program has not been completely shut down by the system.
For these cases, Xiaomi has a power saving feature, where you can manually adjust the behavior of a particular application, allow background work, limit it, or completely ban it, a softer and smarter way to manage running applications than permanently shutting them down.
- 🔋 Go to the battery settings for statistics analysis.
- 📉 Find apps with high background consumption.
- 🚫 Set background activity limits to save charge.
Sometimes you'll find MIUI Daemon or Google Play Services, which consume a lot of power, which may indicate data synchronization or indexing updates, which is normal but temporary, but if this is the way a simple calculator behaves, that's a cause for concern.
💡
Battery statistics are the most reliable way to reveal hidden background processes that are not visible in the usual task menu, but actively plant a charge.
Third-party utilities for system monitoring
If built-in tools are not enough, specialized applications from the Google Play store come to the rescue. Programs like CPU-Z, AIDA64 or 3C Tool provide detailed information about running processes, core temperature and loading of each processor stream in real time.
These utilities often have desktop widgets that show the current RAM load and the number of active processes, so you can keep your finger on the pulse of the system without diving into deep settings every time, but remember that the monitors themselves consume resources.
One of the useful features of these programs is the ability to create profiles, for example, the Game profile can automatically close all unnecessary processes before launching a heavy application, freeing up maximum memory, which is especially true for gamers on mid-range devices.
☑️ Choice of monitoring system
When using third-party software, be sure to check the permissions requested. System monitoring requires access to the data about the work of other applications. Trust only trusted developers with a good reputation, so as not to turn the diagnostic tool into a source of security problems.
Optimization and management of autoloading
Just looking at running apps is not enough -- it's important to prevent them from running inappropriately. There's a powerful autoboot management tool in the MIUI and HyperOS shell, which allows you to prevent apps from running with the system, which greatly reduces the number of background processes immediately after you turn on your phone.
You can find this setting through the app Security → Permissions → Autostart. Here is a complete list of programs that start automatically. It is recommended to leave autoboot on only messengers and alarms, and turn off the rest.
And you also need to look at the memory extension function, which, if it's activated, uses a portion of the memory as RAM, which can affect the speed of running applications and help them save them longer in the background, and turning it off on fast drives sometimes gives you a performance boost.
⚠️ Warning: After the firmware update, the autoboot settings may reset to factory ones. Always check this list after a major system update so that the phone doesn't start braking again.
Competent settings of autoload and background activity restrictions allow you to forget about manually closing applications. The system will effectively allocate resources, running programs only when you actually open their screen.