How to Watch Traffic Consumption in Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s modern smartphones consume vast amounts of data, often without the owner’s knowledge. Background updates, gallery synchronization, and smart services can stealthily eat up the entire mobile Internet package in a couple of days. Users often face a situation where the operator suddenly reports that the limit has been exhausted, even though you have not actively used the applications.

Controlling data consumption is becoming a critical skill for every Mi or Redmi owner. The built-in MIUI shell and the new HyperOS provide detailed statistics that identify traffic eaters. Understanding these processes not only saves money, but also extends the battery life of the device, as constant data transfer drains the battery.

In this article, we will take a look at all the monitoring tools available, from standard settings to hidden engineering menus, and not only look at numbers, but also manage them wisely, setting strict limits for specific applications, and this guide will be your main tool in the fight against uncontrolled consumption of gigabytes.

Standard monitoring through system settings

The easiest and most affordable way to find out the current expense is in the basic menu of the smartphone. Android, on which the shell Xiaomi is based, maintains a detailed log of all network activities.

To get to the desired section, you need to open Settings and select a paragraph. SIM-And you can see the total summaries of each SIM card you've installed, and if you click on a specific number, you can see the current consumption chart, and you can get a detailed daily stats.

And the particular thing that you should look at is Traffic Statistics, which is just below, and this is where you get a list of all the apps, sorted by the amount of data you've sent, and you can see not only the total volume, but also the division between mobile and Wi-Fi, which is really important for analysis.

• 📊 Total consumption: shows the total number of megabytes or gigabytes transferred over a selected period.
• 📱 Expenditure by annex: detailed list of programmes with the data volume for each.
• 📅 Statistical period: the ability to reset the counters or select a specific start date for the countdown.

⚠️ Note: Data in system statistics may differ slightly from the operator's readings. Operators often round up traffic or take into account service packets that the phone may not classify as user traffic.

Use of the "Security" application

In the Xiaomi ecosystem, the system app Security is responsible for optimizing and controlling resources, not just an antivirus, but a powerful harvester that includes an advanced traffic manager, which many users ignore, preferring standard Android settings, but offers more flexible management.

Run the Security app and find the Traffic icon, and it's designed for fast-paced interaction, and you can see how many megabytes are left until the end of the paid period if you set up your data plan, and it can automatically pause data when you reach a limit, which saves you from unexpected debts.

Inside this module, you can set the Settings function, where you can set the date of the reset, which is critical, because by default, the system can count traffic from the moment you buy your phone or the last firmware reinstallation. The correct date setting allows you to synchronize your smartphone reports with your carrier's billing period.

The app also allows you to create exceptions, for example, you can allow messengers to work in the background even when saving mode is turned on, but you can prevent it from heavy social networks, and this granular setting gives you complete control over what exactly is authorized to go online.

Detailed analysis of the annexes

Once you've identified total consumption, it's time to figure out which program is responsible for the lion's share of traffic, and it often turns out that it's not YouTube or Instagram that you're actively using, but some background app that you rarely open.

In the statistics section, each application has two meanings: transmitted and received. Upload is often ignored by users, but it can indicate problems. If a messenger or cloud storage actively uploads data to the network without your knowledge, this is cause for concern.

Click on any app on the list to open its card. Mobile data and Wi-Fi switches are available here. You can completely deny the program access to the Internet via the SIM card, leaving the ability to work only through the home network. This is ideal for navigators or streaming services that are not needed on the road.

Background activity is a special feature, and some applications continue to download content even if you shut them down, and turning off background data for these programs can reduce traffic consumption by up to 40% without losing core functionality.

Setting limits and restrictions

Just watching numbers isn't enough, you need to be able to manage them. The MIUI shell allows you to set tight limits that work more effectively than just notifications. When the limit is exhausted, the system can completely (break) the connection.

To set up, go to the traffic menu and select Traffic Limit, you can set a monthly quota here, it's important to understand the difference between Warning and Restriction, the Warning only informs you that you have reached a threshold, for example, 80% of the plan, but the Internet continues to work.

The restriction forcibly disables mobile data, a "nuclear" option that ensures that you do not go into deep negatives, but be careful: if you urgently need to accept the confirmation code via SMS or message in the messenger, you will have to turn on the connection manually.

You can also set up screen lock behavior, some apps try to complete the download of a large file when you put your phone in your pocket, and putting a sleep ban on heavy applications will prevent gigabytes from being stolen at night.

⚠️ Note: When you enable a severe traffic restriction, your Google or Xiaomi system services may temporarily stop working correctly. If notifications stop coming after the limit is turned on, add the necessary applications to the exclusion list.

Hidden functions and engineering codes

For advanced users who lack standard functionality, there are hidden menus. In Xiaomi phones, there is an engineering mode called through dialing. However, testing commands are more often used to view detailed network statistics.

Enter the Phone app code ##4636##. The Testing menu will open to select Information about phone usage (or SIM status), which displays session information, network type, and sometimes more detailed packet statistics than the regular menu.

Another useful tool is the developer mode, which activates (clicking the build number seven times in About Phone) and gives you access to advanced network settings, and in the Network section, you can find Forced Network Type Switching (LTE/3G/2G) options, which sometimes helps reduce traffic consumption in unstable reception areas where the phone is constantly looking for a signal.

Using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands, you can upload a complete history of network usage in text format. The adb shell dumpsys netstats command produces an array of data that can be analyzed on a computer, which is useful for identifying hidden processes that are not displayed in the standard interface.

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Use 5-10 seconds flight mode to reset a dangling data session, which often helps if the traffic meter is "measured" or shows incorrect data after switching between Wi-Fi and 4G.

Optimization of background processes and autosynchronization

The main enemy of the economical user is autosynchronization. Gallery, mail, documents - all tend to update instantly. Xiaomi has a global autosynchronization switch, but it's better to customize each application individually.

Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync. You can turn off sync for services that don’t require constant real-time updates, for example, contacts and calendar are important, and syncing these applications can wait until you connect to Wi-Fi.

Another feature worth mentioning is the Save Traffic feature in developer settings or in the battery menu, which limits the background activity of applications that you are not using right now, which not only saves gigabytes, but also significantly reduces the load on the processor.

Don't forget the app settings. Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram have their own data usage settings, so you can prevent autoloading of videos and heavy images when you use the mobile network, which reduces traffic consumption by many times without losing text.

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Integrated approach: a combination of system limits, background settings and limitations within the applications themselves gives the maximum savings effect.