Xiaomi is on top of its game and after selling almost 60 million handsets last year, you can figure that it may surely be a right time to try their products. Talking about their devices, the Mi4 is company’s latest flagship in the country, which is powered by Snapdragon 801 processor. Other notable features includes a 5-inch Full HD display, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and 3080mAh battery rating.
There are not so many mobile vendors that allow so much freedom to users on their devices. But unlike Xiaomi, which has given a full set of customization features to its MIUI users. So, let’s explore how customizable is MIUI 6 on Mi4.
The first capacitive touch button on the left bottom is the menu function key, which helps in opening the list of recent apps. You can change it as you wish, but that is only for long press, and for many who would want an easy access to a few other functions than just the multitasking menu, here’s how to do it. Go to Settings, then Device, there you’ll find Buttons and here, the first option “Recent” is where you need to change the option of long press. You can either have Launch assistant, Close current app or Show menu by long pressing the button.
How to Turn ON flash light from Lock Screen on my Xiaomi Mi4?
The lock screen on the MIUI v6 or v5 on the Mi4 had a few extra functions than the standard unlocking and shortcuts. One of them is turning flashlight On directly from the lock screen. For that, while the screen is active but locked, you just need to long press the home button and the torch / flashlight turns on. It would not turn off until you prompt it although the screen would go blank in a few seconds.
How to Change the look of Multitasking / Recent Menu on my Xiaomi Mi4?
A very beautiful feature from Xiaomi in the latest Mi devices, this lets the user change the way recent apps section shows. By default, when you press the Recent key (the left bottom one), the recent apps show up, and it is just the App icon that is seen. But, you can make it look like the iOS multitasking screen where large thumbnails are shown, with the preview of what is going on in the app. You can change that by “pinching out on the empty area in the multitasking screen”. Pinching in / out is what changes the look, basically.
How to Set Data Usage Limit on the Xiaomi Mi4?
This is quite important for those who use the data network more than Wi-Fi and thus, there are additional charges they might end up paying because un-noticeably they might be using a lot of data. In Xiaomi Mi4, there is a data saver in the Security app. Go to Security app, and there you would see the second option named Data Usage. Tap on that, you would see three options next. There is a lot you could do here – restrict particular app from using data, or go to data saver and set a limit till when your data connected could be kept active, and then let you know when it is about to finish.
How to Extend Battery Life with Conserve Power Mode on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Conserving battery and extending the life is what every smartphone user might want to do, for a longer use before needing to charge the device again. To do that, there is a balanced mode that would allow you to conserve the battery. Even though it has a great battery rating of 3080mAh, one can hardly get a good battery life if they put it on performance mode. You will find these modes in settings app. Then you further need to tap on additional settings, there go to the battery section and select Balanced option as your choice of power settings.
How to Manage block list on the Xiaomi Mi4?
You are busy working on your first day back after weekend, and suddenly some unpleasant call came in, which had disturbed you a lot, interfering in between your work. So, now that you own a Mi 4 there is a system feature that allows you to block this kind of calls. To access that you to go to Settings app first, and then tap on security section, which will then lead you to a Blocklist feature. This feature will allow you to block several numbers, or block everyone if you are so passionately busy. But you can always make exceptions like emergency contacts. You could also filter the calls using certain keywords. Although, you can see whoever is calling or messaging even if you have blocked them, to do that you would have to turn on the Blocklist notifications.
How to take a backup of system settings, accounts and apps on my Mi4?
Maintaining backup copy of your settings is one of the important things that you should do if you one owns a smartphone. One Mi4, you can do that by simply going to Additional Settings option, and then, tap on Backup & reset option. There will be a bunch of sections, and everything here is important. Now you have to tap on Local backups option, which will show the backup button, tapping on it will lead to a new window, where you would have choice to back up system settings, apps, as well as accounts & contacts. Or else, you can take an encrypted backup of the data on your phone via Xiaomi’s service by turning on encryption.
How to Change Notification Light Color on the Xiaomi Mi4?
There is an option on Mi 4 that allows you to change the change the notification light as well as turn it off completely. To do that you have to go to Additional Settings section, and tap on notification light. There you would find four option, first would allow you to switch ON or OFF the Pulse Notification light while other options allow you to change colors for notifications, calls, as well as messages. You can choose from up to seven colors, which will appear in the LED present just below the home button.
How to Setup screen lock and customize the functionality on the Xiaomi Mi4?
There are so many ways to secure the phone including pattern, PIN, and password lock. But MIUI v6 lets you customize it a little bit further. But first, you have to set a lock screen and to do that you would have to go to Lock Screen option on your device, which can be found in the settings. Now you have various options to choose from including, display text on lock screen, auto set time to lock screen, the switch toggle to lock screen by power button. Now coming to secure your phone, you can setup pattern, PIN or any text as password. You get two more options once you sign up for password lock, which includes Skip swipe screen and unlock the phone with a Bluetooth device.
How to Change Wallpapers on the Xiaomi Mi4?
The MIUI version 6 offers tons of customization, and changing the appearance is one of them. You can change wallpapers, effects, as well as move apps, and add widgets on home screen of your Mi4. To do that you have to tap and hold the menu button and four options will appear, naming, move apps, widgets, wallpapers and effects. You can tap on wallpapers to select from the list or can go online right from the option, which will lead you to the Mi Store. There you can browse and select wallpapers from featured, popular and category options.
How to Change Screen Transition Effect on the Xiaomi Mi4?
To change screen transition effects, you have to tap and hold the menu button of Xiaomi Mi4. Doing that, few options will open up, now you have to select which effect you like to apply. There are up to eight transition effects from which you can choose.
How to Add a widget on any home screen on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Adding widgets to the home screen on your Mi4 is pretty easy, you just have to tap and hold on the menu button, then few options will pop up. You have to select the widgets out of those options, and tons of choices will appear in a scrollable list. Select which one you want on your home screen, now drag & drop that icon to the home screen.
How to Set an alarm on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Setting an alarm is one of the things you do at night before going to sleep. Xiaomi has made sure that the experience shouldn’t be annoying, as it is in most customized interfaces by other mobile vendors. To set an alarm, you can just tap on the clock widget or go to the clock app that can be accessed from the Tools folder on the home screen. There you have to tap on Add Alarm option and select few options other than setting timer includes, repeat, setting different ringtone, or labeling it to understand what it was about.
How to Scan a barcode on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Scanning a barcode is pretty easy on Mi 4, as you won’t have to install a third-party app to do so. The MIUI camera app has an inbuilt QR code, which automatically detects the QR code when placed in front of it. You can either access the camera settings from the camera by swiping from left or it is also available in the Settings app. There you have to make sure that the toggle is switched to ON.
How to Record a voice on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Recording a voice is something that people would do on an occasional basis while there aren’t many companies that are focusing on it, but Xiaomi has done a great job on that. The recorder app on Mi4 allows two types of recording, Voice, and Music. To start recording first go to Tools section and open the recorder app. Now you can directly start recording by tapping red button at the center bottom. After you have finished recording, you can stop the record by pressing on stop icon. You will be directly able to review the recording by tapping on the play button, as well as access another recording from the list icon on the left of a red button on the app.
How to Download and Change the theme on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Xiaomi’s Mi Store provides tons of themes and customization, and with Mi4 you get the latest themes from the developers. To change the themes first, you have to download them. To do that, you have to go to Theme’s app available on the home screen of the device. Tapping on that will open the Mi Store where you have to first download the apps, by tapping on whichever app you like, as all the apps for Indian users are currently free. So, start downloading any theme, and you can apply the theme right away. After you have downloaded bunch of these themes, you can also switch back to the default theme. To do that you have to tap on the person icon (local storage), and there you will find all the downloaded themes as well as the default theme.
How to Close particular running app individually on the Xiaomi Mi4?
If you have just started to use the Xiaomi Mi4 and having difficulty to understand how to close a particular app, then it is very easy. You just have to tap once on the menu button and slide up the particular app to close it. To note that you can also lock a some particular apps when you are clearing all the running apps, then those locked apps would still be running. Well, that later trick was a bonus for you who have stuck around for this post.
How to Use Browser in the Dark or Night mode on my Xiaomi Mi4?
If you are browsing the websites on the default browser and looking to making it more comfortable browsing during night or in the dark. Then there is night mode available on the app that will let you get comfortable in darkness. To switch to that mode, you have to first open the default browser and go to menu option. There you would find an option named night mode, you have to tap on it to turn it. Or if you don’t like it, you can always switch back to regular mode by tapping on the same icon.
How to Add Favorite websites to Browser start page on the Xiaomi Mi4?
The default browser on your Mi 4 would show a categorized page of website links that you would be able to access the favorite page every time you open a new tab. But if you want to change that, you have to go to the advance option on the settings of the browser app. There you have to set a start page by entering a URL of that website, once it is set, every time you open a new tab that website will open. So, now you can simply set the start page whenever you want.
How to Allow / Block Pop-ups on websites in the default browser of Xiaomi Mi4?
These days while surfing through websites, pop-ups are like a regular thing, which annoys and interfere our browsing time. So, to solve this situation, Xiaomi has simply included a feature that allows you to block the pop-ups. To do that, you would have to go to advanced settings option from the menu of the browser. There you have to toggle the “Block pop-ups” switch to ON.
How to view Gallery photos as a slideshow on the Xiaomi Mi4?
You are a photo enthusiast, well better a photo enthusiast with a Xiaomi Mi4. Then, there is a slideshow feature of the Gallery app on Mi4 that you would like to try. To watch all your photos in a slideshow, you have to open the photo from where you would like to start the slideshow. Now go to menu and tap on start slideshow, that’s it, enjoy your collection.
How to Turn ON the Guest mode on the Xiaomi Mi4?
There are times when you have to give your phones to your friends/colleagues or even family relatives for use. And at that time you worry if they access your messages or worse, they will accidentally change some settings that you would want. Well, there is an option on Mi 4 that allows you to hide the messages, notes, pictures, incoming calls as well as launcher settings. This is all done by the turning ON the Guest mode on the device. To access this feature, you have to go to the privacy section in the settings app and further tap on the privacy protection. There you can switch ON the Guest mode and secure your settings and personal contents from others.
What are the MIUI 6 Home Screen Gestures available for Xiaomi Mi4?
If you have the new Mi4, then you should try to make full use of the gesture modes available on the device. If you are on the home screen, you can swipe fingers from any of the sides towards the centre of the screen and access all the pages on the home screen and use one to set it as your main screen. Also, you could pinch two sides together (top and bottom) to access the hidden menu consisting of Move Apps, Widgets, Wallpapers, Effects.
How to Quickly Launch the Camera app from the home screen on the Xiaomi Mi4?
If you live in the moment, then the snappy camera app on the MIUI 6 for Mi4 is something you will like. At the lock screen, you have to swipe quickly from right, and the camera app will be open and ready to capture that moment, saving you a lot of time.
How to Quickly swap the cameras on the Xiaomi Mi4?
Well, selfies have always been a thing, and this MIUI camera app lets you quickly switch to the front camera by just swiping up or down on the screen. This will provide you the quickest way to switch the rear and front cameras, which is quite amazing, and haven’t been seen on any other Android skin.
How to Hide the Photo Album on the Xiaomi Mi4?
There are times when you wouldn’t like some people in your life to see the gallery of your phone without an invitation. Well to keep those prying eyes away from your content you would need to hide the photos. To do that you need to head over to the Gallery, and then tap on local images, followed by tapping and holding on to the album you want to hide. From there, you have to choose the option, Hide so that it would not be visible to others. After the feature has served its purpose, you can unhide the albums by going to the menu of the gallery, which comes when you tap & hold a menu button on Mi4.
How to Snap Multiple Photos at a time on the Xiaomi Mi4?
You are a perfectionist, and you want your photos to be the same. Well, the MIUI camera app has just the thing for you. The app has a burst mode that allows you to snap as many as images you want. To do that you have to go to camera app and further swipe from left, and then you have to tap Burst shoot. Now you are ready to shoot as many of images at a time. You would have to hold the camera button, and there will be multiple shots taken by app till you hold the button.
How to insert SIM card on the Xiaomi Mi 4?
It is pretty easy to insert the SIM card on the Mi4. Since, the device has non-removable battery, company has shifted the usual place of SIM slot to the left edge. Now you have to remove the tray with the given ejector tool that you have got in the box content. You have to place the SIM card on the tray and slowly push the tray back inside the slot, making sure that it is locked correctly. The SIM card should be showing on your device anytime now.
Will the Xiaomi Mi4 get the Android 5.0 Lollipop update?
Xiaomi has been known for its MIUI; it has been noted as a fact that the users have received the major updates very late. The users love the regular weekly bugs fixes via small OTAs, but the larger user base craves for the big system upgrades. There were no announcements made by company yet, but you can look forward to that, software experience is a bigger part of Xiaomi’s smartphones, and Mi4 is certainly more than capable to support the 64 bit architecture. So, we hope Xiaomi surprises its consumers with a Lollipop based MIUI upgrade very soon.
