Xiaomi recently launched its Redmi 6 series of smartphones in India which includes the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6 Pro. The handsets are running MIUI 9.6 based on Android 8.1 Oreo and offer plenty of customizations and features. If you recently got the Redmi 6 or Redmi 6 Pro, here is a list of the hidden tips and tricks for them.
The below tips and tricks will help you get the most out of the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6 Pro particularly if you are new to Xiaomi’s Redmi series.
Best Redmi 6 and Redmi 6 Pro Hidden Tips and Tricks
1. Change Transition Effects on Home Screen
Home screen transition effects or the animation you see while swiping through the adjacent home screens can be changed.
To change the transition effect, simply long press on the home screen, select Settings followed by Transition effects. You can then select the transition effect you like and also get to see a live preview of the same.
2. Show RAM / Memory Usage
Xiaomi used to earlier show the amount of free RAM on its devices in the Recent Apps overview. In its latest devices though, Xiaomi has disabled this option by default. However, if you want to see the amount of free RAM on your Redmi 6 or Redmi 6 Pro, head over to Settings -> Home screen & Recents and enable the Show memory status option.
3. Split Screen
Since MIUI 9.6 on the Redmi 6 is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, you can run two apps side by side. For this, launch applications which you want to use in split screen. Then tap on the multitasking button and tap on the split screen on the top left corner. This will open an area where you need to drag and drop the applications you want to split. When you drag and drop the first app, it will take half of the screen and shrink the Recent Apps overview. Next, you can swipe to choose the second app which you want to run in split screen.
You can also long press on the home screen to start split screen. It is just quicker. To change this, go to Settings > Additional settings > Button and gesture shortcuts > Open split screen and change from home button to menu or back button.
Note:
- In case the app doesn’t support the split screen, you will see a notification for the same.
- If you accidentally chose an app, and want to remove it, just drag the border of the app upwards.
- If you press the home button, you can resume back to split screen by taping the split screen notification on the top.
4. App Lock
Redmi 6 and Redmi 6 Pro offer native implementation to unlock apps using the fingerprint scanner. To enable this, go to Settings -> Lock Screen and password -> Add fingerprint. Now Open Security App -> App Lock and select apps which you want to secure. Confirm and you will be prompted to turn on app lock for the fingerprint. Verify your fingerprint to enable unlock through the fingerprint.
5. Disable Notification Light
The Redmi 6 comes with a notification LED which is oddly placed at the bottom left. It is only single colored — white — though, and with its odd location, chances are you would not even notice it. If you want to disable the notification LED on your Redmi 6 Pro, head over to Settings -> Additional Settings -> Notification light and toggle off the relevant options.
6. Three-finger Screenshot Gesture
If you don’t want to use power button + volume down to take a screenshot in Redmi 6 or Redmi 6 Pro, you can use a nifty gesture. Simply swipe down on the screen with your three fingers and a screenshot will be taken.
Adding further to this, if you want to take a screenshot of a long page, tap on the screenshot preview that appears on the top left and tap on the scroll button available at the bottom left on the next screen.
You can even customize this three-finger swipe down gesture from Settings -> Additional Settings ->Buttons and gestures shortcuts.
7. Double tap to Wake
Waking up the screen without using any hardware screen just sounds cool. On Redmi 6, you can enable double to wake from sleep. However, before you start tapping the phone’s display though, make sure to enable the feature from Settings -> Display.
8. Turn off Screen
Again, if you don’t want to turn off screen using the lock button, you can use the home button or back button or menu button to do so. To configure this, go to Settings -> Additional Settings ->Buttons and gestures > Turn off screen and choose accordingly.
9. Hide the Notch
While the notch on Redmi 6 is not very big, if you are not a fan of the notched display, you can turn it off. To turn off the notch, head over to Settings -> Full-screen display and enable the Hide Screen Notch option.
10. Customize One-Handed Mode
The one-handed mode is very common, but what sets it apart in Redmi 6 is that you can customize the size. Go to Settings -> Additional settings -> One-handed mode. Turn the toggle on, and then choose the size which fits your hand. You can choose between 4.5 inches, 4 inches and 3.5 inches.
Also, you can change the size on the go. When in one-handed mode, tap on the settings icon, and it will open the same setting which lets you change the size.
11. Vibrate for Calls
I use this most of the time because my phone is always in silent mode. If you don’t want to miss calls and are in the same situation as me, go to Settings-> Sound and Vibration and toggle on Vibrate for calls.
You can also choose to toggle on the Vibrate when silent option which will make sure that when your ringer is on, the vibration doesn’t annoy you.
12. Flip to Silence Incoming Calls
When you are in a crowded place, a ringing phone draws a lot of attention. It even gets worse when you want to take a moment before answering the call. You can use a gesture in these moments where you can flip to silence the incoming calls.
This can be done from Settings -> System Apps -> Call settings -> Incoming call settings. Make sure to enable the Flip to silence ringer option from here.
13. Customize Headphones and Audio Effects
If you use Mi earphones, you can customize the buttons on earphones. Go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> Headphones & audio effects. Here you can change what headphone remote buttons do and also assign buttons.
14. Customize Quick Settings
The Quick Settings panel in Redmi 6 for MIUI packs plenty of toggles — almost every toggle that you can think of can be found in MIUI’s Quick Settings panel. What’s even better is that one can customize this Quick Panel according to their liking.
For this, head over to Settings -> Notifications & status bar -> Toggle positions and re-order the tiles as you like.
15. Camera Shortcut
Instead of the traditional swipe left on the lock screen to launch the camera, you can quickly open the camera app on Redmi 6, with a double press the volume down button twice while you are on the lock screen. This shortcut works even when the display is off. Go to Settings -> Lock Screen & password -> Toggle on the Launch camera option.
16. Use Fingerprint Scanner as Shutter Button
Using a fingerprint sensor to take a selfie is a better option compared to using the physical button which many a time ruins the moment. You can choose to use the fingerprint sensor as a shutter button. Launch the camera app, and tap on the menu. Select settings and then turn on the toggle Fingerprint shutter under additional settings.
17. Dual apps
Want to run two instances of the same app? For example, if you use two SIM cards on the Redmi 6, you might want to run two different instances of WhatsApp on the device. For this, MIUI offers an incredibly useful Dual apps feature. Simply head over to Settings -> Dual apps and enable the toggle for any of the installed apps which you’d like to have two separate copies installed.
18. Quickly Share Wi-Fi Password
Want to quickly get your friends on the same Wi-Fi network as your Redmi 6 without sharing the password? If they happen to have a Xiaomi phone with MIUI, you to instantly share it with them
Go to Settings -> Wi-Fi, tap on the name of the Wi-Fi network your Redmi 6 is connected to and a dialog box will pop-up with a QR code. Ask your friends to open their camera app, and point to the QR code, It should automatically let them connect to your WiFi network.
Note: In case this doesn’t work, check if the option to ‘Scan QR codes’ is turned on.
19. Schedule Power On/Off
If you are one of those persons who turn off their phone every night, MIUI has just the right option for you. You can choose to schedule to turn off and on your phone. Head over to Settings -> Battery -> Battery usage and tap the settings button located on the top-right corner. In the next screen, you will find the schedule power on/off option.
You can configure it as one time or schedule it for every day or specific days of the week. What is even smarter about this setting is that you don’t have to choose on and off time together. So if you want to turn off when you want, but want your phone to be turned on automatically every morning, you can choose to do so.
20. Record Calls
MIUI is among the very few OEM skins in the market to offer native call recording functionality. While you can always manually record calls on the Redmi 6 from the call screen, you can automatically set the device to record all incoming and outgoing calls.
For this, head over to Settings -> System Apps -> Call settings and enable the Record calls automatically option from under Call recording. You can even record calls from only selected contacts if you wish to.
21. Game Speed Booster
MIUI offers Game Speed Booster which improves your gaming experience by killing unnecessary background processes and apps. Once enabled, it will clear background cache to free up memory for gaming, and improve CPU performance, boost the game connection speed while limiting background download speed to reduce network delay, and also silence notifications, and turn off remove buttons to avoid accidental keypress.
You can find it in the Security App.
22. Second Space
This is a brilliant feature in MIUI which lets you separate your work profile from the personal profile. You can have a different Google account, separate applications and so on. You can also copy data from primary profile to secondary profile if it is necessary.
23. Restrict Background Activity of Apps
Apps which run in background consume a lot of battery. If you want to have only the necessary apps running in the background, and remove the rest of them, you can do so. Go to Settings -> Battery & performance -> Choose Apps and select the apps you want to restrict. Next, you can choose between Restrict background apps or Restrict background activity.
Let us know the set of features you are using on your Redmi 6.
