From work apps to social media apps. This way I customize my phone according to my needs.
When it comes to getting the most out of my Xiaomi with MIUI, I usually always go to the factory configuration of the phone Install the same app And perform the same configuration. For me, it’s very important to have the applications I need to be able to manage my day to day.
From social applications like Twitter or Telegram to mobile banking applications, through Google Suite. I’m going to teach you Apps I use On my Xiaomi phone with MIUI and some advice To optimize the home screen.
Optimizing the home screen.
As for the home screen, I always use the default MIUI launcher. At the moment it’s the only one that allows me to navigate by gestures since others don’t support this feature in MIUI, a bit disappointing if we want to get another launcher on the system.
Configuring MIUI Launcher
Inside the launcher’s initial screen, by pressing on an area where there are no icons, we access the settings in the lower right part. As I show in the following photograph, I have made an application 5×6 grid. Thanks to this, I can have more icons on the screen. By clicking more, we enter Common launcher options. Here, I apply the following guidelines:
- Always active gesture navigation. Very useful in our Xiaomi mobiles.
- In “Icon size”, I apply the smallest possible size to be able to have small icons.
- On the “Home Screen”, I selected the “With Application Drawer” option, which has the same application system as Android.
- In the previous section, I enabled the display of new apps on startup, in case I needed to have one on the home screen. By default it is enabled.
- I have Google Discover enabled, so I can see the feed with daily news.
This is how I configured the settings in the MIUI launcher.
What apps and widgets are on my home screen?
If we go to the application section, on my home screen I highlight a design minimalistis trying Don’t overload the screen with too many apps. To do this, I divide my desk into two parts.
At the top, I put the weather widget, where I can always see several cities that interest me. This widget is very useful to always have the forecast close at hand, just in case you need to take an umbrella before going out in the winter.
My MIUI launcher settings. We can see how I use a 5×6 grid in the settings.
At the bottom, leave a space, Organize apps based on usage And group together something to keep on hand. As we can see in the previous images, on the top I usually have applications that I use once or twice a day or sporadically, such as calendar, shopping applications (in my case Carrefour), Google Fit for going out, workouts and managing my smart devices. Check out the route and time I spent and the Alexa app.
If we go down the line, we find Apps I use a little less. Gallery along with MIUI camera app, app store and MIUI security app are essential for me. In a separate folder, I have the entire Google suite.
In the third line from the top, we find Apps I use frequently Like Google Wallet for NFC payments (yes, I rarely use physical money), contacts, mail, and a folder with two or three social apps like Twitter, Asana for work, and Telegram. Not to be missed here is Amazon Music, my default music application, which I use several times a day but not regularly.
In the last line, I follow a pattern. On the left, always the browser which you use by default. Lately I use Chrome to browse the web. Next to Chrome to be able to make calls, always the Google Phone icon. For me it is essential to have it in that order. In the center, I put Google Chat because it is the default work communication application. I have slack or teams at other companies. To finish, to the right of all (for accessibility) I have The app I use the most throughout the day. In this case WhatsApp to talk with family and YouTube to watch daily videos.
What applications have I installed on my system?
We talked about what I have in the beginning, but I didn’t comment on what I have for each job. I’m not going to lie to you, in the sense that I’m a user who doesn’t usually go out of bounds. My apps are usually used by most people, since they gave me the best results:
Apps I use for work
When I think about work, I have a few default apps that I use to help me manage my day-to-day. They are the following:
Google Calendar. Calendar is my default app for viewing meetings. With this app, all my important accounts are synchronized, so I can instantly see meetings I’ve had at work, outside of work, and events like birthdays or national holidays for my family and friends.
advice: I usually apply the agenda view, which is the most comfortable, and then scroll through the month view to see how busy I am on the days of the week.
Gmail. To read email, I always use Gmail. The truth is that I’m very happy with the Google app for everything related to email.
the seat. Asana is the default to-do list app. We use this at Andro4all to coordinate with each other. You can create your own task board with it. A kind of Trello, with vitamins.
Teams and Google Chat. I use both apps so I can chat with coworkers and coordinate work for the week.
advice: It is best to separate your work life from your personal life. In my case, I keep the applications because they don’t bother me in my free time, but you have to be careful about this.
Apps I use for shopping and banking
Every person will have our banking application by default, but in my case I use the following applications to manage my purchases:
MIUI Note. MIUI Note app is very important to me. When I need to make a shopping list, I use this app to write down each product I’m going to buy. I get confused sometimes, which helps me buy everything I need.
MIUI Calculator. Another default app from Xiaomi. I use it to do my accounts when I go shopping or calculate monthly expenses. It is very useful to put it on top of other apps, as we have already seen with other tricks.
Wallet. Yeah, I don’t use physical money for practically anything. I always pay with NFC since I have mobile. Not only for cards, but for all passes in general, I’m using Wallet as a card management application. Essential for me.
Supermarket application. As things are today, supermarket apps are good to have handy, to be able to know about offers and get thanks for what the offers bring you. In my case, due to proximity, I now have it from Carrefour. Previously, I used Lidl.
Amazon and AliExpress. For online shopping, I usually install both Amazon and AliExpress. Both apps are very useful to see products that I might need on a daily basis.
Applications that I use daily
For my everyday, everything is a little different. Although it’s true that I have several applications installed, I rarely use them in my day-to-day life. I tell you which.
Google Chrome and discover for news. Google Chrome and Google Discover are both my favorite apps for finding out what’s going on every day. I usually reload Google Discover several times a day because there is so much interesting news that I like to read. In Chrome, I usually go straight to Favorite Media.
advice. We must try not to keep too many tabs open in Chrome to avoid overloading the system.
To disconnect Twitter and YouTube. For social networks, I usually always use the same app. Twitter becomes my default app to find out what people are talking about and YouTube shorts I use it for entertainment. I don’t use Instagram or TikTok. They just couldn’t convince me.
As for YouTube, I usually watch a variety of content throughout the day, from short live streams to popular science videos to interesting technology videos.
WhatsApp and Telegram for chatting. For talking, I use WhatsApp and Telegram. Right now my family and friends mostly use WhatsApp, so I prefer it more than Telegram.
Amazon Music and YouTube Music. These two are my default apps for listening to music. I’ve already commented on why I prefer Amazon Music over other music apps.
Basically, this is the application I usually use mine every day. As we can see, they are few but I usually use them when I need them. While it’s true that my use of WhatsApp, YouTube and Amazon Music dominates, I use the rest more sporadically, such as video games, Wild Rift or Genshin Impact. But as a rule, I have most of the core apps in the launcher’s home grid.
is important that you are comfortable with The applications you use and feel cover your daily needs. While it’s true that I’m a more organized person, you can have the home screen that best suits your taste and needs.
