MIUI, as the operating system of a great brand such as Xiaomi, has a large number of hidden functions in its software. Some are easier to find than others and, as in the case at hand, some, such as floating windows, are somewhat complicated to configure. Nothing that cannot be fixed if you take a look at this tutorial that we have prepared for you.
If you have reached this guide it is because, no matter how many times you give it, you cannot find a way to configure or, rather, eliminate the floating Xiaomi windows that appear by default on your screen. Nor is it that you have to be a computer genius to get what you want, but you do have to know where to look.
Unfortunately we are facing one of those new tools of the Chinese firm’s operating system that, by default, cannot be disabled. At least we hope that with the many complaints from users, the brand will take our opinions into account to give us more control options in its next great software: MIUI 13.
What are floating windows?
Floating windows are not a new concept in Android, but MIUI 12 brings some major improvements to this feature. They can be accessed from the notification bar or from the recent apps menu. Doing so will put an application in a smaller window that can be layered over another application.
To access the app directly, you just have to click on the notification. If you slide it down, you will display the app in a floating window on the screen that you are seeing right now.
Learn how to configure them on your Xiaomi
There are two ways to configure these new windows on your Xiaomi mobile :
- Accessing floating windows from the Multitasking menu: An easy way to turn an open application into a floating window is by opening the recent applications menu. Once you see the list of all the apps one after the other, you can press and hold the app until you see additional options appear. From here, you can lock your application, start it in sliding screen mode, start it as a new screen, or access the settings of that application.
- Access to floating windows from the notification panel: Being able to start a floating window from the notification itself is a much less intrusive option. If you are watching a video or playing a game, and you receive a notification, you no longer have to leave your current application to check. Long press alert to open that app in a window. Now you can reply to WhatsApp messages, emails, tweets or calls, without interrupting your current application.
How to remove them from MIUI 12
Among some of the many new UI features in MIUI 12, Xiaomi phones have received updates to their floating window tools. However, removing them is quite complicated.
All the management of this type of tool is done from the Special functions menu that you will find within the configuration app. Inside here you will find all the information related to the floating panels , such as a list of the different gestures available. These are the ones that are available:
- Open floating windows
- Move floating windows around
- Closing floating windows
- Full screen floating window display
- Minimize floating windows
As you can see in this panel, there is no trace of a switch that allows us to disable floating windows in MIUI .
And how do I disable them?
If these notifications bother you so much, you can only do two things. Good 3. The first one is to learn to live with them if you want to continue using the phone as it is and, just as we got used to navigation gestures in its day, learn to use this new tool every day.
The second option is to disable floating mobile notifications . In this way, none of them can be executed in a “floating panel” format and, therefore, you will not have to work with this tool anymore. Of course, from now on the alerts of your apps will only be displayed on the application icon. You can also try to deactivate the option in the app that you do not want to use, following the path Settings, Applications, Manage applications and look one by one if the option to show on a floating screen appears, something that depends on your version of MIUI.
The third option, more uncomfortable for many, is to change the launcher. Annoying floating windows only work when you have the MIUI launcher set as the default. If you switch to nova launcher , for example, it is no longer available. If they keep appearing, it’s because you have MIUI optimization enabled in the developer options. Just uncheck this option and you’re done.
Why does MIUI make it so complicated?
The answer to why deactivating MIUI’s floating windows is not simpler, you would not have to do it to us, but to Xiaomi. It is well known that MIUI 12 has not been the operating system best valued by users but that we cannot disable this mobile function is not one of the many errors that users have found in the operating system.
Luckily Xiaomi is taking good note of user complaints and, in addition to losing forgiveness for the lack of optimization of its customization layer, has said that it will try to apply solutions to them in MIUI 13 , the future version of the Xiaomi software that has already begun to filter through the Net.
Of course, be patient because there is still no specific launch date for this new system that, we hope, makes it easier to configure the floating windows of your mobile, adding new gestures and the possibility of leaving it to the user to choose if he wants to use them. or do without them. At least this is our wish and it must be recognized that Xiaomi has been listening to both the complaints and the wishes of its customers for a few months to shape its new products.
