The 12 best tricks for the xiaomi redmi 8 and redmi 8a

The Xiaomi Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A currently make up the low-end of the Chinese manufacturer. Despite being the most basic mobiles of the company, the truth is that they share an operating system with the rest of the Asian giant's phones. MIUI 11 is the version of the system that moves under the innards of each mobile and this time we have compiled several tricks of the Xiaomi Redmi 8 and 8A to get the most out of them.

index of contents

Lock apps with password on Redmi 8A and Redmi 8

Until a few years ago, we were forced to resort to third-party tools to block access to certain mobile applications. In MIUI 11 this is possible through the system options. It is enough to go to the Applications section in Settings and immediately afterwards to Application blocking.

Now we will only have to select all the applications that we want to block, either with a pattern, with the fingerprint or with the facial unlocking of the device. WhatsApp, Instagram, Tinder, Twitter… Any application installed on the phone.

Duplicate applications to use two Facebook accounts, WhatsApp…

Dual applications is the function of MIUI 11 that allows us to duplicate instances of installed applications to use two accounts on the same phone at the same time. This is especially useful in Dual SIM mobiles.

To make use of this function we will have to go back to the Applications section. In Dual applications we will be shown all the applications compatible with this feature. WhatsApp, Facebook… Unfortunately, the compatibility with this function is quite limited.

Speed up system animations to improve MIUI 11 performance

Because we are dealing with two low-end phones, system performance can be poor in certain scenarios. Speeding up MIUI animations can be a good solution. To do this, we will have to previously activate the Developer Settings.

The activation process is really simple. It will be enough to go to the Settings application and more specifically to the About the phone section. Within this section we will find another with the name of MIUI Version, which we will have to touch with a finger a total of seven times.

After activating the Development Settings, we will go to the Additional Settings section that we can find within the Settings application itself. Finally we will locate the following settings:

Window animation level
Animation level of transitions
Animation duration level

To speed up the performance of the Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A, the ideal is to set the figure at the value.5x. We can also disable animations completely, although we will lose some of the charm of MIUI. Be that as it may, we will notice a more agile performance of the phones when opening applications and navigating between the Android options.

Activate MIUI gestures on Xiaomi Redmi 8 and 8A

Xiaomi's gesture system introduced in MIUI 10 is, from our point of view, the best system ever and to be found on Android. To make use of this we will have to refer to the Screen section in Settings. In the section Do you need other adjustments? We will click on Full screen and finally on the option Full screen gestures

To avoid accidental touches, it is recommended to activate the option to Make gestures twice. Currently some applications conflict with the activation of the side menu and the Xiaomi Back gesture.

Force MIUI updates on the Redmi 8A and Redmi 8

The release of updates on Xiaomi is done in a phased manner. This results in some phones taking longer than normal to receive their share of the MIUI 11 or MIUI 12 pie. The good news is that we can force system updates through a third-party app.

Downmi is the application that will allow us to manually download any version of MIUI on our Xiaomi Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A. Once we have downloaded the application, we will select the model corresponding to our mobile phone and then the version to download.

To avoid any installation problems it is recommended to select the Global Stable version. After having downloaded the ROM, we will go to the section on About the phone and then to MIUI version. Finally, we will click on the three Settings points and finally, we will select the option to Select update package.

Use a song as a ringtone or notification tone

With the latest MIUI update, setting a song as a notification or call tone is extremely simple. To do this, we will have to go first to the Sounds and vibration section in Settings. Then, we will go to Phone ringtone if we want to change the ringtone or to Default notification sound if we want to change the tone of the notifications.

To select a song saved in the internal storage of the device, click on the option Choose a local ringtone and finally on File manager. We can also choose Recorder if the sound comes from a recording.

Enable double tap to unlock phone

Another function that Xiaomi phones inherit from the rest of the ranges is to activate the screen by pressing twice continuously. To activate this option we will have to go to the Lock screen section in Settings. In the option Double press on the screen to wake up we will mark the box as active. We can also use the option to Activate Lock Screen for notifications to make up for the lack of Always On Display, a function that activates the screen with the receipt of new notifications.

Take photos remotely with the palm of your hand

We move on to the camera tricks. This curious camera function allows us to take pictures by opening the palm of the hand. How?

With the Camera application open, we will click on the sandwich menu in the upper right corner and immediately select the option to Take with the palm. Now all you have to do is raise your arm with your open hand to activate a 3-second countdown. This function is compatible with both the front camera and the rear camera.

Studio Effects, the function to enhance selfies photos

This new feature of MIUI 11 takes the idea of Apple with its iPhone to create a studio effect on selfies captured with the phone. The result is quite decent considering that none of the phones have a ToF sensor.

To apply these effects we will have to click on the icon in the shape of a circle that we can find in the lower right corner of the Camera application. A new photography mode will automatically be enabled. Once we have taken the photo, the application interface will allow us to adjust the light and shadow effects to our liking.

Open the camera quickly by pressing on the volume buttons

Precisely due to the hardware limitations of the Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A, opening certain applications may take more time than the account. Using the volume buttons as application triggers is a good way to reduce this opening time, something that is especially useful if we want to take a photo quickly. All you have to do is go to the Lock screen section in Settings and then select the Run camera option.

To activate the application we will have to double-click on any of the volume buttons on the phone. The application will automatically start.

Install Google Camera on the Redmi 8 and 8A to improve the quality of the photos

The most popular camera application in the Android landscape. You can learn about the advantages of this application in the article that we published a few weeks ago.

As far as Xiaomi phones are concerned, the number of versions available for the Redmi 8A and Redmi 8 is quite limited. The latest modification is based on version 7.3 of the Google Cam application. We can download it through the following links:

After having installed the application on the phone, we will have to apply a series of modifications to obtain the best photographic results through the application settings. The steps to follow are those:

Click on More Option and then on Camera Settings.
Select the BSG MOD Settings option.
Select the Input Model option.
Under Interface Style, select the Pixel 2 option.
Under Configurations, select the PIXEL2018 ZSLR HDR + option.
Go back to Camera Settings and activate the Google Photos option.
Turn off the Zoom option.
Activate the HDR + Enhanced in Portrait Mode option.
Select the Saturation option.
For Highlight Saturation, set the value -1.8.
In Shadow Saturation, set the value 2.4 for the rear camera.
Restart the app.

All the steps have been extracted from the digitstatament.com website.

Enable hidden Camera app settings

Did you know that Xiaomi hides some settings in its Camera application? The first thing we will have to do is download a file explorer that allows us to create files and folders within the phone's storage.

Once we have the application we will go to the DCIM folder located in the root storage of the phone. Inside this folder we will create a file with the name of ' lab_options_visible ' without the quotes and with the under bar included.

Finally we will go to the MIUI Camera application. In Camera Settings, we will click on Additional Settings, where we can see a new list with a multitude of options to modify.

Specifically, the options that we can find are the following:

Beautify photos in Portrait mode.
Activate dual camera.
Enable parallel processing.
Activate quick shot animation.
Activate MFNR.
Internal "magic" tools.
Face detection.
Hide face detection frame automatically.
Activate SR.

Other news about… MIUI 11, Xiaomi