Xiaomi Redmi 4A Guides and How Tos

At night we rarely use our smartphone. At home, we usually stick to TV or spend time with family or use tablet PC. Even when we use, it is better to use with reduced blue light emission. In this guide, we explain how to improve battery life and reduce the blue light emission of smartphones at night. Xiaomi Redmi 4A comes with a lot of options to customise battery life and setting up Bluelight filter is also very easy.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Settings that benefit at night

Lite mode creates a very simple to use icon driven layout with huge text and icons that are easier to read for those with difficulty to see tiny icons. This mode is also helpful for those who just need specific apps and won’t has too many contacts to reach out to. In this guide, we help you to understand how to setup and use Lite Mode.

 Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to setup phone for elders

Some of us will use two accounts for the same application. Some applications allow using multiple accounts in same application but a majority of applications does not let you use more than one account at once. To fix this, MIUI comes with ‘Dual Apps’ feature where two instances of the same application are created. Both instances can be used at same time and both will have its own account/data etc. In this guide, we show you how to enable and use Dual Apps feature.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to use dual apps feature

Using Second Space is like having two devices or accounts on the same phone. While First Space is the usual ‘everything is here’ type of space, second space can be configured to have specific apps, without much of data to have a fresh clutter-free experience. This space can be used if someone wants to use your phone or if your kid is interested in using your phone and you do not want a kid to have access to everything. In this guide, we will take you through the essentials of setting up and using ‘Second Space’.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to use second account on the same phone

While the default apps that come with the phone are okay to use, there are much better applications out there that provide more functionality. For example, True Caller fans would want True caller’s dialer app to be default Phone app. Some prefer Opera or Firefox to be the default browser application.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to change default application

For some, there are some files/contacts/messages that they prefer to be hidden from prying eyes. In this guide, we show you how to hide messages from private contacts and files that need to be hidden.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Hide messages and files

Given that the size of displays is increasing year over year, it is difficult to reach top right and left corners. One hand mode shrinks the size of display so that you can reach the top edges (when you ahve to select or click on something there). In this guide, we help you understand how to setup one hand mode and how to enable/disable one hand mode.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to reduce display size for one hand use

With spam and prank call volume increasing day by day, it is necessary to have call recording on our phones. MIUI comes with built-in call recording and you can set the type of calls that need automatic call recording, especially those calls from spammers and customer care. In this guide, we will show you how to setup automatic call recording on your Redmi 4A.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A: How to record calls automatically

One thing that many neglects in a smartphone is the size of the text. Most smartphones offer different text sizes. In this guide, we show you how to select text size that suits your eyes.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to Change Text Size

One of the easiest ways to end a call is by tapping on power key. It is so easy that by the time you take the phone off of your ear, you can end the call. This is more helpful for those who are on per second billing. Lets see how to enable this hidden setting in MIUI.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Use power key to end phone call

The Redmi 4A has a notification light. While the default settings are simple, some would like different colours for notifications. In this guide, we take a look at how to change notifications for Redmi 4A.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Configure notification light

In MIUI, there is an option where you can send an SMS at a future date and time. This is helpful for those who think of sending SMS at a particular time but then forget about it. In this simple guide, we show you how to schedule an SMS in Xiaomi Redmi 4A.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Send SMS at specific date and time

Even though the bottom navigation buttons are set to perform specific action (e.g.: long press home to open Google Now), you can changes these actions. In this guide, we show how easy it is to changes the way navigations buttons work to your liking.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Change Navigation buttons settings

Themes application is one of the most popular applications that come bundled with Android phones. Unlike iOS where you only get to use rows and rows of icons and folders, Android lets you customise every part of the OS. Xiaomi’s MIUI is the best OS out there when it comes to supporting Themes. Themes in MIUI are extensive and have amazing quality. In this guide, we show you how to use Themes on Xiaomi Redmi 4A.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A: How to change Themes

Most of the time during day or night, we do not want to attend to unwanted calls. These days, we get a huge number of spam messages from vendors (sale, offers etc). Even though you add your number of national DND registry, the spam won’t stop. Setting up call and message blocking is one ideal way to make sure that only those who you prefer to contact you (call/sms) at any given point of time can reach out to you. MIUI 8’s blocklist feature is very powerful and can be heavily customised. In this post, we show you how to effectively customise block lists.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to block calls and SMS for select numbers

One of the irritating things with these OSes is that by default most touch sound and notifications sounds are enabled. These include sound for unlock/lock the phone, sound when a photo is taken, sound when you click on the screen, sound when you are typing. It is very easy to disable/enable these sounds.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to enable or disable touch sounds and other notification sounds

Taking screenshots in Xiaomi Redmi 4A is extremely easy. MIUI also supports long screenshot, which is helpful if the page is longer than the display length. Through this easy guide, you can learn how to take screenshots using Redmi 4A.

Learn how to take screenshots with Xiaomi Redmi 4A

There are different ways to update MIUI OS. You can download the patch/ROM and apply it manually but the easiest way is to use the Updater application. Most of the time, the OS looks for updates and throws a notification when there is an update.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to update your phone

There are certain applications in our phones that we do not want others to use. When one has kids at home who love using your phone, it is a safe practice to setup locks for applications as phone lock/unlock pin is not enough. App lock in MIUI 8 lets you unlock all or specific applications so that when the app is opened, you are prompted for unlock password.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : Lock applications for safety

Every smartphone these days come with an option to share internet connection. This means that you can setup your phone as a wireless router. This helps a lot for those who are always on the go and need to connect their laptop or tablet to the internet. With Jio, Airtel etc offering super low price data packs, internet sharing can save money.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to share the internet from your phone

The notification bar is one of the best features that Android brought to the smartphone industry. While iOS and other OSes also have the similar feature, there is no match to Android’s notification bar. The amount of customization that is available is unmatched. In this guide, we will take a look at how to customise the quick toggles. Quick Toggles are used to turn a feature (e.g.: Wi-Fi) on or off.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to change quick toggles in notification bar

Time and again, we end up with an application using up too much of cellular data or we may have set of apps that we never use while connected to the cellular network. It is a good practice to block these apps from using cellular data as even 10MB saved is data saved.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to block app from using cellular data

Cellular data is at a premium these days unless you are using Reliance Jio network. Setting up a warning and cut off when your monthly data quota is neared is essential to have. In this guide, we guide you to setup data limit on Xiaomi Redmi 4A.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A : How to restrict amount of data used per month

Miscellaneous tips and tricks

Make passwords visible/invisible 

When you set this option to invisible, pin or pattern that you enter at lock screen will not be visible. This helps a lot when you are in public and you have to use pin or pattern to log in (usually after a reboot). Go to Settings application, open additional settings. Open Privacy. Scroll down to find ‘Make passwords visible’ options. You can enable or disable this option based on your preference.

Shake to arrange icons

Pinch on the home screen to see customization window. Shake your phone once or twice and you will see that all the applications are neatly arranged in rows. If they are already arranged in rows, there is no point in performing this action.