The Redmi 5, the newest model from Xiaomi, the king of the low-cost smartphone market, is already proving to be a worthy successor to the Redmi line of devices. In fact, we already gave the phone high marks in our comprehensive review. Although this smartphone has excellent mechanical features, it’s the software that truly caught our attention. During our testing of this new product, we found some hacks and suggestions that will improve your Redmi 5 experience. We’re going to share these Redmi 5 hints and features with you in this article so you may benefit from them as well:
The Best Redmi 5 Features and Tricks
1. Fullscreen Mode for Apps
As you may already be aware, the Redmi 5 has a stunning 18:9 screen. I’ve always liked 18:9 displays because, in addition to giving us more vertical space, their narrower width makes even large phones easier to hold with one hand. Having said that, not all apps are optimised for smartphones with 18:9 displays; as a result, some of them display unattractive black bars at the top and bottom. Xiaomi offers you the option to turn on full-screen mode for each app, which aids in solving this issue. Go to Settings > Additional Settings > Button and gesture shortcuts > Fullscreen mode to accomplish that.
To avoid ever having to see the dreadful black bars again, you may turn on full-screen mode for specific apps here.
2. Customize App Vault
One of MIUI’s best features is the App Vault function, which lets users swipe from left to right on their home screen to rapidly access app shortcuts, notes, apps, and other information. Indian users of the Redmi 5 can also take use of various features that Xiaomi has developed specifically for Indian users.
The Ola and Cricket cards in App Vault are my favourites. I can instantly book cabs using my Ola card, and I can track cricket results using my Cricket card. I adore how you can select your preferred teams, and the cricket card will then only display the scores for those teams, allowing you to personalise your experience.
3. Quick Ball
The Quick Ball, which enables users to swiftly explore its interface, is another fantastic Redmi 5 feature. The function essentially enables a floating ball on the Redmi 5’s display that users may tap to access various instructions. Go to Settings -> Additional settings -> Quick ball and turn on the toggle next to Turn on Quick ball to enable Quick Ball.
The ability to move Quick Ball across the screen is its strongest feature. I enjoy being able to position the Quick Ball on the left edge of the screen and use just one hand to navigate the Redmi 5’s interface because I use my phone largely with my left hand.
4. Second Space
The Redmi 5’s second area, which essentially enables us to run two instances of the same programme, is a useful feature. For instance, you can operate two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone by using the second space option. It’s incredibly helpful because it lets me continue using the same phone for both my personal and professional accounts. Go to Settings -> Second Space, hit the Turn on Second Space button, and then follow the on-screen instructions to establish a second space on your phone.
You’ll note that both slots are considered as different phones once you’ve made your second spot. Therefore, you can essentially run two instances of whatever app you choose. Simply pull down the notification shade, tap on the permanent space switching notification, and then confirm with your lock screen password to move between the spaces.
5. Do More With Gestures and Buttons
Another key feature of the Redmi 5 is gestures, which make it easier for users to traverse the interface and carry out tasks like accessing the camera and taking screenshots. Go to Settings -> Additional settings -> Button and gesture Shortcut to use these gestures and button shortcuts.
You can access tasks like starting the camera, taking screenshots, and starting Google Assistants from this page and create your own custom gestures and buttons for them. Double clicking the power button to start the camera and sliding with three fingers to take screenshots are two of my favourite operations.
6. Customize Navigation Bar
There are no hardware buttons on the Redmi 5, therefore you will need to use the software buttons on the screen because the device has a nearly bezel-less display. You cannot deny the advantages of on-screen buttons, regardless of whether you despise them or adore them. One option is to flip the recent and back buttons, or even to conceal them all at once, to free up more screen space. You must navigate to Settings -> Additional settings -> Button and gesture shortcuts, scroll down to the Screen buttons area, and then make your changes to the navigation bar.
Switch the recent and back buttons by turning on the Mirror Buttons option here. The navigation bar will disappear if the Hide soft buttons are enabled. After that, by just swiping upward from the bottom of the screen, you may easily reach the software buttons.
7. Split-Screen Multitasking
The Redmi 5 has a sizable 5.7-inch display, and if you aren’t multitasking, you aren’t utilising it.
Tap the Recent button at the upper left of the screen, followed by the Split screen button, to begin multitasking. Simply choose the apps you wish to use in split-screen mode at this point, and you’re done.
8. Customizable One-Handed Mode
Additionally, I appreciate that neither programme must be used in half-screen mode. In reality, to resize the apps in split screen mode, hold and drag the middle bar. In the split-screen mode, you may easily give an app more room if you wish to.
While the Quick Ball feature is quite useful for one-handed use, it is not without flaws. Thankfully, there is a one-handed mode that can be used to make using your phone with one hand simple. Go to Settings -> Additional settings -> One-handed mode to turn it on.
9. Locking Home Screen Layout
Choose the desired screen size for your one-handed mode here, then turn on the toggle. Once the toggle is on, going into one-handed mode is as simple as swiping left or right from the virtual home button. All you have to do to get out of one-handed mode is tap anywhere on the area that has been darkened.
10. Lock Apps
If you’re anything like me, setting up your home screen layout is taking a while because MIUI 9 doesn’t have an app drawer. I therefore don’t want to allow anyone, even unintentionally, to alter my layout. Because of this, I keep the configuration of my home screen locked to prevent tampering. To access the editing mode and lock your home screen layout, pinch in with two fingers first. Click Settings to activate the option to lock the home screen layout.
One of MIUI 9’s biggest features on the Redmi 5 is its ability to lock specific apps, which increases privacy.
Use These Features and Tricks to Use Redmi 5 Like A Pro
Go to Settings, scroll down to find App lock, and tap it to lock an app. Set the password by tapping the Set password button here. You can also turn on the unlock with fingerprint toggle to quickly unlock your apps using your fingerprint and avoid the annoyance of repeatedly typing your password.
