During the confrontation between Apple and Samsung, Xiaomi managed to make a loud statement with the Mi Band 4 bracelet. It tracks fitness activities, heartbeat, can control music and performs many other actions. The "four" has a bright AMOLED display, improved identifier and exercise sensors.
The main competitor of the new model is the Honor Band 5. However, developers from all over the world are coming up with applications that expand its standard options, which makes the Mi Band 4 cooler. For example, you can see the names of incoming subscribers during a call, choose different watch faces, etc. It is worth getting to know a few of these programs better.
Notify & Fitness
Notify & Fitness has many interesting features, but requires synchronization with Mi Fit or Gadgetbridge. By default, Mi Band 4 can display notifications. Using Notify & Fitness, you can read messages, set alarms and reminders. There is a set of watch faces from different developers.
An interesting option is setting up notifications for friends and relatives. There is a history of readings, pulse and sleep graphs. The data is displayed on the screen in a convenient form. exported to a number of applications. You can set up repeat reminders for almost all types of notifications, not to forget about a missed call, for example. And the application also synchronizes with Google Maps.
The utility has too many features to list them all in one article. It costs $5, but it definitely works out every penny. There are paid services - synchronization with Strava and Runkeeper, which will make working with them more convenient. The free version (with ads) also has many features.
The latest version of the app adds a watch face designer for Mi Band 5.
Navigation
Notify & Fitness has a navigation feature, but the utility Navigation definitely worth a look, as it only costs $1 and works very well. By selecting a destination on your smartphone in Google Maps, you can see the turns, distance to the destination, and expected arrival time on the bracelet screen. Now you don't have to constantly hold your phone in your hand to see the route. Russian language support is available.
Master for Mi Band
Application Master for Mi Band constantly updated, new functionality is added. The latest versions have added a smart lock, the ability to flash Mi Band 5 (.fw, .res), set a password, interval measurement of heart rate and sleep without a phone. Of course, there is a sleep analysis, a smart alarm clock and a call notification. With heavy physical exertion, the high heart rate notification option will be especially useful. If you have Android 5.0, you can control the music and volume. There is a function for displaying the weather and humidity.
Gadgetbridge
Gadgetbridge — a good alternative to Mi-Fit: the problem with this app is that you can’t opt out of transferring personal data to their server or delete this information. It has all the features (sleep tracking, alarm clock, physical activity tracker, etc.). However, to sync with it, due to recent changes in the Mi Band 4 firmware, you will now only need a smartphone with the Android operating system.
Switching from one fitness bracelet to another is difficult because there is no way to exchange data between systems: all information remains in the memory of the bracelet on which it was recorded. GadgetBridge is an open-source application that works with many smart watches and fitness trackers, such as Mi Band, Amazefit, Pebble, Casio, Lenovo and others. Therefore, you can always save and import your data to them.
Tools & Mi Band
Application Tools & Mi Band — paid, but costs only $4. Here, unlike Gadgetbridge, the range of available functions is significantly expanded. For example, you can set up notifications for individual contacts from WhatsApp or your phone book. This program requires synchronization with Mi Fit or Gadgetbridge.
In Mi Tools, you can set up custom reminders or alarms. For example, reminder to drink water every 2 hours. With Mi Tools, you no longer need to be tied to desktop computers or laptops to receive notifications.
The Mi Band 4's automatic DND feature silences any notifications while you're asleep or busy. It syncs with Android's Sleep as. You can view caller names, messages, custom alarms, repeat notifications, and templates. There's no data export to Runtastic or Strava.
Mi Band 5 is fully supported! You can control watch faces, gestures, and sensors. There is a function for extracting SMS codes for quick confirmation of purchases in online stores. There is a cancel button, mute button, and heart rate monitor. Tasker widgets and plugins are supported.
AmazFaces Watchface
The AMOLED display has not yet reached perfect clarity, but the manufacturer has provided the ability to install new watch faces from the Internet in the Mi-Fit application. They must first be downloaded using AmazFace.
The application has a large selection of dials (more than 35 thousand) for all Xiaomi watches. Including animated ones. There is a search by tags, categories. There is a function for creating an individual dial with the ability to install any GIF image.
Watchface
Mi Band 4 comes with a color display. Watchface — is an app for changing the default watch face. With a special app with hundreds of watch faces to choose from, you will definitely not be bored. You can filter them by different parameters, click the "Install" button, then open Mi Fit and select this watch face.
Band Selfie
Band Selfie allows you to set up your fitness tracker as a remote camera shutter. The settings are a bit complicated, but you can figure it out. There is an important caveat: it only works with cameras like Open Camera, Bison Camera, Night Selfie Camera.
Band Selfie is great for taking selfies — the fitness bracelet will work as a remote control for the front camera of your smartphone. This feature is especially useful for group shots: no one will have to leave the frame to take a photo.
For correct operation, install and launch Open Camera, it will automatically detect Mi Band 4. Then go to the Music screen on the bracelet to take a photo. You cannot use music control when the selfie mode is on.
The application is distributed free of charge and does not contain advertising.