How To Use Mi Band With Windows Phone Explained - All You Need To Know

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  Satya Swaroop Dash

  How To Get Started?
  
  To get started you must have a Mi Band, we shall be using a Mi Band 2 to demonstrate the process. Head over to the Store on your Windows Phone and search for “Bind Mi Band” or follow the #-Link-Snipped-#. Once you have installed the app, you can pay Rs. 92 to get the PRO app for a year or pay Rs. 192 to the PRO version for a lifetime. We recommend spending the extra cash because that not only supports the developer but also gives you sleep tracking and analysis, walks and sleep tracking history and OneDrive cloud data synchronisation.
  
  

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  What Do I Do After I Have Installed The App?
  
  Head over to the Bluetooth quick action button or go though settings to turn on Bluetooth. Once you have turned on Bluetooth you can see Mi Band 2 in the list. Tap to pair and you will see that it is connected to your Windows Phone.
  
  

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  Once that is done, fire up the app from the start menu. As you can see below there is the start screen followed by the changelog.
  
  

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  Next, you have to put your personal information into the app. You have to enter your name, gender, height, weight, steps and sleep goal. The app collects this information to fine tune the calories burnt figure. You might notice that the calories burnt figure on the Mi Band 2 and the app differs, this is because of the app settings.
  
  

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  Next, you have to grant the Bind Mi Band access to Mi Band 2. Once it has gained the access, it shall ask you to bind the Mi Band with the app. You shall get a prompt on your Mi Band 2 to hit the sensor button to bind the app. Once that is done you get to the home screen of the app.
  
  

  
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  Next, you might want to go to settings in the Bind Me Bind app and tap on OneDrive so that it can import and export data to the cloud for synchronisation. You might notice something called the Notify Mi Band here but we shall get to it later into the post.
  
  

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• 

  Satya Swaroop Dash

  How To Operate The Bind Mi Band App?
  
  You can see three icons on top where you can see your daily walk progress, sleep schedule and current heart rate.
  
  

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  On the bottom, you see three icons. The first icon refreshes the information from the Mi Band. The second button allows you to configure alarms. On older Mi Bands you can add up to 3 alarms. On Mi Band 2 you can add up to 10 alarms.
  
  How To Add Alarms?
  
  Here is a quick guide on how to add alarms. Hit the alarm icon which is located below. Once you are in the alarm sub-menu hit the plus icon. Then you can add the alarm. You can set the alarm time, days on which the alarm vibrates and switch it on or off. A little tip regarding alarms, the alarm vibrates for three seconds every 15 minutes until you take a few steps. This is to make sure that you get off the bed quickly.
  
  

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  Finally, on the end, you have the history button where you can see in a graphical or tabular format the steps you have taken and the time you have slept.
  
  

  
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• 

  Satya Swaroop Dash

  How Do I Change The Settings of the Mi Band 2?
  
  Once you hit ‘device’ on the burger menu you are led to the most important part of the menu, the menu that lets you control the Mi Band 2. Here you can check the battery percentage and last charged date on the top.
  
  

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  Next, you have the firmware update option that was introduced on the latest version of the Bind Mi Band app. Firmware update does not seem to bring you the latest firmware as I noticed the firmware got updated to 1.0.1.34 on the Mi Fit app latest update but sadly that did not come on the Bind Mi Band app. You can still update the firmware if you are stuck on the factory version. A handy guide on the firmware update and problems associated with this issue can be found #-Link-Snipped-#.
  
  Next, on the list, we have the wear location, you can set whether you wear the Mi Band on the left hand, right hand or neck (which is nearly impossible).
  
  You have the display setting just below that, where you can configure what items you want to display on the Mi Band 2. Since I like all the information, I have selected all the options, you can choose to select or deselect any display items of your choice. The new setting here is the ability to toggle the date display on or off on the home screen of the Mi Band 2.
  
  

  
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  Next, on the dossier, you get the activity reminder. Remember in the Mi Band 2 article we had mentioned that the Mi Band 2 reminds you if you have been sitting idle for over an hour or more. This setting relates to that. You can set it on and set the times in the day between which you want the get reminded to walk.
  
  

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  The do not disturb option comes next where you can ask the Mi Band 2 display to switch off whenever you want it to. This is particularly useful during the night where you do not want the OLED display to shine bright in your face. The do not disturb mode fires up on its own when the Mi Band 2 realises you are asleep. A moon icon lights up on the Mi Band 2 to let you know that the mode has been switched on. You can also configure the times in which you want the Mi Band 2 to get into this mode. You can change if you want the watch to highlight on wrist lift action which comes next in the menu.
  
  

  
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  Finally, you have the flip display on wrist rotate, show goal reached notification and measure heart rate during sleep. The flip display on wrist rotate lets you switch you between screens on the Mi Band 2 with the flick of the wrist instead of touching the sensor button. You got the “goal reached” notification that alerts you when you have completed your daily quota of steps. Finally, you have the measure heart rate during sleep which enhances the reading on the sleep data by analysing your heart rate.
  
  

  
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  On the profile menu its lets you change any of the personal data that you entered during app start. The settings menu is next which we talked about earlier.
  
  Finally, you have got the about menu, which lists the app version and changelog.
  

  
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• 

  Satya Swaroop Dash

  The Icing On The Cake: #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  The same developer has also released another app that takes into account that the Mi Band 2 is able to send notifications. The app is free to download but you need to be on the Windows 10 Anniversary Update or later in order to make this app work. Once you download and install the app you need to authorise it using the settings in the Bind Mi Band app. The process takes a few moments.
  
  

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  You have the Notify Mi Band now with you and the app list gets updated whenever a new notification pops on the notification menu of your Windows Phone. You can select whether you want any particular app to notify you or not or switch the entire thing off.
  
  

  
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  You also get the capability to set the schedule, the times between which you want the Mi Band 2 to inform you.
  
  

  
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  Finally on the menu there is the FAQ section which answers all your queries about the app.
  
  

  
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  There are however a few problems associated with using Notify Mi Band. Unlike the Android app that alerts you about an incoming call with the caller’s name the Windows Phone version fails as there is no way of sending that information to the Mi Band 2 as the Windows API restricts it. Next drawback is that, you get the same icon every time an alert fires up. In Android there are separate icons which let you know if it is a Facebook notification or a WhatsApp message but sadly on the Windows Phone Notify Mi Band you get the same icon for every app which is a bit confusing.
• 

  Satya Swaroop Dash

  Conclusion
  
  As you have seen we have explained in length how you can use Mi Band with your Windows Phone. Surely there are a few advantages if you are on Windows 10 Mobile but the Mi Band works fine with the older operating system, Windows Phone 8.1. We have to inform you that using Bind Mi Band and Notify Mi Band can never replace the Mi Fit band on Android and iOS as they have much more features such as a running mode, activity logging and firmware update. The developer assures that he will include the features depending upon the restrictions of the Windows ecosystem. We disliked the fact that that the developer is asking money for a simple feature as sleep tracking which comes free with the Mi Fit but we also appreciate the fact that it allows us to backup our progress to OneDrive which comes in handy if we have an app crash or reinstall. Overall the apps are a nice way to use your Mi Band with Windows Phone, as it is said better something than nothing.
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  Ankita Katdare

  What an informative article. They could use your tutorials in their own FAQ section. Thank you so much. This really helps.
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  Dipankar Ganguly

  Who uses windows phone these days? 😁
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  Bharat Yadav

  What a great explanation bro.... Keep it up.... Also I wanted to know whether it will work with mi band 3 or not? 

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  Jasmine SA

  I use mi band with my Android  and it is super easy to install. ?