Google introduced a new feature in Android 11 to help users easily control their smart home devices with their smartphones. The feature, called Device Controls, added home automation shortcuts in the Power Menu, allowing users to easily access all connected smart home devices in one place. But while Google intended the Device Controls to show up in the Power Menu on all devices running Android 11, some manufacturers, like Xiaomi, have placed it in a different location on their respective Android skins. So, if you have a Xiaomi device running Android 11, here's how you can access the Device Controls feature on your phone:

To access Device Controls on a Xiaomi Device running MIUI 12 based on Android 11, you'll first need to enable the new Control center on the phone. For that, you'll have to head over to the device Settings, tap on the Display option, and then select the Control center & Notification shade option. Here, tap on the toggle next to the "Use new Control center" option.

Xiaomi MIUI 12 Android 11 Device Controls in Control center

Once that's enabled, head back to your home screen and open the new Control center. As you can see in the screenshot, you'll see the new Device Controls section in the Control center underneath the Quick Settings toggles. Here's a short clip (via Reddit user u/budgetgameri3) of how the new Device Controls feature works in MIUI 12:

It's worth noting that this Device Controls implementation in MIUI 12 isn't new by any means. Xiaomi first announced it all the way back in September last year, but a lot of users are just getting to know of its existence. This isn't surprising, as many OEMs do a poor job of educating users about all the new features in their latest software releases. Hopefully, this article made you aware of its existence, because we certainly feel it's a useful feature.