Xiaomi Activity Control: How it Works, Why It Works, and How to Manage It

Have you ever noticed that your Xiaomi smartphone is too good at “knowing” your habits? Offers apps you just discussed with a friend, shows interest ads, or even hints at routes to places you planned to visit? Behind all this is an activity control system — a set of technologies that collect, analyze and use data about your interaction with the device. But how exactly does it work, what data is collected and can it be turned off?

In this article, we will discuss in detail what is the control of activity in Xiaomi, which mechanisms are responsible for it (including: MIUI Optimization, Mi Analytics and User Experience Program, how this data is used for personalization and advertising, and give step-by-step instructions for managing these settings. We will pay special attention to privacy issues – not all users are ready to share their digital activity even with the device manufacturer.

What is Xiaomi Activity Control and Why You Need It?

Activity monitoring in Xiaomi devices is a set of features that track how you use your smartphone, TV or other smart device of the brand.

• 🔍 Personalize the interface: for example, display frequently used apps on the home screen or offer quick action in the notification bar.
• 📊 Optimize performance: the system analyzes which processes are run more often and allocates resources (RAM, processor) more efficiently.
• 🎯 Show targeted advertising: based on the search history, installed applications and geolocation, advertising offers are formed in the MIUI and third-party services.
• 🛠️ Improve firmware: Anonymous bug and crash data is sent to Xiaomi for fixes in future updates.

It is important to understand that activity control is not a single function, but a whole range of services, including:

• 📱 MIUI Optimization – Optimizes the system based on your habits.
• 📈 Mi Analytics – collects statistics about device usage (including crashes and errors).
• 🌍 User Experience Program – User Experience Improvement Program (Voluntary Participation).
• 📍 Location Services – geolocation tracking for maps, weather and advertising.

Most of these features are enabled by default, but they can be disabled or limited.However, completely disabling activity control can lead to poor performance and loss of some functions. MIUI, such as a smart assistant or adaptive brightness.

What data is collected by Xiaomi: full list

The manufacturer claims to collect only anonymous and aggregated data, but in practice the list of tracked information is much wider.

Location data collection is a particularly controversial issue, and even if you turn off geolocation in your settings, some system services (e.g. com.miui.analytics) can continue to send approximate coordinates through the location. IP-Address or data about connected Wi-Fi networks.

⚠️ In 2021, researchers from Forbes found that Xiaomi smartphones send data about visited websites and search queries to servers in Singapore and Russia, even if the user did not consent to this. After the scandal, the company promised to fix the problem, but did not achieve full transparency.

If you're concerned about privacy, we recommend that you check regularly what permissions are given to apps and disable those that are not.

How to turn off activity control in Xiaomi: step-by-step instructions

To limit data collection, you need to deactivate several key functions. MIUI 12/13/14 (On older versions, the paths may be slightly different).

Disable Mi Analytics in the privacy settings|

Sign out of the User Experience Program|

Limiting permits for MIUI Optimization|

Turn off personalized advertising |

Reset the advertising ID-->

1. Disable Mi Analytics

This is the main statistics collection service, so you can deactivate it.

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → All the parameters.
2. Find the Mi Analytics item (can be called Analytics) MIUI).
3. Turn off the slider Participate in the improvement program MIUI.
4. Go back and select Usage Statistics, then turn off Submit Error Reports.

2. Exit from the User Experience Program

This program collects data about interactions with the interface, and then it leaves.

1. Open the Settings. → The phone. → All parameters. → User Experience Program.
2. Press Exit and confirm the action.

3. Limitation MIUI Optimization

This service is responsible for personalizing the interface, to reduce its impact:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find it. MIUI Optimization (or Optimization) MIUI).
3. Open Permissions and disable Location, Contacts and Call Log.
4. In the Battery section, select Limit background activity.

4. Disabling personalized advertising

To advertise in MIUI became less intrusive:

1. Go to Settings → Privacy → Advertising Services.
2. Turn off Personalized Recommendations.
3. Click Reset Advertising ID (this will make your profile anonymous to advertisers).

⚠️ Note: After disabling these functions, some features MIUI It can work incorrectly, like the weather on the home screen will stop updating, or the system will take longer to boot after restarting.

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If the device is slower after the analytics has been turned off, try manually adding frequently used applications to the Protected list (Settings) → Battery → Secure applications. This will help avoid automatic closure.

Hidden settings: how to completely stop surveillance

Even after all visible options are disabled, Xiaomi can continue to collect data through system services, and to block them, you will need to use hidden settings or third-party tools to block them.

1. Disconnection through ADB (for advanced users)

If you have experience working with ADB (Android Debug Bridge, you can manually deactivate the system applications responsible for data collection:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times press to unlock Developer Mode, then Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging over USB).
2. Open the command line on your PC and type in: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics This will disable the main analytics module.
3. To block other services, use the commands: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.ab.test adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution

⚠️ Warning: Misuse of the right ADB This can cause system instability. Make a backup copy of the data before executing the commands.

2. use of Firewall (blocking network traffic)

Apps like NetGuard or AFWall+ Allows you to block Internet access for Xiaomi system services:

1. Open the firewall and find it in the app list: com.miui.analytics com.xiaomi.ab.test com.miui.systemAdSolution

Turn off Wi-Fi and mobile data for them.

Installation of custom firmware

The most radical way is to reflash the device to custom firmware (like LineageOS or Pixel Experience), which removes all Xiaomi services.

• 🔧 Requires unlocking the bootloader (risk of loss of warranty).
• 📱 It may cause some functions to fail (e.g., cameras or other functions). NFC).
• 🔄 It will require regular manual updates.

Monitoring activity in other Xiaomi devices (not just smartphones)

Xiaomi is not only collecting data from smartphones, but also from other smart devices: TVs, fitness bracelets, routers and even vacuum cleaners.

1. Mi TVs TV redmi TV

The TVs on PatchWall (the Xiaomi branded shell) track:

• 📺 Viewed channels and applications (Netflix, YouTube, etc.).
• 🕒 Time to view and switch between sources.
• 🔊 Use of voice assistant (if enabled).

To disable data collection:

1. Go to Settings → Account and Security → Privacy.
2. Disable Personalized Recommendations and Submit Usage Data.

2. Mi Band fitness bracelets and Xiaomi Watch

Wearable devices collect:

• 🏃‍♂️ Physical activity data (steps, pulse, sleep).
• 📍 Geolocation (if enabled) GPS).
• 🔋 Information about connected devices (e.g. smartphone).

To restrict access:

1. In the Mi Fitness app, go to Profile → Settings → Confidentiality.
2. Disable Anonymous Data Send and restrict access to geolocation.

3.Xiaomi Mi Router routers

Routers can record:

• 🌐 History of visited sites (if parental controls are enabled).
• 📡 Traffic statistics by device.
• 🔌 Data on connected gadgets (MAC-address).

To disable the collection:

1. Go to the router's web interface (192.168.31.1).
2. Go to Additional Settings → Systemic tools → Privacy settings.
3. Turn off participation in the improvement program.

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Even if you turn off data collection on one Xiaomi device, other gadgets in the ecosystem can continue to send information.

How to Check What Data Xiaomi Has Collected About You

If you want to know what information Xiaomi stores about your activity, you can request the archive of data through the official service of the company.

1. Go to account.xiaomi.com and log in.
2. Select Account Settings → Confidentiality → Request data.
3. Specify the period (e.g. the last 6 months) and confirm the request.
4. In 2-7 days you will receive a letter with a link to download the archive.

In the archives you will find:

• 📱 List of installed and removed applications.
• 📍 Geolocation history (if included).
• 📊 Statistics of device usage (activity time, battery charge, etc.).
• 🔧 Logs of errors and failures.

⚠️ Note: In 2023, users in Europe and the United States reported that Xiaomi’s data archives contained incomplete information, for example, they might not contain data about search queries or visited websites, although they are technically collected. This is due to local privacy laws (for example, GDPR EU).

If you find data in the archive that you do not want to store, you can request their deletion through the same Privacy section on the Xiaomi website.

Xiaomi’s alternatives: Which brands collect less data

If you don’t like Xiaomi’s privacy policy, consider alternative brands that collect less data or provide more control.

If you’re not ready to part ways with Xiaomi but want more privacy, consider:

• 📱 Install custom firmware (for example, LineageOS without Google services).
• 🛡️ Use of the VPN Firewall to block traffic.
• 🔄 Regular cleaning of cache and system application data.

FAQ: Frequent questions about activity control in Xiaomi