Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation when an obscure icon or “human” appears on the screen that interferes with the view or work with the interface. This element can look like a small person, a silhouette, a robot or just a strange icon located in the lower right or upper corner of the display, most often not a virus, but an integrated feature of the MIUI or HyperOS system, which was activated accidentally or as a result of a firmware update.
Having extraneous elements on the screen is annoying, overlapping content in apps, and can create the false impression that the phone is infected with malware. However, 95% of cases are related to the Mi Assistant feature, Quick Ball, or Accessibility Shortcut mode. Understanding what caused this “human” to appear is the first step to eliminating it.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all the possible causes of icons on the screen and provide step-by-step instructions for disabling them, learn how to distinguish system assistant from third-party app, how to adjust availability settings, and how to check your phone for advertising junk if standard methods have not worked.
Identification of the “man”: what is this element
Before you start deleting, you need to determine exactly which component of the system or application is displayed on the display. The appearance of the icon can vary depending on the version of the shell and the region of the firmware. If you see a translucent person who responds to touch or appears when you press buttons, it is almost certainly the Mi Assistant.
This assistant is designed to control the phone with voice or gestures, but many users find it redundant. If the “human” is a floating button with a set of functions (screenshot, menu, home), it is a Quick Ball function or “Floating button” It simulates a physical navigation button and often appears after resetting or changing the phone model.
⚠️ Warning: If the icon doesn’t disappear after the reboot, looks aggressive (blinks, covers the entire screen) or suggests installing an antivirus, this may be a sign of an ad virus. In this case, standard system settings may not help, and you will need to remove the recently installed applications.
Sometimes users confuse system elements with overlays of third-party applications, for example, messengers can display avatars of interlocutors, and launchers can display widgets or floating windows, and it is important to check whether the “human” appears immediately after turning on the phone or only when a certain program starts.
Disconnecting Mi Assistant (Assistant)
The most likely candidate for the role of “human” is the built-in voice assistant, which is activated by default in Chinese firmware versions, but can also be found in global builds after updates. To remove this element, you need to delve into the settings of special features of the system.
Go to the Settings menu and find the Additional Features section or select Advanced Settings. Depending on the version of MIUI, the path may vary slightly. Find the Accessibility subsection. This is where the gesture and voice management settings are hidden.
☑️ Checking the Mi Assistant settings
Inside the Mi Assistant menu, you'll see several switches, you're interested in the voice assistant and voice response options, turn them off, and you'll also want to check the button management settings, because sometimes the assistant is called by pressing the power or volume button for a long time, which can cause the icon to appear accidentally.
If the standard path didn't work, search by settings, type the word "Assistant" or "Assistant" into the search box, and the system will suggest you go to the menu, and make sure you turn off the system component, not the third-party program with the same name.
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Use a Settings Search (a magnifier at the top of the settings screen) to instantly find either “Mi Assistant” or “Voice Control” without wandering through the menu.
Removal of the floating button (Quick Ball)
The second most popular reason for the appearance of a “human” or round icon is the Quick Ball feature, which creates a virtual button on the screen that performs navigation functions, and while it is useful for devices with damaged physical buttons, it interferes with many users.
To turn off, go to Settings → Additional Features → Floating Button. In some versions of the shell, this item may be called Quick Ball. Inside, you will see a master switch that activates or deactivates the function. Turn it off, and the icon immediately disappears from the screen.
| Function | Location on the menu | Impact on the battery | Necessity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mi Assistant | Special capabilities | Low. | For voice control |
| Quick Ball | Floating button | Low. | Replacement of physical buttons |
| Overlays of applications | Special capabilities | Depends on the app. | Different. |
You can also set the behavior of the button in the same menu if you don't want to delete it completely, but only change its appearance or actions, but you just need to put the switch off to completely disappear the person.
It’s worth noting that on some Redmi and POCO models with HyperOS shells, the menu layout may have changed. If you don’t find an item in “Additional Features”, try searching for it in Settings → Screen or Settings → Home.
Checking of imposition permits (Overlays)
If the human is not a system function of Xiaomi, it is almost certainly an overlay of a third-party application. Many programs (messengers, memory cleaners, voice recorders, currency calculators) request permission to “Display over other apps,” which allows them to draw their icons on top of any running programs.
To find the culprit, go to Settings → Protection → Privacy → Special features → Display on top of other applications. This list will show all programs that have the right to display images on top of the main interface.
⚠️ Warning: Be careful when disabling system applications in this menu. Disabling critical services can disrupt your phone.
If you see an app called Clearer, Battery Saver, Flashlight, or a brand you don't know, you've probably found the source of the problem. Click on it and choose to disable or completely uninstall the app.
How to find a hidden virus application?
Removing malware and advertising
In rare cases, the appearance of an intrusive “human” may indicate an adware infection of the device, often disguised as system processes or useful utilities, and may appear after installing applications from unverified sources or clicking on advertising links.
The first step is to check for newly installed applications. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps and sort the list by installation date. If you see an application that you don’t remember or that was installed when the problem occurred, delete it immediately.
Also worth checking for access rights in the Special Options section: Malware often requires broad permissions to intercept screen control. Go to Settings → Additional Features → Special Options and see which apps have active access. If you see anything suspicious there (except system services and launchers you know) disable access.
- 📱 Remove all unknown applications, especially “cleaners” and “accelerators».
- 🛡️ Run the built-in antivirus through the Security app.
- 🔄 Check system updates as new security patches can block known viruses.
If you can’t remove the app in the usual way (the “Delete” button is inactive), then the virus has given itself the device administrator rights. In this case, go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy → Device administrators (the path may vary) and uncheck the suspicious application. Only then it can be deleted.
Setting up navigation buttons and gestures
Sometimes, people refer to navigation controls that appeared after resetting or updating. Newer versions of MIUI and HyperOS use gesture control by default, but virtual buttons can be activated when switching from another phone or after reset.
To change the navigation type, go to Settings → Desktop → Navigation System. Here you can choose between Full-screen Mode (gestures) and Buttons. If you have buttons, try switching to gestures, this will remove the bottom bar with Home, Back and Menu buttons.
Also on this menu is the Hide Tips setting, and if you're annoyed by thin stripes or icons that appear when swipes, turn on this option, which will make the interface cleaner and remove the visual noise at the bottom of the screen.
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Switching to full-screen gesture control not only removes unnecessary elements from the screen, but also visually increases the useful area of the display.
Resetting and extreme measures
If none of these methods helped remove the human and it keeps appearing, there may have been a deep breakdown in the configuration of the system, in which case a more radical intervention may be needed.
The first step is to reset your application settings. This will not delete your personal data (photos, contacts), but will return all system and application settings to factory values. You can do this through the restore menu or in the system settings by finding the item “Reset settings” → “Reset all settings” (don’t confuse it with a full data reset!).
If that doesn't work, the last option is a full reset to the factory settings (Hard Reset).Warning: this action will delete all data from the phone.Be sure to back up important files before starting the procedure. Once reset, the phone will be as new, and third-party viruses or erroneous settings are guaranteed to disappear.