How to change the voice assistant on Xiaomi devices: from Xiao AI Google Assistant and Alice

Voice assistants on Xiaomi devices are not only a convenient tool for managing a smartphone or smart appliances, but also a key element of the ecosystem. MIUI. By default, most of the company’s gadgets are installed Xiao AI — It is a proprietary assistant with limited functionality outside of China, but many users prefer alternatives: Google Assistant for global tasks or Yandex Alice for Russian-language content.

In this article, we will discuss how to completely replace the voice assistant on Xiaomi, including smartphones (Redmi, POCO, Mi, TVs (Mi) TV), You'll learn about smart speakers (Xiaomi Smart Speaker) and even wearables:

• 🔹 How to turn off Xiao AI functionally;
• 🔹 Google Assistant installation (including bypassing regional restrictions);
• 🔹 Setting up Yandex Alice on phones and TV;
• 🔹 Solving common errors (e.g., "Voice assistant fails to respond").

Important: The procedure differs depending on the device model and version MIUI. We cover the current firmware from 2023-2026, but if your device is older, check compatibility at the end of the article (section). FAQ).

1.Why users want to change voice assistant to Xiaomi

Branded Xiao AI It is optimized for the Chinese market, which creates a number of inconveniences:

• 🌍 Limited geography: many teams (weather, news, smart home management) operate only in China;
• 🗣️ Poor support for Russian: Speech recognition and responses often contain errors;
• 🔒 Data collection: Xiao AI Transmitting voice requests to Xiaomi servers, raising privacy questions;
• 🛠️ Lack of integration with global services (Google Calendar, Gmail, Yandex.Weather).

Alternatives address these challenges:

💡 Tip: If you use a Xiaomi smart home (like Mi Home or Aqara), check the compatibility of the alternative assistant with your devices.For example, Alice supports most sensors, but may not control some Chinese gadgets.

2. How to turn off Xiao AI on a Xiaomi smartphone

Before installing a new assistant, you need to deactivate the standard one. MIUI The path may be different, but the general logic remains:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type Xiao AI (or Voice Assistant).
3. Select the app and click Disable (or Remove Updates if the Disable button is inactive).
4. Back to Settings → System system → Gestures and buttons and disable the call assistant:

• 🔘 Long-term hold of the Home button;
• 🔘 Swipe gesture from the corner of the screen;
• 🔘 The voice command “OK, Google” (if it conflicts).

⚠️ Note: On some devices (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro with a MIUI 14) Xiao shutdown AI It could cause a system launcher to crash:

⚠️ Note: If after the Xiao shutdown AI Desktop is lost, restart your phone in Safe Mode (hold the power button) → "Restart Safe Mode") and turn the assistant back on. Then use the method with ADB (described below).

For complete removal (requires an unlocked bootloader and root):

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.voiceassist

Make a backup copy of the data

Check the version of MIUI (Settings → About the phone)

Make sure that an alternative assistant is installed

Have it on hand ADB-tools (in case of failure)-->

3. Install Google Assistant on Xiaomi

Google Assistant is the most versatile option for users outside of China, however, on Xiaomi devices for the European/global market (with firmware). EEA Or Global, it can be disabled by default. Here's how to activate it:

Method 1: Through settings (for official firmware)

1. Make sure your phone has Google services installed (check Settings). → Annexes → Google).
2. Open Settings → Google → Settings for Google apps → Search, Assistant and Voice.
3. Choose Google Assistant → General settings → switch on.
4. Back to Settings → System system → Gestures and buttons and assign an assistant to hold the Home button.

Method 2: For Chinese firmware (via ADB)

If you have China Stable firmware (e.g., Xiaomi 13 Ultra), Google Assistant may be blocked.

1. Connect your phone to your PC and activate Debugging over USB (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times press to unlock the developer mode).
2. Download. ADB-tools and execute the command:

adb shell settings put global assistant com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.OpaActivity

adb shell settings put secure assistant com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.OpaActivity

⚠️ Note: On certain devices (e.g, POCO F5) After this step, you may need to reset the assistant settings:

⚠️ Note: If Google Assistant does not start, clear the cache and data of the Google app in Settings → Apps, then restart the phone.

💡

To ensure that Google Assistant runs on Chinese firmware without any problems, set your phone region to “USA” or “UK” in your Google account settings.

4.Setting up Alice Yandex on Xiaomi

Yandex Alice is the best choice for Russian-speaking users due to its deep integration with local services (Yandex.Weather, Music, Maps).

Step 1: Installation of the application

• 📱 Download the official Yandex app with Alice from Google Play;
• 🔧 Allow all permissions requested (microphone, location, auto-run);
• 🔄 Restart the phone after installation.

Step 2: Assigning Alice as the default assistant

Unfortunately, Xiaomi does not allow you to directly replace the system assistant with Alice, but there are workarounds:

1. Through the Yandex app:

Through ADB (for advanced users)

adb shell am start -a android.settings.VOICE_INPUT_SETTINGS

Then manually select Yandex Alice as a voice input application.

Step 3: Voice activation

To make Alice react to the phrase "Hi Alice":

• 🎤 Enable the option in the settings of the Yandex application → Alice. → Voice activation;
• 🔋 Add the app to Autostart and Battery Optimization (otherwise Alice won’t run in the background).

📌 Important: On some devices (e.g. Redmi) 9A) Alice may be at odds with Xiao AI. In this case:

5. Replacing voice assistant with Xiaomi TV and smart speakers

On Mi TVs. TV And the Xiaomi Smart Speaker is a more complicated process because of the closed ecosystem:

For Mi. TV (all models 2018-2026.)

• 📺 Install Google Assistant via Google Play (if TV is on Android) TV);
• 🔊 For voice control, connect Google Nest Mini or Yandex Station HDMI-CEC;
• 🛠️ On Chinese firmware (CN ROM) Refreshing on Global is required ROM.

📌 Example: On Mi TV 4S 55" with Android 9 firmware:

1. Go to Settings. → The device → Voice search;
2. Choose Google over Xiao AI;
3. Set up the microphone (if supported).

For Xiaomi's smart speakers

Xiaomi Smart Speaker (e.g. Mi) AI Speaker) tied to Xiao AI at the hardware level. Alternatives:

• 🎵 Use the speaker as a Bluetooth speaker for a smartphone with Alice or Google Assistant;
• 🔧 Reflash the device to custom firmware (for example, OpenWRT for Xiaomi Mi). AI Speaker, but it voids the warranty.

💡

On Xiaomi TVs and speakers, a complete voice assistant replacement often requires hardware modifications or external devices (like Google Nest).

6. Solving typical problems

When changing voice assistants, users encounter a number of errors, and we have collected the most common and ways to fix them:

🔧 Microphone Diagnostics: If the assistant does not hear the commands:

1. Check the microphone through the Dictator app;
2. Clean the microphone hole (on Redmi it is usually next to the connector) USB-C);
3. Turn off Noise Reduction in Call Settings.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 13/14 If you change assistants, you may lose the Quick Ball functionality to get it back:

⚠️ Attention: Go to Settings → Special facilities → Quick Ball and turn it on again. If the option is gray, reset the Sights settings (Settings) → System system → Resetting settings → Reset application settings).

7. Comparison of assistants: what to choose

The choice of voice assistant depends on your tasks. We tested it on Xiaomi. 12T Pro (MIUI 14) and Mi TV P1:

💡 Recommendations for selection:

• 🌍 For travel: Google Assistant (80 support)+ language);
• 🏠 For a smart home: Xiao AI (If all devices are from Xiaomi or Alice combo + Mi Home;
• 🎵 For music and media: Yandex Alice (integration with Yandex.Music and FilmSearch).

FAQ: Frequent questions