How to permanently disable Alice on Xiaomi Mi9: 5 proven ways

Voice assistant Alice from Yandex is integrated into the MIUI firmware on Xiaomi Mi9 smartphones as part of the service ecosystem. For some users, it is a convenient tool for managing the device, for others - a source of unnecessary notifications, background battery consumption and even hidden data collection about voice commands. The Mi9 is special in that the standard disconnection through settings often works incompletely: the assistant can self-return after updates or reboots.

In this article, we have 5 working methods for completely disabling Alice, including hidden MIUI 12/14 settings, ADB commands, and even physical locking of the microphone at the system level. We have tested each method on the Xiaomi Mi9 (codenamed cepheus) with different versions of firmware, from global MIUI Global to custom builds. Importantly, some methods require superuser rights (root), but we have separately isolated options without them.

Why Alice doesn't shut down in the standard way

The problem is that MIUI architecture, even after the settings are turned off, the main assistant process (com.yandex.alice) remains active in the background.

• 🔄 Auto-update of services: MIUI Restores system applications, including Alice, through Google Play Services or Xiaomi’s own updates.
• 📱 Integration with MIUI: assistant is rigidly sewn into the shell - its components are used to process voice commands in Settings → Voice input.
• 🔋 Battery optimization: The system can ignore manual shutdown to "preserve device functionality".

For example, after upgrading to MIUI 14, many Mi9 users complained that Alice was back in the notification panel, she was disabled earlier. This is not a bug, but a planned behavior - Xiaomiforcedly reintegrates partner services.

⚠️ Note: If you use Mi Account to sync, disabling Alice through settings may cause cloud services to crash.We recommend you first back up to Settings → The phone. → Backup.

Method 1: Disconnect via MIUI settings (without root)

The easiest method, but it works temporarily until the next system update, and it's suitable for users who don't want to go into technical details.

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type Alice or Yandex Alice.
3. Select the app and click Disable (if the button is inactive, click Stop first).
4. Confirm the action in the dialog window.

In addition:

• 🛑 Go to Settings. → Notifications → Latest notifications and turn off notifications from Alice.
• 🔕 B Settings → Confidentiality → Application authorizations → Microphones deny access to all Yandex applications.

This way, instead of removing Alice's files from the device, it only pauses her work. After rebooting or updating the MIUI, the assistant can come back. For a permanent solution, read on.

Method 2: Remove via ADB (without root but with PC)

A more reliable method that requires you to connect your smartphone to your computer, using Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a tool for debugging Android devices, the advantage is that you don't need root rights, but you need to enable USB Debugging.

Instructions:

1. Download ADB Tools for your OS (Windows/macOS/Linux).
2. On Xiaomi Mi9, turn on: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode) Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging on USB
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute: Adb devices (your device should appear) in the command line (terminal).
4. Enter the command to deactivate Alice: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.yandex.alice

If the team doesn’t work, try an alternative:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.yandex.alice

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI After this command, voice input may disappear in other applications (for example, in Google Assistant). To return the function, perform: adb shell pm enable com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

Method 3: Blocking through MIUI Hidden Settings (Hidden Menu)

MIUI contains hidden settings that are not available through the standard interface, one of which is the Activity Manager menu, where you can force Alice to stop system processes.

How to open it:

1. Download the MIUI Hidden Settings app (requires MIUI 12+).
2. Open the Activity Manager section.
3. In the search, type alice or yandex.
4. Select all processes with names: com.yandex.alice com.yandex.alice:remote com.yandex.alice:push

Force Stop

To block the auto-start:

• 🔄 Move to the MIUI Hidden Settings → Autostart Manager.
• 🔍 Find Alice and turn off autoboot.
• 🔒 In Battery Optimization, select No Restrictions for Alice (paradoxically, but it prevents her from self-healing).

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If Alice still shows up after this action, check for updates for MIUI Hidden Settings. Developers regularly add support for new firmware versions.

Method 4: Complete removal with root rights

For users with an unlocked bootloader and installed Magisk or SuperSU.This method permanently removes Alice files from the device, but requires caution - wrong actions can lead to a system failure.

Instructions:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or FX File Explorer).
2. Go to /system/priv-app/YandexAlice or /system/app/YandexAlice
3. Delete all files in this folder (or rename the.apk extension to.bak).
4. Clear cache and data at: /data/data/com.yandex.alice
5. Reset the device.

Alternative method through Terminal Emulator:

su


mount -o rw,remount /system




rm -rf /system/priv-app/YandexAlice




rm -rf /system/app/YandexAlice




rm -rf /data/data/com.yandex.alice




reboot

⚠️ Note: Deleting system files may disrupt the work MIUI. Before you do anything, create a full backup through TWRP Or Mi Flash Tool. Some firmware will then stop running all voice commands, including Google Assistant.

Method 5: Network-level locking (for advanced)

If Alice continues to send data even after she's disabled, you can block her access to Yandex servers via a hosts file or firewall, which doesn't delete the assistant, but makes it useless.

Option 1: Edit hosts (requires root):

1. Open /system/etc/hosts in the root-rights text editor.
2. Add the lines: 127.0.0.1 alice.yandex.ru 127.0.0.1 alice.yandex.net 127.0.0.1 quasar.yandex.ru
3. Save the file and restart the device.

Option 2: Use NetGuard or AFWall+ (without root):

• 📱 Install NetGuard from Google Play.
• 🔍 Find Alice and all Yandex services in the list of applications.
• 🚫 Turn off Wi-Fi and mobile data for them.

This is especially useful if you suspect that Alice continues to collect data in the background even after she is disabled, blocking the network completely stops her activity, but does not delete files from the device.

Comparison of methods: which to choose

For most Xiaomi Mi9 users, the best solution is to combine ADB + MIUI Hidden Settings, which gives a stable result without the risks associated with root. If you are ready for experiments, completely removing through root guarantees getting rid of Alice forever.

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On MIUI 14+ firmware, Alice's standard shutdown through settings only works until the first reboot. Use ADB or Autostart Lock for permanent effect.

Frequently asked questions