How to turn off geolocation on Xiaomi Redmi 8

Modern smartphones, including the popular Xiaomi Redmi 8, constantly exchange data about your location. GPS-The module can consume a lot of battery power. Many users notice that the battery goes down faster because of the system's constant attempts to determine the coordinates even when you are not using the cards.

The MIUI operating system that runs your phone has multiple layers of geodata access control, you can turn off the module completely, restrict access to specific applications, or prohibit data transmission over the Internet. Understanding these nuances will allow you to flexibly manage the privacy and power consumption of the device without losing functionality.

In this article, we'll take a look at all the geolocation deactivation options available, and we'll look at standard system settings, hidden developer menus, and customized software restrictions, and not just turn off GPS, but do it smartly so that important notifications don't get lost and the battery lasts longer.

Quick shutdown via control panel

The easiest and fastest way to stop the coordinates is to use the notification curtain, which instantly breaks the satellite module's connection to the navigation servers, and swipe from top to bottom of the screen to open the control center.

Find an icon with an arrow or pin that is signed as Location or GPS. If the icon is illuminated in blue, then the function is active. Press it once to turn gray. This action is equivalent to turning off the switchboard completely in the settings.

However, it should be borne in mind that this method does not always completely block the determination of coordinates through Wi-Fi and cell towers, if the settings are activated high accuracy mode.

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Use the long tap on the location icon in the curtain to immediately go to the settings menu, bypassing the search in deep sections of the system.

Deeply adjusting location parameters

For more subtle control over how the Xiaomi Redmi 8 determines your position, you need to go to the system menu. Here you can choose a positioning method that affects the speed of satellite search and energy consumption.

Go to Settings, then select Advanced Settings and find Privacy. In some firmware versions, the path may look like Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy. Inside this section, you have a Location Switch.

Clicking on the section name, not the switchboard, will take you to the Location Mode menu, where you can find three options, each with its own features:

• 📡 High accuracy: uses GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks for the most accurate positioning, but drains the battery faster.
• 📶 Wi-Fi and mobile network only: coordinates are determined by the nearest towers and routers, which saves charge, but reduces accuracy in the forest or outside the city.
• 🛰️ Only in the end. GPS (Device: only works via satellites, which is very slow and energy-intensive, but works without the Internet.

Choosing the right mode allows you to balance between convenience and autonomy. If you don’t need accuracy up to a meter, switching to determination over networks can extend the life of the Redmi 8 by several hours.

Controlling Application Access to GPS

Often users forget that even when global GPS is turned off, some applications can request access to geodata on the next turn on or use cached data. MIUI implements a flexible permission system that allows you to deny access to coordinates to specific programs.

To set up, go to Settings → Applications → Permissions → Location. Here you will see a list of all the installed programs that have ever requested access to your geo-location. The system offers multiple levels of access for each application.

It's a good idea to look at this list carefully, and social media or games don't need to have access to the exact coordinates, whereas navigators and taxis need it, and you can customize the access rights for each application individually.

Note the Background option, which means that if you allow an app to access only “When in use,” it won’t be able to track you when the screen is off, which is critical to privacy and energy savings.

⚠️ Note: When you set a ban on access to geodata, some features of the application may stop working, for example, maps will not pave the route, and the weather widget will not update the city.

Disabling geotags in the camera

Special attention should be paid to the function of adding coordinates to the images being photographed. By default, the Xiaomi Redmi 8 camera embeds GPS-data-in EXIF-And if you put that image on the Internet, anyone can find out where it was taken.

To turn off this feature, open the Camera app. In the top corner of the screen, find an icon with three horizontal lines (menu) and click on it. In the list that appears, select Settings.

In the settings list, find the "Save Geo" or "Location" switch, make sure it's off, and your photos will be stripped of location information, which will increase your digital security when sharing media.

This is especially true if you often share original photos in messengers or send them by email. On social networks such as Instagram or VK, metadata is usually deleted automatically when downloaded, but on Telegram (File Mode) or WhatsApp (no compression) coordinates are saved.

Google Special Features and Services

Even if you turn off standard GPS, you should check the settings of Google services, which have their own data collection mechanism. Android has a feature called Location History, which stores tracks of your movements in your Google account, regardless of your phone settings.

To manage these settings, go to Settings → Google → Settings for Google apps. Find Location or Location History, where you can pause saving history or delete all of your accumulated travel data.

Also in this section, the option "Google geolocation" (or "Improving accuracy") is often found. It uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to clarify the position. GPS-Navigator, but prevents background network search.

The table below compares the main disconnection methods and their impact on the system:

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A comprehensive approach, including disabling Google system services and banning applications, gives the maximum result in data protection.

Developer Mode and Debugging by USB

For advanced users, Xiaomi Redmi 8 has a developer menu where you can find additional options that affect the operation of communication modules. To activate this menu, you need to 7 times click on the build number in the About Phone section.

After activation in the menu Advanced settings → For developers, you can find "Select Location Mode" (older versions of Android) or settings for location emulation, and you can select "Device Only" mode, which will forcibly prohibit the use of networks to determine position.

And then there's the location emulation feature, and if you select any application from the list, the system will give it the false coordinates that the program selects, which is useful for software testing, but the average user would better leave this parameter blank.

⚠️ Note: Do not change the settings in the developer menu unless you are sure of their purpose. Mistakes can lead to unstable system operation or incorrect map display.

Using these tools allows you to fully control your behavior. GPS-This is especially true for those who want to maximise their device before selling or transferring it to another person.

Impact of aviation regime and energy saving

There is a myth that turning on flight mode completely disables GPS. In fact, in the standard state, air mode does break all wireless connections, including the satellite receiver. However, in modern versions of MIUI and Android, the user can manually turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth while remaining in aerial mode, but GPS usually remains turned off.

The power saving mode available in Settings → Battery can also force geolocation restrictions. When activated, the Saving Energy mode automatically prevents applications from searching for background locations, which significantly prolongs battery life.

If your goal is to discharge your phone as quickly as possible or, conversely, to save every percentage of charge in an emergency, managing these modes is key. For emergency savings, the best option is to use Super-Savings mode, which turns your smartphone into a simple caller and turns off all sensors.

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For maximum autonomy in the journey, turn on the flight mode, and then manually activate only GPS for the navigator if the map is already downloaded offline.

Understanding the interaction of power saving and geolocation modes allows you to effectively manage the resources of Xiaomi Redmi 8. By combining these settings, you can adapt the smartphone to any use case.

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