Xiaomi’s current MIUI or HyperOS smartphones offer users a huge number of features, including integration with the Google ecosystem. One of them is a voice assistant that is always ready to answer questions or launch an app. However, not everyone likes it when their phone “hears” every word or offers help at the wrong time.
Disabling this service can be necessary for various reasons, from the banal desire to save battery power to the need to prevent accidental calls out of pocket. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to completely deactivate Google Assistant on Xiaomi devices without disrupting other system components.
The setup process doesn't require root rights or complex code manipulation, but we'll look at the standard methods through the settings menu that every smartphone owner has, so you can take back full control of the device and remove unnecessary interface elements.
Why to turn off the voice assistant on Android
The main reason for not using Google Assistant is privacy: constantly listening to key phrases like "OK, Google" requires the microphone to work in the background, which causes fears among many users about the leakage of personal data.
In addition, the background activity of the service consumes the resources of the processor and RAM. On Xiaomi budget models, this can lead to a noticeable decrease in performance in games or heavy applications.
⚠️ Warning: The complete shutdown of Google system components may affect the performance of other applications that depend on voice input, for example, dictating messages in instant messengers.
Another important aspect is random activation, which is that a smartphone in your pocket can respond to cloth rustles or third-party sounds, starting to execute commands or make calls, and addressing this problem is often a crucial factor for users.
It is also worth noting that many of the functions of the assistant are duplicated by standard MIUI capabilities. Xiaomi owners can use Mi Voice or local commands to control the device, making the presence of a foreign counterpart redundant.
Disconnecting through the settings of Google Assistant
The safest way to remove the assistant’s functionality is to deactivate it directly in the Google app, which does not remove the service completely, but prevents it from starting and responding to commands.
To start, you need to open the Google app on your smartphone, which is usually represented by a G-coded ikon on the home screen or in the system utilities folder, and if you can't find it, use the search bar.
After you start the app, click on your profile avatar in the top right corner of the screen. In the menu that opens, select Settings. Next, search for Google Assistant and go to All Assistant Settings.
What happens when you turn off the settings?
Inside the settings menu, you'll need to find the option "Google Assistant" (usually the first item on the list), and then you'll need to switch to "Off" and the system will alert you that voice control will be unavailable.
Once confirmed, the assistant will stop responding to the phrase “OK, Google” and the long press of the “Home” button, a standard method recommended by developers for temporary or permanent failure of the function.
Removing updates and disabling the service
If a standard shutdown isn’t enough, you can resort to a more radical method of disabling the app itself, and on Xiaomi smartphones, the component is often hidden under the name “Google” or “Google App.”
Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Search the Google app in the list. When you click on it, you will be taken to the Management menu. Here you are interested in the Remove Updates button.
Once you roll back the app to the factory version, the "Disable" button will become active. Press it and confirm the action. The system will warn that this may affect the operation of other applications.
☑️ Checklist before shutdown of service
It’s important to understand the difference between deleting and disabling. You can’t completely uninstall a Google system app without superuser rights, but disabling it makes it invisible to the system and the user.
After this procedure, you will no longer see active processes associated with the assistant in the Task Manager, which will free up RAM and prevent any background launches of the service.
Customization of buttons and gestures in MIUI and HyperOS
The MIUI shells and the new HyperOS have their own navigation settings that often conflict with Google's features, such as pressing the power or home button for a long time and calling an assistant.
To change this behavior, go to Settings → Additional settings → Button management (the path may vary depending on the OS version).Look for “Long-term press of the Home button” or similar for the power button.
In the list that opens, select “Nothing” or “Browser Search” if you want to leave the search functionality but without the voice assistant, which will break the link between the physical action and launching Google Assistant.
Also worth checking is the gesture settings. In some firmware versions, swipe from the bottom corner of the screen can activate a quick search or assistant. Turn off this option in the Full Screen gestures section.
Make sure that your physical interactions with the device remain predictable and don't trigger unwanted digital assistants.
Managing widgets and Google Discover tape
Often users confuse the voice assistant itself with the Google Discover News Feed, which swipes right on the home screen.This tape is also part of the ecosystem and can be disabled.
To remove the widget, press the empty space on your desktop and select Settings or Add Widgets. Find the Google or Review widget and remove it from the screen. This will remove the search bar and microphone button.
To turn off the news feed, swipe right on the home screen to open "Google Discover." Click on the profile avatar in the corner, go to Settings and turn off the Tape switch.
| Interface element | Location. | Action for shutdown |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Line | Desktop | Remove the widget |
| Google Discover Tape | Swipe right | Settings → Tape (Off) |
| Microphone in widget | Search widget | The widget settings → Hide |
| Google Feed | System settings | Disable in screen settings |
Cleaning the desktop of Google elements not only visually frees up space, but also stops the background loading of the news feed, which has a positive effect on the speed of the interface.
If you use a third-party launcher like Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher, you can completely ignore the Xiaomi and Google system widgets by replacing them with your own search bars.
Disabling voice input in Gboard
Even if the assistant is disabled, the Gboard keyboard can continue to offer voice input.The microphone on the keyboard is a separate module that can also be deactivated.
Open any application that requires text input to make the keyboard appear. Click on the settings icon (cog) on the keyboard bar. Select "Voice input."
In the voice input settings menu, find the switch and turn it to the off position. Now the microphone button will disappear from the keyboard, and the system will stop trying to recognize speech when typing.
⚠️ Note: Once voice input is disabled in Gboard, the message dictation function will become unavailable in all applications using this default keyboard.
This is especially useful for parents who want to restrict the functionality of the device for children, or for users who prefer text input only to avoid recognition errors.
If you use another keyboard, such as SwiftKey or MIUI Keyboard, the settings will be in a similar section of the settings menu of the keyboard application itself.
Impact on autonomy and productivity
Many users are wondering if turning off Google Assistant will actually increase battery life, and experience shows that the result depends on the intensity of smartphone use.
The constant wait for a voice command (OK, Google) activates the microphone and processor, preventing the device from going into deep sleep, and disabling this feature allows Xiaomi to manage power consumption more efficiently.
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For maximum energy savings after disabling the assistant, it is also recommended to disable geolocation for the Google app if you are not using navigation.
In tests on devices with a battery capacity of up to 4000 mAh, freeing up resources from Google's background services allowed for an increase in screen time by 15-20 minutes per day. For game scenarios, this could mean a more stable FPS.
It also reduces the burden on RAM, with devices with 4GB of RAM or less each megabyte in their account, and frees up resources for gaming and multitasking.
However, if you have a flagship Xiaomi model with a large power reserve, the difference may not be as noticeable visually, but system logs will be “cleaner.”