How to disable voice assistant on Xiaomi Mi A2: the full guide

Owners of the Xiaomi Mi A2 smartphone, which runs on a clean Android One operating system, often face the intrusiveness of the built-in Google Assistant, a feature designed to simplify interaction with the gadget, in practice often causes irritation due to accidental activation in the pocket or during conversation, especially for those who are accustomed to the MIUI interface and do not expect such aggressive integration of Google services into standard control buttons.

Not only will you be able to save you a lot of noise, but you'll also save battery power, because background listening requires CPU resources. Unlike heavy-enabled shells, Android One has a deeper setup, but it's accessible without superuser rights. The right configuration will give you full control of the device.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all known methods of deactivating voice control on the Xiaomi Mi A2. We will consider both standard settings inside the application, and more complex manipulations with system resolutions that are guaranteed to fix the problem.

Basic settings through the Google Menu

The first and most obvious step is to address the native settings of the app itself. In the Android operating system installed on the Xiaomi Mi A2, the assistant is managed in a separate section of the account configuration, where the user can flexibly adjust the behavior of the system by disabling activation by voice command "OK, Google".

To do this, you need to open the Google app or go to your phone's settings. Find the partition that handles voice input and carefully examine the available switches. Often users overlook the option that allows voice recognition even when the screen is locked, which is the main reason for random switching.

• 📱 Open the Google app and click on the profile avatar in the corner of the screen.
• ⚙️ Go to the Settings menu → Google Assistant.
• 🗣️ Select "Hey Google and Voice Match" and turn off the activation slider.

After doing this, the system will stop responding to voice commands in the background, but this does not always turn off the assistant call when you press the power button long, since this feature is governed by the system settings of Android, not the application itself.

Disabling activation by power button

One of the most annoying features in the Xiaomi Mi A2 is to launch Google Assistant while holding down the off button. In the pure version of Android, this option is on by default and often activated randomly when a user just wants to turn off the screen or call the shutdown menu. Fortunately, the developers have left the option to change this behavior.

To remove this binding, you'll need to go to the system settings section. The interface may vary slightly depending on the version of the security patch, but the logic remains the same for all Android One devices.

In the menu that opens, find the option that keeps you pressing the power button for a long time. The default is "Google Assistant." Change it to "Nothing" or "Power Menu" if you want to make a long press trigger the standard smartphone switch-off menu, as it was in older versions of Android.

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If the “Long-Tap” option is not in the button menu, try updating the Google and Google Play Services app to the latest version through the Play Market store – in older versions of the software this option may have been hidden.

Managing permissions and microphone access

A more radical but effective way to limit the functionality of the assistant is to revoke the system permissions, so if the application doesn't have access to the microphone, it won't physically hear your command, which is especially useful if you want to leave the search functionality in text, but you're strongly against listening.

To do this, go to the app settings and go to Google's list, you can set up the permissions section in detail what the program has access to, and disabling the microphone will cause the system to give an error when it tries to activate with voice, or simply ignore the request.

It's worth noting that a complete restriction of rights can disrupt other functions, such as voice dialing or text dictation, so revoke permissions consciously, knowing what features you're losing.

Use of energy saving regimes

The Android One system on the Xiaomi Mi A2 has built-in power optimization mechanisms. Activating a strict power saving mode often results in automatic restriction of background activity of applications, including the voice assistant. This does not turn it off completely, but makes launch less likely and faster.

When power saving mode is turned on, the system limits background processes and synchronization, and the assistant who is constantly listening to the air falls under these restrictions, which can be a temporary solution for situations where it is critical to keep the battery on for a long day.

⚠️ Warning: In energy austerity mode, you may not receive notifications from instant messengers on time, as the system will block background data transfer for all applications, not just the assistant.

There are also third-party power management utilities, but on pure Android they work less efficiently due to the strict system constraints.It is better to rely on the built-in Battery Saver tools, which are guaranteed to not cause conflicts.

Hiding the assistant from the lock screen

Even if you have disabled activation on the button, the assistant can remain accessible on the lock screen, which creates inconvenience when the phone is lying on the table and reacts to extraneous sounds. To completely isolate the function, you need to adjust the display settings on the locked screen.

Go to the security settings and find the section associated with the lock screen, which may have the option "Access Assistant" or "Allow Access When Device is Locked" and disabling this option will cause the system to require unlocking before launching any voice commands.

• 🔒 Go to Settings. → Security and location.
• 📱 Select the "Block screen" option".
• ❌ Find the Personal Assistant Access switch and deaktiviruyte it.

This will greatly enhance your privacy, and no one will be able to use your phone to make calls or search for information while your device is locked.

Alternative solutions and resetting settings

In the rare cases where the software settings don't help or the menu interface is changed by the manufacturer, you can resort to more drastic measures, one of which is to clean the data of the Google application, which will return the assistant settings to the factory state, which can help if the configuration has a software failure.

If you want to completely remove the voice control component, you can't do it with standard tools, because it's a system application. ADB-commands for advanced users, allowing you to hide the package for the current user without losing the guarantee.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

Using this command via computer and USB debugging will completely disable the search bar and assistant. Be careful: this may affect the performance of Google widgets on the desktop.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-Disabling system components can lead to unstable interfaces. Backup important data before interfering with system settings.

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Disabling system components completely through ADB is the most effective method, but it requires a computer and basic command line knowledge.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In conclusion, the voice assistant on Xiaomi Mi A2 is in the hands of the user, combining privacy settings, button management and permissions, you can make using your smartphone as comfortable as possible and without unnecessary interference.