How to turn off the news feed in Xiaomi: The complete guide

Many users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones face a situation where an intrusive information stream appears when they unlock the screen or swipe to the left. This is the so-called news feed that consumes traffic, distracts attention and consumes battery power in the background. The standard MIUI shell or the new HyperOS offer many personalization features, but often implement them aggressively, forcing the user to independently look for ways to turn off.

There are several types of news feeds: a built-in widget to the left of the main screen (Google Discover or Yandex.News) and a commercial tape on the lock screen, known as Glance or Lock Screen Magazine. The process of deactivating them is different, as they are controlled by different system components. In this article, we will discuss in detail all methods that allow you to completely clean the interface of unnecessary information noise.

You don't have to have superuser rights or install third-party launchers. All the necessary tools are already built into the Android operating system running a shell from a Chinese manufacturer. Just follow the steps described below carefully to return the device to a minimalist look and improve its speed.

Disabling the news feed on the desktop (Google Discover)

The first and most common type is a tape that swipes right (or left, depending on your position setting) from the left-hand screen, most commonly Google Discover, which broadcasts articles, weather and sports results, and doesn't require deep immersion into system files to turn it off.

You need to go to the settings of the desktop itself. To do this, make a long press (push) on the empty part of the screen to appear edit menu. In the upper right corner or at the bottom of the screen, find the settings button, often indicated by the gear. In the open menu, look for the option Additional or Still, where the switch Google Discover (or Tape -1) hides.

If you have a Russified version of the firmware with Yandex integration installed, instead of Google, you can display Yandex tape. The shutdown mechanism is similar: in the desktop settings, find the Tape of widgets or Yandex and turn it off. After that, the swipe to the side will stop causing the news page to appear, and you will immediately get to the first desktop.

It's important to understand the difference between widgets and system tape. Widgets can be removed individually, but the swipe capability will remain until the corresponding module is disabled in the launcher settings, a common mistake by users who simply delete the widgets but do not disable the function itself.

Remove advertising and news from the lock screen (Glance)

The second type of intrusive content is Glance (or Lock Screen Magazine), which changes the wallpaper on a locked phone and shows news headlines, a feature often turned on by default when a smartphone is first launched or after a system update, and it not only distracts, but can consume mobile traffic to upload images.

To get rid of this, go to the main device settings. Find the Always on screen and lock section (the path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI). Inside this menu, select Wallpaper Carousel or Glance for Xiaomi. You need to switch the switch toggler Enable Wallpaper Carousel in the "Off" position.

⚠️ Warning: After turning off the wallpaper carousel, the system may suggest selecting a static image from the gallery. If this does not happen, simply install any wallpaper through the standard gallery so that the lock screen does not change.

In some cases, especially on global firmware versions, the service is managed in a separate application. Find the Glance or Lock Screen Magazine app installed in the list of programs, go to its settings and turn off the Receive Content feature or completely remove updates to this system component through the application management menu.

Configure widgets and folders in MIUI and HyperOS

Xiaomi shells are known for their flexibility, but also redundancy. App folders often hide recommendations for installing games and programs. It's also a kind of news feed built directly into the folder interface. To clear the folder of garbage, open any of them.

At the top of the open folder, you'll see a line with a name (like "Tools" or "Social Networks"). Click on the folder name to change it. Under the name input field, often there's a Recommended Apps or Ads in folders switch. Disable it, and the folder will only contain the shortcuts of installed programs.

Also, check the settings of the widgets themselves. If you use Mi weather or news widgets, they may be updated too often. Go to the widget settings (usually long tap on the widget -> settings) and limit the refresh rate or select the display only temperature, without the news bar.

HyperOS users may notice a modified widget interface, but the principle remains the same: long tap, settings, disabling unnecessary functions. The system becomes smarter, but control over the content is still left to the user.

Removal of system aggregator applications

Sometimes, simply turning off settings is not enough, because the system still has background processes that collect data to personalize the tape, such as aggregator applications like Mi Video, Mi Music or special news services pre-installed in firmware, which can not only be disabled, but also removed updates, returning to the factory version.

To do this, go to Settings -> Apps -> All Apps. In the list, look for suspicious system utilities with names like News, Mi Browser or Video. Click on the app and select Remove Updates. This action is safe and will return the application to the "out of the box" state, often depriving it of its news collection functionality.

For more advanced users, it is possible to completely deactivate system packages via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires connecting the phone to the computer and having basic command line knowledge.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.personalassistant

Using ADB allows you to remove even those components that are not removed by standard means. However, the pm disable-user command does not physically remove the application, but only hides it for the current user, which is a safe way to clean the system without the risk of getting a brick.

Comparison of disabling methods in different versions of MIUI

The interface and settings may vary significantly depending on the shell version and firmware region (Global, China, EEA, Russia). Below is a table that helps you navigate the differences in ways to disable news feeds.

As you can see from the table, the logic remains the same, but the names of the items can vary. If you don't find the right switch along the specified path, search by settings. Type the word "Tape" or "Discover" into the settings search bar, and the system will point to the desired item.

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Use the search in settings (a magnifier at the top of the settings screen) by entering the keywords "tape", "discover" or "glance." This is the fastest way to find the desired switch in the confusing MIUI menu.

Cache cleansing and launcher reset

In rare cases, after disabling all settings, newsfeed artifacts may be saved due to caching errors.If the swipe is still calling a blank page or interface remnants, the system launcher data should be cleared.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> All Apps. Find System Launcher (or System Launcher) in the list. Click on it and select Clear -> Clear all data. Attention: this action will reset the desktop icons to factory status, so remember first where you had what you had or take a screenshot.

⚠️ Warning: Resetting the launcher data won't delete your personal files, photos or contacts, but all the folders and widgets you've created on desktops will be deleted and re-arranged, and once the data is cleaned, the phone will reboot the interface. When you first set up your desktops, the system may suggest turning on the news feed again, at which point be careful and immediately refuse the offer so that you do not go through the shutdown procedure again. 💡Clearing the launcher data is a radical but effective method if the standard shutdown of settings did not help get rid of the residual elements of the interface (FAQ) Is it safe to remove system application updates through ADB? Yes, using the pm disable-user command is safe. It doesn't delete files from the system partition, it only marks the application as disabled for your user. You can always turn it back with pm enable or reset your phone. Why does a blank page appear when you swipe it off when you turn off Google Discover? That means the tape module is off, but space is reserved for it in the launcher. Try changing the order of the screens in your desktop settings or switching the theme to the standard one to reset the launcher configuration. Can you completely remove the Glance app without root rights? With regular means, just turn it off. Complete removal of system packages like com.miui.misys or glance is possible only through the ADB debugging USB, Because they're part of the system image. Does turning off the news feed affect the weather widget? No, desktop weather widget and newsfeed are different components. Turning off Google Discover or Glance will not affect the display of temperature and forecast in widgets on the home screen. Where to find the settings of the tape in HyperOS if they are missing? In HyperOS, the path could change to Settings -> Desktop and Control Panel -> Widget Ribbon. If you do not, try changing the region of the phone in the settings (Additional -> Region) to India or Global, the settings may appear.