Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face an intrusive interface that is overflowing with ad units and subscription offers, especially in the standard Gallery app, where instead of simply viewing a user’s photos, they encounter “Recommended Stories,” “Interesting Moments” and other visual ads, which are the result of the company’s built-in analytics and monetization services, which are active by default.
But MIUI and the new HyperOS provide enough tools to take back control of their device, and turning them off doesn't require superuser rights or complicated flashing, and you just need to go through a few different settings to clear the interface of the noise and speed up the application.
In this article, we will discuss in detail all known ways to disable ads, learn how to block system services, disable personalization and adjust privacy. Follow the instructions carefully, as some items may be hidden in the submenu or have different names depending on the version of the firmware.
Why do recommendations and advertisements appear in the gallery
The main reason for intrusive content is the company’s business model: Xiaomi smartphones are often sold at a minimal margin, and the company profits from advertising and services. The system analyzes your actions, geolocation and content of the photo to offer relevant content through the msas service (MIUI System Ads Service) and cloud services.
Many users don’t know that the Xiaomi gallery is not just a file viewer, but a multimedia hub tied to the Xiaomi Cloud. It is cloud synchronization that loads smart albums, travel maps and automatically created video clips. Without disabling these features, the interface will always be overloaded.
Why can't you just remove the gallery?
It's worth noting that personalization algorithms consume extra battery power and Internet traffic in the background. The device's processor has to continually process image metadata to form a recommendation feed. By disabling these features, you not only remove visual debris, but potentially extend battery life.
💡
Advertising in the gallery is a fee for the low cost of a smartphone, but it can be legally disabled through the settings of the system and account.
Disabling personalization and advertising in account settings
The first step to take is to stop personalized ads at the level of your global Mi Account, which tells the company’s servers that you don’t want to see targeted offers, and without that, other settings may be reset or not work properly.
To start, go to the basic settings of your smartphone. Find the password and security section. This is where the key switches that control the collection of statistics are hidden. The interface may vary by region, but the logic remains the same for all versions of MIUI.
- 🔓 Unlock your phone and open Settings.
- 👤 Go to the Mi Account section (or click on the top banner with the name).
- 🔒 Select the password and security item.
- 📜 Find the Privacy or Advertising subsection.
Inside the privacy menu, you'll see "Personalized Ads." The switch should be turned off. The system will ask you to confirm the action with a 10-second countdown timer. This is a standard procedure to prevent accidental shutdown, but for the experienced user, it only adds extra steps.
☑️ Checking account settings
Permissions management for MSA and msa system services
The most effective method of combating advertising is to restrict the rights of the services responsible for its display (MIUI System Ads and daemon_msa — These are system processes that are not removed by standard means, but can be “suffocated” by banning Internet access and autoboot.
You'll need to find these apps in the installed list. Please note that they may be hidden or have untitled system icons in some firmware versions. If you don't see them right away, search by name in the app menu.
Once you find msa, go to Other Permits, where you want to ban everything related to running in the background and accessing the network, but the system will resist: when you try to turn off the Internet, you will see a pop-up with a warning, which you should ignore or cancel the action if the system requires you to leave at least one active service.
⚠️ Note: When you turn off msa, the system may send false error messages or require you to restore default settings. Just close these windows. Don't delete system application updates, this may disrupt the interface.
Also worth checking out is GetApps (formerly Mi Apps), an app store that flicks notifications and offers installations often. If you use Google Play, the Xiaomi store can be completely disabled in the app settings by finding it in the list and selecting "Disable."
Set up parameters inside the Gallery application
Even after the system limitations, the Gallery app itself has its own content display settings. In recent versions of HyperOS and MIUI 14, the interface has become more flexible, allowing you to hide certain tabs, such as For You or the Cloud.
Open the Gallery app and go to the Profile tab or click three dots in the corner of the screen to enter the settings. Look for the About app or display settings section. Often there is a "Show recommendations" or "Automatically create videos" switch hidden there.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Recommended value |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-creation video | Settings → General | Off. |
| Synchronization with the cloud | Settings → Xiaomi Cloud | Optional (Off for speed) |
| Geolocation pictured | Settings → Confidentiality | Hide (for privacy) |
| Showing similar photos | The "For You" tab | Turn off in the settings |
It is also important to clear the app cache if you have already used the ad gallery. Accumulated temporary files may contain banner ads that will continue to appear even after you change your settings. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps → Gallery → Memory → Clear the cache.
💡
If after cleaning the cache, the ad returned after a while, check if the Gallery app has updated automatically through GetApps. Disable auto-update for Xiaomi system apps.
Blocking through DNS and third-party solutions
If standard methods don't help you get rid of pop-ups completely, you can use a more advanced method, which is network-level locking. DNS-server on the device allows you to filter traffic and block requests to Xiaomi ad servers and other services.
The easiest way is to use the Private DNS feature in Android. Go to Settings → Connection and General Settings → Private DNS. Select the DNS Provider Host Name mode and enter the address of a trusted blocker, such as dns.adguard.com. This method is secure and does not require additional software installation.
- 🌐 Open the connection settings.
- 🔍 Find a private item DNS (Private DNS).
- ✍️ Enter manually: dns.adguard.com.
- ✅ Save and restart your smartphone.
The alternative is to install specialized blocking applications, such as Blokada or AdGuard, which create a localized system. VPN-But using these applications can slightly increase battery consumption, because the filtering process is constantly in the background.
⚠️ Attention: When using private DNS Some features that depend on Xiaomi’s ads or internal services (such as themes or some widgets) may stop working properly. DNS.
Features of work in HyperOS and new firmware
With the release of HyperOS, Xiaomi has changed the structure of menus and the names of some service processes. Old instructions that are relevant to MIUI 12 or 13 may not work or lead to a dead end. The new system has increased the emphasis on the ecosystem, so the settings of advertising are often scattered between different points.
HyperOS has a separate Content Center service that manages the news feed and widgets, which must be turned off separately, and new versions have increased permission controls, allowing the system to automatically turn back internet access for system applications after a major security update.
Users of new smartphones, such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi Note 13, are advised immediately after purchase, before signing in to your Mi Account, to turn off the Internet and go through the initial setup, skipping all suggestions to improve the user experience, this will prevent the initial “binding” of advertising identifiers.
Critical:
Settings → Password and security → Access to personal data → Advertising services