How to completely disable speech synthesis on Xiaomi smartphones: from TTS to voice assistant

Voice prompts and voiceovers on Xiaomi can be useful for people with disabilities, but most users find this feature annoying. Speech synthesis is activated not only when using Google Assistant or Mi AI, but also when reading notifications, working with maps or even accidentally pressing buttons. In this article, we will examine all possible ways to disconnect from standard settings to hidden developer settings.

MIUI is a feature that duplicates voice control functions in multiple menu sections, for example, voiceover can work even after TalkBack is disabled if Text-to-Speech (TTS) from Google or Xiaomi is active. We tested all methods on Redmi Note 12 Pro+, POCO X5 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra devices with MIUI 13/14 firmware - instructions are relevant for all models of the brand.

1. disable the main voice assistant (Mi AI / Google Assistant)

The most obvious source of speech synthesis is built-in voice assistants, which Xiaomi can have two: the proprietary Mi AI (formerly called Xiao AI) and Google Assistant, which are turned off in different ways, with the former often activated by accidentally holding the Home or Power button long.

To deactivate Mi AI:

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management
• 🔍 In the search bar, type Mi AI or Xiao AI
• ⚙️ Select the app and press Disable (if the button is inactive, tap Stop first)
• 🔒 For complete removal: Settings → Applications → Remove system applications (root rights required)

To disable Google Assistant:

• 🎤 Keep your finger on the Home button (or say "OK, Google") to call the assistant.
• 👆 Scroll up to the Settings section (cog in upper right corner)
• 🔕 Select Google Assistant → General → Disable Google Assistant
• 📵 In the Voice Search section, turn off the OK Google option.

⚠️ Warning: On some models of the POCO (e.g., POCO F5), the Mi AI is integrated so deeply into the firmware that it may cause errors in the Quick Ball (floating control panel) operation, in which case it is better to limit yourself to removing the microphone rights for the application.

2. Deactivation of TalkBack and Special Opportunity Services

TalkBack is a visually impaired speaker that can voice all the user's actions, and it can turn on by accident (for example, when you triple-push the Power button) or after you update the system, it turns off simply, but there are nuances:

Method 1: Through setting up special features

1. Open Settings → Special features → Screen announcer
2. Transfer the TalkBack slider to the off position.
3. Confirm the action by pressing OK in the window that appears

Method 2: If the screen is not responsive to touch (TalkBack is active):

• 🔄 Make a gesture with two fingers in a circle counterclockwise to return standard control
• 👆 Swipe two fingers up to scroll the screen to the Settings section.
• 🎯 Tap two fingers of the TalkBack element, then tap twice to open it.
• ⏻️ Twice tap the slider to turn off

3. disabling Text-to-Speech (TTS) from Google and Xiaomi

Text-to-Speech (TTS) is a speech synthesis engine that is used by voice applications. Even if you have disabled TalkBack and voice assistants, some programs (such as Google Maps or Waze) can continue to "talk" via TTS. Xiaomi has two TTS- engines:

• 🤖 Google Text-to-speech (universal, used by most applications)
• 📱 Xiaomi TTS (branded, may conflict with Google version)

To turn them off:

1. Go to Settings → System → Language and input → Text to speech
2. Select Preferred TTS Module and set No
3. Go back and open the TTS icon settings (cog next to the engine name)
4. Turn off the option Automatic update of voice data
5. For each engine (Google and Xiaomi) click Delete Data (this will clear the cache of voice packets)

💡

If after disabling TTS, some applications (for example, Yandex.Navigator) stopped voiced the route, check their internal settings. Often there is a separate option for selecting voice, which can be reset to the default value.

4.Hidden developer settings for complete shutdown

If standard methods don't work, you'll have to use developer mode, you can turn off low-level speech synthesis services that you can't see on the regular menu, and importantly, the wrong actions in this section can disrupt the system.

How to turn on the developer mode:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Find the MIUI version and tap it 7 times in a row
3. Enter a pattern lock or password if required
4. Return to the main settings menu – a new section for developers will appear

Now turn off speech synthesis:

• 🛠️ Go to Settings → Additional → For Developers
• 🔍 Find the Debugging option in USB and activate it (this unlocks hidden settings)
• 📢 Scroll down to Media and turn off: Enable sound effects when touched
• 🔊 In the Animation section, set the No Animation value for all parameters (this will remove delays when you turn off your voice)

On devices with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor (for example, Xiaomi 13T Pro) an additional Disable Audio Effects item may appear in the developer menu - its inclusion completely blocks sound processing at the system level, including speech synthesis.

Make sure you have a backup of your data |Close all voice-enabled apps (Navigator, Music) |Plug your device to charge (changes may require rebooting) |Remember the current sound settings to recover from a crash-->

5. Remove system applications (root required)

If you're willing to take drastic measures, you can completely remove the components responsible for speech synthesis, a method that only works for power users, as it requires super-user rights and can lead to unstable system operation.

List of applications and services for removal:

Mi AI (Xiao AI) components


pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.voiceassist




pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.voicetrigger




Google TTS and related services



pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.tts




pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.tts.synth




Xiaomi TTS



pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.xiaomi.tts




TalkBack and Special Opportunity Services



pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.marvin.talkback




pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.talkback

To execute commands:

1. Install ADB on your computer and connect your phone in debugging mode
2. Enter commands one at a time at ADB Shell Terminal
3. After removal, restart the device

⚠️ Warning: Removing system applications can disrupt MIUI, especially on devices with HyperOS (new firmware from Xiaomi). On some models (Redmi Note 11 Pro+), this causes the Voice input item to disappear in the Gboard keyboard. Before deleting, back up via TWRP.

6.Alternative methods: disabling through ADB and third-party utilities

If you don't have root, but you have access to ADB, you can turn off speech synthesis without deleting system files, which is reversible and safer than completely removing components.

Commands to disconnect via ADB:

#Switching off TalkBack


adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services ""




Google TTS Disconnection



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




Mi AI shutdown



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




Resetting TTS settings to factory



adb shell settings delete secure tts_default_synth




adb shell settings delete secure tts_default_language

For the application of the changes:

• 🖥️ Connect your phone to a PC with drivers installed ADB
• 🔌 Enable Debugging with USB in the Developer Settings
• 📋 Enter commands in the terminal one by one, waiting for confirmation after each
• 🔄 Reset the device

Third-party voice control tools:

• 🛡️ App Ops – allows you to disable permissions for system applications without root
• 🔧 Package Disabler – Blocks unnecessary services (requires ADB)
• 🎛️ Tasker – can automatically turn off speech synthesis on schedule or when running certain applications

💡

Using ADB is the safest way to disable speech synthesis without root, and all changes can be returned by adb shell pm enable by specifying the name of the packet.

7. Post-Switchoff Problems and Solutions

Turning off speech synthesis can have unexpected consequences, and here are the most common problems and ways to fix them:

If after manipulating the speech synthesis settings, the device began to slow down or overheat, perform the following actions:

1. Clear the system cache: Settings → Storage → Cleanup → Cache data
2. Reset MIUI settings to factory (without deleting data): Settings → About phone → Reset settings
3. Check the device in Safe Mode (hold the Power button → Safe Mode)

FAQ: Frequent questions about turning off speech synthesis on Xiaomi