Modern Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI shells or the new HyperOS are equipped with their own multimedia solutions out of the box. Often users are faced with a situation when trying to open a video file, the system automatically launches a standard gallery player, which may not support the right codecs or has no convenient interface for managing subtitles, which is uncomfortable, especially if you are used to the functionality of third-party applications like VLC or MX Player.
The problem is that Android, as an operating system, tends to optimize the user experience by choosing the application that algorithms believe is most suitable for media playback. However, priority is often given to system components that are deeply integrated into the manufacturer's shell. To change this behavior, you need to intervene in file association settings or forcefully reset the launch parameters for current video files.
In this article, we will discuss in detail all possible ways to assign a new video player to the main one. We will look at both standard methods through the Android menu, and more advanced options if the standard paths are hidden by the manufacturer, you will learn how to correctly configure associations for different video formats and avoid typical errors when the system ignores your choices.
Why Xiaomi System Ignores User Choice
Many owners of Redmi and Poco devices notice that even after installing a powerful third-party player, video continues to open in a standard application, due to the policy of aggressive resource optimization implemented in the MIUI shell. The system seeks to minimize the number of running background processes and often blocks switching to “heavy” third-party applications, considering them less effective for basic tasks.
And Android also has a hierarchy of application priorities, and the system video player has a higher level of trust on the OS than the ones downloaded from Google Play. When you first open a video, the system can "remember" that choice and no longer offer a selection menu, considering the issue solved.
⚠️ Note: In some versions of HyperOS firmware, the default application selection menu may be hidden if the system considers the current application system important.
It is also worth considering that different video file formats can be handled by different components, for example, for streaming video from the Internet and for local files stored in memory, different processors can be used, so the settings made for one type of content do not always automatically apply to another.
Basic method of changing the player through the menu "Open with help"
The easiest and most obvious way to change the app to play is to use the standard Android dialog box, which works in most cases unless you have previously checked the “Do Not Ask Again” box or if the settings were not rigidly fixed by the system update.
Find any video file in the file manager or gallery. Click on it once. If the system offers you an application selection, select the player you want from the list. In the window that opens, you will see the option "Always" or "Default"; it is clicking on the "Always" button that fixes the file association with the selected application.
If the selection menu does not appear and the video immediately starts playing in a standard player, you need to force this menu to open the file through a third-party file manager, such as Total Commander or Files by Google, which often implements its own action call mechanism that intercepts the standard system response.
Forced reset of standard application settings
If the simple choice doesn't work, then the system already has a strict priority for the standard player, and to get around it, you have to forget that choice, and to do that, we'll need access to the application settings, where we force the launch settings of the standard component to reset.
Go to Settings for your smartphone. Find the App (or All Apps) item. In the installed software list, find the standard Xiaomi video player, which can be called Video, Gallery or Mi Video. It is important not to confuse it with the Media Storage system service, which is responsible for indexing files.
☑️ Algorithm reset player settings
Once you log in to the app menu, find the Default Start (or Open by Default) section, and it will have a Reset button or Delete Default Settings. By clicking on it, you will delete all the associations the system has set before. Now, when you next launch the video file, Android will ask you again what to open this file.
Configure file associations in advanced players
Some powerful video players, such as VLC or nPlayer, have their own internal settings to intercept file openings. This is especially true if the standard Android menu is not working correctly or missing.
Go to the player settings and find the partition that is responsible for integration with the system, where you can see a list of formats (mkv, avi, mp4, mov). Make sure that all the required formats are activated, which signals to the operating system that this application is ready and willing to process these types of data.
| Annex | Availability of association menu | Support for codecs | Stability on MIUI |
|---|---|---|---|
| VLC for Android | Complete. | All popular. | Tall. |
| MX Player | Partial | Requires codecs. | Medium |
| nPlayer | Complete. | All popular. | Tall. |
| KMPlayer | Limited. | Basic | Low. |
Also worth paying attention to permissions: In modern versions of Android (11, 12, 13, 14), file access is strictly regulated, make sure that the new player is given permission to access all files or access media files, without which, even with the right association, the application will not be able to run video from the device’s memory.
Use of Third-Party File Managers
The standard MIUI Explorer often ignores the user’s desires and imposes its applications to open files. To avoid this, many experts recommend completely abandoning the built-in Explorer in favor of more flexible counterparts, which will not only solve the problem with video, but also simplify the work with the file system as a whole.
Install a file manager that selects a user, such as Solid Explorer, CX File Explorer, or Material Files. These applications often have a “File Types” or “Associations” option in their settings, where you can explicitly specify which application should open video, audio, and images.
ADB's secret team to reset all preferences
The advantage of third-party managers is that they don’t have deep integration with Xiaomi’s system services and don’t try to “improve” your experience by imposing a gallery. They just pass a file to the operating system with a request for opening, which causes Android to ask the user again about preferences.
Solving problems with codecs and formats
Often, the desire to change players is dictated not so much by the interface as by technical necessity. Standard Xiaomi players may not support certain audio codecs (for example, DTS or AC3) or complex containers, as a result of which the video is played without sound or with artifacts.
When choosing an alternative player, pay attention to the presence of built-in codecs. Applications like VLC are good because they do not depend on Android system libraries and decode video in their own hands, which ensures that almost any format you download from the Internet is played.
⚠️ Note: Use of third-party codecs (e.g. installation) MX Player with an external set of codecs may violate license agreements and in rare cases cause conflicts with the security system Google Play Protect.
If you still have a problem playing specific files after changing the player, check the bitrate and resolution of the video. Perhaps the hardware capabilities of your Redmi or Poco smartphone are limited and do not allow you to decode heavy 4K HDR files using software, and the hardware accelerator in the new player is configured differently.