When a Xiaomi Redmi smartphone suddenly starts to comment loudly on every touch you make, it often puts users into a stupor: It's not a virus or a speaker breakage, but activating an accessibility feature known as TalkBack. It's designed for visually impaired people, but accidentally turning on through a keyboard combination or a system glitch can turn using the phone into a real quest.
Many Xiaomi Redmi and Poco owners face this phenomenon after updating the firmware or carelessly pressing the volume buttons. The interface becomes immune to ordinary tapas, requiring specific gestures, which creates the illusion of a complete lock of the device.
In this guide, we’ll look at all the ways you can deactivate your voice assistant, from simple button combinations to deep menu settings, learn to distinguish between a speech synthesizer and third-party applications, and learn how to prevent this feature from running accidentally in the future.
Emergency shutdown via hot keys
The fastest way to remove voice on Android Xiaomi is to use a built-in button combination. Many versions of the MIUI and HyperOS shell have a quick access feature that is activated by long-term simultaneous pressing of volume control keys. If your phone starts talking, try to pinch both buttons (increase and decrease volume) at the same time and hold them for 3-5 seconds.
After that, the system notification should appear on the screen asking about the deactivation of TalkBack. Since this mode is not working, you will need to make a double quick tap on the confirmation button. If the system responded and the voice fell silent, the problem is solved. However, if this method did not work the first time, perhaps the timeout has been changed in the settings or the quick start function has been reassigned.
⚠️ Warning: If holding the volume buttons fails for 10 seconds, release them. Prolonged chaotic pressing can cause emergency services to be called or other security features to be activated, which will only complicate the situation.
There is also an alternative method for some Redmi Note models that requires a triple tap of the power button, but this depends on the specific firmware version.
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If the volume buttons are busy playing music or video, first pause the media so that the system correctly recognizes the prolonged pressing as a system command.
Set up gesture management in active mode
If the hot keys didn't work, you'd have to navigate manually, and the tricky part is that the logic of the TalkBack mode changes dramatically. A single tap now just highlights the element (literates it with a green outline) and pronounces its name. To actually open the app or press a button, you'd have to do a double tap anywhere on the screen after highlighting.
To scroll up or down, use two fingers at the same time. Swipe them around the screen, mimicking a normal flip, but touching the display with two fingers at once. This is a key point without which you can't get to the settings point. Trying to scroll with one finger will be perceived by the system as highlighting elements.
Your goal is to get to Settings, and you can select it with a single tap, then you can quickly press it twice, and then the algorithm goes like this.
- 🔍 Find and highlight the section “Advanced Settings” or “Additional Settings».
- 🗣️ Inside, find the item “Special Features).
- 👁️ Select the category "Vision».
- ❌ Click on TalkBack and switch the switch to the “Off” position».
When you turn off, you might need to confirm, and again, use the circuit: one tap to select the Stop or Turn off button, double tap to confirm, and then the voice tracks will disappear, and the control will return to the standard one.
☑️ Algorithm of Actions in TalkBack Mode
Disconnecting through Google’s voice assistant
Often users confuse the TalkBack system with the Google Assistant. If the phone does not voice every click, but only responds to voice commands or starts talking in response to your requests, it is a different service. On Xiaomi devices, this process is regulated separately and does not require complex gesture manipulation.
To check and disable this feature, open the Google app or find the corresponding icon in the menu. Go to the assistant settings. Here you are interested in the Voice Control or Voice Input section. If the slider is active, the phone can respond to the phrase "OK, Google" even when the screen is off, creating the illusion of intrusive behavior.
It's also worth checking your speech synthesis settings. Sometimes third-party apps install their voice engines that conflict with the system ones. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Special. features and check the list of installed services. If there are programs you don't know about reading from the screen, they should be removed or disabled.
| Function | Appointment | How to turn off | Impact on the battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| TalkBack | Complete management for the visually impaired | Volume + and - (3 seconds) | High. |
| Google Assistant | Voice search and commands | Google settings | Average. |
| Select to Speak | Voiceover of the selected text | Availability panel | Low. |
| Voice Access | Voice control of the telephone | Google settings | Average. |
Why is TalkBack so hard on the battery?
Control via Quick Access Panel
In modern versions of MIUI, there is a handy widget in the notification curtain that allows you to manage accessibility features. If you can lower the top bar (top down with two fingers if TalkBack is active, or a regular swipe if the mode is already partially disabled), find a person icon or the inscription “Accessibility”.
You click on it, and you'll see a list of active services, and there's a lot of talkback switches, and the advantage of this is that it doesn't require a deep dive into the settings menu, but if the interface is completely blocked by gestures, it may not be possible without first unlocking the screen using standard methods.
Sometimes cleaning the availability service cache helps, and you go to the app menu, find Settings, go to Apps, and find Availability Services or TalkBack. In the app store, click Clear. This action resets the current interaction settings, and the function can be deactivated.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to remove system accessibility components through file managers or ADB Without full unlocking, this could lead to a cyclical reboot of the Redmi smartphone.
Using Mi Cloud for Remote Management
If your smartphone screen reacts to touch in a chaotic way, or you can’t physically get into the menus you want because of sensor failures combined with TalkBack, Xiaomi’s cloud service will come to the rescue.This method requires that the device has the Internet and Mi Account enabled.
Go from your computer or other phone to i.mi.com. Sign in with the same account as the problem device. Select Find Device. There may be a lock or loss mode option on your Redmi's action list, but we're interested in remote control or at least locking the screen.
Locking the device remotely forcibly closes all active user sessions and can reboot the interface, knocking down the active TalkBack mode. Once unlocked with a password you set remotely, the phone can return to normal operation mode. This is a complex but effective method for cases where the sensor behaves unpredictably.
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Using the Mi Cloud cloud service is a “heavy artillery” when standard input methods fail due to a touchscreen malfunction.
Resetting settings as a last resort
When a software failure is critical and you can’t remove voice on Android Xiaomi by standard methods, there is a radical step – reset to factory settings (Hard Reset). This action will completely delete all your data, photos and contacts, so resort to it only in a desperate situation.
To reset without access to the menu, use a combination of buttons when the phone is off. Press the power button and the volume button at the same time. Hold them until the Mi logo appears or you go to Recovery mode. In the Recovery menu (which is controlled by the volume buttons - up/down, and confirmed by the power button), select English, then Wipe Data and Confirm.
Once you've finished, select Reboot. The phone will reboot as new, without any voice assistants or settings. This is guaranteed to remove any software conflicts that caused the problem. SIM-card to protect personal data.
- 🔋 Make sure the battery is at least 50% before resetting.
- 📱 Extract. SD-card so that it does not format with the phone memory.
- 🔑 Remember the password from the Mi Account, as after the reset, authorization will be required.
Once turned on, reset the initial setting. Read the screens carefully: the system may ask if you want to enable accessibility features. Answer negatively so that history doesn't repeat itself.