Owners of the popular Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone often face an annoying phenomenon: when viewing photos or closing the Gallery app, banner ads pop up. This is not a virus or a consequence of malware infection, but a regular feature of the MIUI shell, designed to monetize the company’s budget and mid-budget devices.
Ad integrations are built deep into system applications, and you can't just turn them off with a single off button in the basic settings. Aggressive marketing can distract from viewing important shots and slow down the interface. Fortunately, there are several proven ways to get rid of this visual noise completely.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the action algorithms that will help you clean up your smartphone interface.We’ll look at both the official privacy settings and more advanced techniques through the engineering menu.The Redmi Note 8 Pro remains a powerful device even years after its release, and it deserves a clean user experience without intrusive offers.
⚠️ Warning: Before making changes to system settings or launching debugging commands, make sure you understand the actions being performed. Carelessly shutting down critical system processes can lead to unstable shell operation MIUI.
The Nature of Advertising Surfaces in MIUI
Advertising on Xiaomi smartphones is broadcast through a special system service known as MSA (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for collecting data about your preferences and showing the relevant banners in various applications, including Gallery, Explorer and Security.
In addition to the main ad engine, the system runs Recommendations, not classic ads from third-party brands, but promotion of the company’s own services, such as Xiaomi Cloud, design themes or games from GetApps. Often users confuse these two types of content, trying to disable one, but forgetting about the other.
It is important to understand that disabling ads does not violate the warranty and does not require obtaining superuser rights (Root).All of the methods described below use hidden or standard functions of the Android operating system in conjunction with the manufacturer's shell. However, after major firmware updates, some switches may be reset or moved.
- 📱 MSA — The main demon that broadcasts third-party advertising in the system.
- 📢 Recommendations (mab) – a service responsible for internal suggestions and interface prompts.
- 📊 Data collection – a telemetry function that transmits information about the use of targeting applications.
- 🔒 Privacy Policy – section where consent to data processing for advertising purposes can be withdrawn.
⚠️ Attention: Service MSA If you have disabled it but the adverts have reappeared, the procedure may need to be repeated or use the more radical methods described below.
Disable MSA service through phone settings
The first and most important step is to try to disable the main advertising service through the settings menu. In Redmi Note 8 Pro, the path to this feature may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the overall algorithm remains the same. You will need to find the Security app or the Passwords and Security section.
Go to your phone's settings and search for keywords. Type "MSA" or "Advertising Services." The system should give you the appropriate menu item. If the search does not yield results, manually navigate: Settings → Passwords and security → Access to personal data → Authorization and privacy.
In the list of system services that opens, find msa. The switch next to it should be active. Press it to turn it off. The system will start counting down (usually 10 seconds) to warn of possible consequences. Your task is to wait for the timer to end and press the "Cancel" button.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
Often the first time you can't turn off the service. The interface can hang, the recall button can be inactive, or the system will give you a network error. It's critical not to interrupt the process if the timer is already running. If there's an error, just try again 3-5 times in a row. Usually, the server misses the disconnect request 3-4 times.
Disabling personalization and recommendations
Even after the MSA is disabled, there may be so-called “Recommended” elements in the application folders and inside the Gallery itself, and a different process is responsible for them, often under the name mab or simply Get Recommendations, which is less aggressive, but also requires manual deactivation.
To clear the Gallery of internal spam, open the app and go to its settings. They are usually hidden behind the icon of three dots in the corner of the screen or are accessible through long-pressing on empty space in album mode. Find the Receive recommendations switch and put it inactive.
Also worth checking global ad settings. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to personal data. Here, in addition to msa, it is worth checking for other suspicious services with names that contain the words "Ads", "Promo" or "Recommend". In different regions of the firmware (Global, EEA, China), names can be cooked.
| System component | Location on the menu | Function | Post-offline status |
|---|---|---|---|
| msa | Authorization and confidentiality | Outdoor advertising | Advertising disappears |
| mab | System Services / Gallery | Internal recommendations | Clean interface |
| miuiDaemon | Special facilities | Collection of usage statistics | Decreasing telemetry |
| GetApps | Settings of the GetApps application | Xiaomi App Store | No notifications. |
⚠️ Warning: Do not disable system processes that you do not know the purpose of, especially if they are not related to advertising.Disabling critical services may cause the Redmi Note 8 Pro to stop working correctly or go into a cyclical restart.
Using Developer Mode and Debugging over USB
If standard methods don't work, or if you want to be guaranteed to remove ad components, you can use developer tools, which requires more care, but gives you access to the deepest settings of Android.
First, activate the developer menu. Go to Settings → About the phone and find the MIUI version. Click on it quickly 7-10 times in a row until the pop-up message “You’re a developer” appears.
Now, a new section, "More" → "Developers" will appear in the settings menu. Find the "USB Debugging" item in the list and activate it. Confirm the warning system. Now your Redmi Note 8 Pro is ready to receive special commands that can remove advertising packages.