Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face intrusive advertising content that is integrated into system applications. The gallery is no exception: instead of purely viewing photos of the user, banners, recommended articles and offers to download games are met, which annoys, distracts and slows down the device, especially on budget models with a small amount of RAM.
Fortunately, most of these elements can be disabled with regular system tools or with simple manipulation of account settings. MIUI and the new HyperOS provide enough controls to clear the interface of unnecessary visual noise, you do not need superuser rights or sophisticated ADB tools to return comfortable use of the gallery.
In this tutorial, we will look at all the known ways to block ad modules, we will look at the settings of the application itself, msa system services and personalization options, follow the steps consistently to achieve maximum effect.
Disabling personalized recommendations in the application
The first and most obvious step is to set up the Gallery app itself, and that's where the switch is, which is the one that displays what's called "recommended" content, and without it, all other things might not work.
Open the app and go to the settings menu. It's usually hidden behind a three-dot icon or a gear at the top of the screen. Find Settings → About → Advertising or Get Recommendations. You need to put the slider inactive.
The system can ask you a few times about your decision, saying that the recommendations will help you find the best photos, ignore these messages and confirm the disconnection, then the banners at the bottom of the screen or on the tab "Overview" should disappear.
⚠️ Note: If you are using the old version MIUI, Look for the "Get recommendations" section directly in the app's main settings menu, not inside the "About the app" item".
It’s important to understand that disabling recommendations only affects the content within the app. It doesn’t block system notifications from Xiaomi services, which can come separately.
MSA (MIUI System Ads)
A key component in the display of ads throughout the Xiaomi ecosystem is the MSA system service (MIUI System Ads), which, while active, can receive data for targeted advertising, and turning off this service is a critical step.
Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Data Access. Search the msa app and deny it access to the network (Wi-Fi and mobile data) without an Internet connection, the service will not be able to download new ads.
However, simply denying access is often not enough, and you need to completely disable the service through the authorization menu:
- 🔒 Go to Settings. → Passwords and security → Access the data and find the msa.
- 📉 Click on the "Get References" (or similar) switch and wait 10 seconds.
- ✅ Click "Disable" in the confirmation window that appears.
- ⏳ If the system says "failed to disable", try repeating the procedure. 3-5 successively.
Often, the first time you can turn off the service is not possible due to software errors interface. Statistics show that 80% of users successfully disconnect only with 3-4 attempts, so be patient and repeat the actions until you receive a message about a successful shutdown.
☑️ Shutdown checklist MSA
Setting up the statistics and security service
Another hidden data collector is Statistics and Security, which collects information about how you use your device and transmits that data to create an advertising profile, and disabling this module not only improves the cleanliness of the interface, but also your privacy.
To access the settings, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Statistics & Security. You need to deactivate the "Enable Statistics" switch.
Once disabled, the system will stop sending application usage reports, which can also have a positive impact on battery life, as background data transfer processes will be stopped. In some firmware versions, this item may simply be called "Usage Statistics".
Don’t be afraid to turn off diagnostic data unless you’re a developer or tester, and for the average user, this feature is purely marketing to the manufacturer.
What does an analytics shutdown do?
Disabling the Mi Ads service in your account
Advertising IDs are not only linked to your device, but also to your Mi Account. Even when you reset your phone settings, when you re-authorize, the ads can come back if you don't turn off this option in your cloud profile.
Go to account settings through the Settings menu → Mi Account. Select Advertising Services. You must disable Personalized Advertising".
Reset Advertising ID is also recommended, which generates a new random number that breaks the link to the previously collected interest profile, making ads less relevant and possibly less frequent.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Recommended action | The effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receive recommendations | Gallery → Settings | Turn it off. | Removes banners in the app |
| msa | Access to data | Disable + Disable | Blocks system advertising |
| Mi Ads | Mi Account. | Disable personalization | Reduces cloud targeting |
| Statistics | Confidentiality | Turn it off. | Stops collecting data |
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After changing the account settings, it is recommended to completely restart the smartphone so that the new parameters are synchronized with all system services.
Comparison of methods of cleaning the interface
There are many ways to combat intrusive content, from simple switches to installing third-party launchers, and it’s important to understand the difference between them to choose the best one for your situation.
The standard methods (disabling msa, recommendations) are the most secure and do not require additional software installation; they keep the system stable and ensure that all functions, including updates, work; however, they may not remove 100% of all banners if the manufacturer decides to implement new formats.
Using third-party galleries (like Google Photos or Simple Gallery) completely replaces the standard app. It's a radical but effective method. You get a clean interface, but you lose integration with the Mi Cloud cloud and the specific editing features of Xiaomi.
Installing ad blockers (AdGuard and analogues) requires customization DNS or localization VPN-It is a powerful tool that cuts ads across all apps at once, but can conflict with some banking apps or games.
⚠️ Note: When installing third-party galleries, do not remove the standard app completely unless you are sure of your actions. It is better to simply hide it or disable it in the application settings to avoid system errors.
Problems with disabling advertising and their solution
Users often experience a situation where the Receive References switch does not turn off or returns to its original position after a while, which may be due to data caching or synchronization errors.
Try to disconnect the Internet before trying to disable the msa service. Sometimes the system tries to check the status of the subscription or account before applying the settings, and the disconnection of the connection blocks this request, allowing you to change the setting locally.
Also helps to clear the cache of the application "Security" and "Services Xiaomi". Go to Settings → Apps → All applications, find the specified services and click "Clear cache". After that, repeat the procedure for disabling advertising.
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If the ad switch is constantly returning to the "On" position, try changing the device region to "India" or "USA", disabling the ad, and then returning your region.
In rare cases, the problem lies in a particular firmware version. Check for system updates. Sometimes new security patches close vulnerabilities that make it easy to turn off ads, or vice versa, fix bugs that prevent them from doing so.