Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where a foreign graphic element appears on the display, which can be a translucent ball, a small dot or a floating circle with icons inside, a phenomenon that is usually puzzling, especially if the user did not activate this feature consciously, in most cases it is not a virus, but a regular option of the MIUI shell or HyperOS, designed to simplify navigation.
It's important to understand the nature of this element, because it can overlap content in games or interfere with video viewing, most often the "Ball Menu" feature, "Assistant" or the developer's system mode, and you shouldn't ignore it if you don't need it, because random taps can launch applications or change volume settings.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all the possible round elements on the screen and provide step-by-step instructions for turning them off. We will look at both software settings and rare cases of hardware indications so that you can completely clean your device’s display.
Ballroom Menu and Assistant: What's the Difference
The most common reason for a circle to appear on the screen is the activated Ball Menu or Assistant function, which may be called differently in different versions of MIUI firmware, but the essence of their work is similar: they create a floating button to quickly access frequently used actions.
The ball menu is usually a translucent circle that can be dragged around the edges of the screen. When you click it unfolds in a menu with app shortcuts, screenshots or lock screen. The assistant more often looks like a floating dot or a home button that mimics the mechanical button of old smartphones. The difference is functionality: the first replaces navigation gestures, the second provides quick access to tools.
Users often confuse these elements with ads or system bugs, but if you click on a circle, it pops up a menu with icons, it is exactly a system function, and it can be turned on randomly when you update the system or reset your settings when you turn on the default option.
To understand what kind of circle you have, try clicking on it. If the control panel opens, it's a ballroom menu. If the phone just rolls up the app or comes back to the desktop, it's a Home button emulation. It turns off these functions in different settings, so it's important to correctly identify the item.
How to turn off the ball menu in MIUI and HyperOS
If you have a circle on your screen that shows app shortcuts when you click, you need to turn off the Balloon Menu, a feature that is especially popular in Chinese firmware versions, but also found in global builds called Ball Menu or Quick Ball.
To turn off, do the following: go to the basic settings of your smartphone. Search by settings (top magnifier) type the word "ball" or "Menu." The system will suggest the desired item. If the search does not help, the path may vary depending on the version of the shell.
In current versions of HyperOS and MIUI 14, the algorithm of actions is as follows:
- 🔘 Go to the Additional Features section).
- 🔘 Find the Ball Menu and click on it.
- 🔘 Turn the switch to the off position.
- 🔘 Confirm the action if the system requests confirmation.
In older versions of MIUI (versions 10-12), this element could be called a “floating window” or in the special features section. If you don’t find an option in “Additional features”, check the Advanced Settings section. There may be a “floating button” or “Assistive Touch” option, which also creates a circle on the screen.
⚠️ Warning: Once the function is disabled, the circle will disappear instantly. If it remains, try restarting the device, as some system processes can cache graphic elements.
☑️ Verification of deactivation of the function
Remove the emulation of the button “Home” (Assistive Touch)
Another type of circle is a small floating dot that mimics a physical button, called the Assistant or the Floating Button, which was created for devices without mechanical buttons to make it easier to move from Android 9 or below, or for users who are used to buttons.
You can turn this off through the special feature menu, and users often turn it on randomly, trying to adjust navigation, and unlike the ballroom menu, this circle is usually smaller and has only one action when you short press.
The path to shutdown looks like this:
- Open the smartphone settings.
- Go to the Additional Settings section.
- Select the option "Accessibility".
- At the top of the screen, look for the Physical tab.
- Click on the Assistant menu or the Floating button.
- Turn off the switchboard function.
If you've left the circle behind, it might be from a third-party app. Check the list of launchers or gesture control software installed. Some screen recording or memory cleaning apps can also create their own floating widgets that are visually similar to the system.
What to do if the “Assistant” item is not available?
Circle in developer mode: debugging on touch
There's a rarer, but possible scenario: If you see a white circle on the screen with numbers inside where you're touching the display, you have debugging mode on, and it's a developer tool that shows the coordinates of the touch.
This mode is called Show taps, which is not malicious, but can be very annoying in normal use, as the circles stay on the screen for a fraction of a second after each tap, and can only be turned off through the developer menu.
Instructions for unsetting:
- 🛠 Go to Settings. → The phone.
- 🛠 Find the line Version MIUI (or OS) And press it fast. 7-10 Once you have the message “You became a developer».
- 🛠 Return to the main settings menu and select Additional settings.
- 🛠 Open for developers (Developer options).
- 🛠 Find Show taps and turn it off.
In the same developer menu, you should check the item Show the boundaries of elements. If it is turned on, colored frames will appear around all the buttons and input fields, which can also be perceived by the user as a strange circle or square on the screen.
⚠️ Warning: Be careful in the Developer menu. Changing other settings (such as interface scaling or animation) can lead to unstable system performance.
Comparison of Floating Element Functions
To make it easier for you to identify the problem, we have compiled a table of the main types of circles found in Xiaomi smartphones, which will help you quickly determine what kind of setting to look for.
| Type of element | Appearance | Where is the menu? | Substantive function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballroom menu | semi-transparent ball | Additional functions → Ballroom menu | Quick launch of applications |
| Assistant | Small dot/button | Special opportunities → Assistant | Emulation of the Home button |
| Touch debugging | White circle with numbers | For developers → Display touches | Sensor diagnostics |
| Record indicator | Green dot/circle | Status line (top) | Recording screen or sound |
| Ballroom menu | Swimming around the edges | Additional functions | Navigation |
| Assistant | Fixed or floating | Special opportunities | Management |
As you can see from the table, the location of the settings depends on the visual appearance of the item. If you see a green dot at the top of the screen (in the status bar), this is a privacy indicator that tells you whether the microphone or the camera is working. It can not be removed, because this is a security requirement of Android 12 and higher, but you can check which application is using the camera.
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Correct identification of the type of circle saves time to find the right setting in the phone menu.
Third-party applications and launchers
If none of the systems worked, it means that the circle was created by third-party software. In the Android ecosystem, many applications are allowed to draw over other windows (Overlay permission), this can be memory cleaners, voice recorders, applications for recording calls or game optimizers.
Often, these circles appear after you install accelerators or antiviruses, they hang on the screen, waiting for a command, to find the culprit, you need to check the permissions of the applications. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications.
In the upper right corner, click three dots and select Special app access. Find Display over other apps. Go through the list: If you see a suspicious app with access enabled that you don't remember, try disabling it. Often, applications like Clean Master, DU Battery, or various "Game Modes" from unknown developers are the culprits.
It can also be a launcher widget, and if you've changed the theme or installed a third-party desktop (like a Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher), check their settings. A floating element can be activated in the Gestures and Input or Control Panel section.
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To quickly check, run your phone in safe mode. If the circle is missing in safe mode, then it is definitely called by a third-party app, not Xiaomi's system.
Hardware indicators and rare cases
In some cases, the circle on the screen may be due to hardware features or damage. If the circle is static (does not move, does not respond to touch) and has a strange color (pink, green, purple), this may be a sign of a matrix burnout or a problem with the display plume.
Also on some Xiaomi models with AMOLED-And when you have low brightness, you can have PWM flickering, which is visually perceived as ripples or circles.
Another option is to stick pixels: If a circle appears after a long static image (like a navigator or a game), try running a video with iridescent colors to maximum brightness for 10-15 minutes, which can help to “accelerate” the pixels.
If the circle appeared after a phone drop or moisture hit, and it does not disappear after rebooting and resetting the settings, there is a likely hardware breakdown, in which case the software methods are powerless, and diagnostics are required at the service center.
⚠️ Warning: If the circle is accompanied by color distortion throughout the screen or flickering stripes, do not try to warm the screen or tap on the body.