Where in Xiaomi hidden assistant: all the ways to activate and configure

You bought a Xiaomi smartphone and you heard about the built-in voice assistant, but you can't find where to turn it on? Or suddenly you find that your Redmi or POCO doesn't respond to voice commands, even though everything used to work? This article will help you understand everything from the standard Mi AI Assistant to alternative solutions like Google Assistant.

The manufacturer often moves settings between versions of MIUI, and in some regions some features may be disabled by default, and we will not only show you where to look for the assistant in the latest firmware (including MIUI 15), but also explain why it may not work on your device – even if you did everything “on instructions”.

1. Standard Mi AI Assistant: Where to look in MIUI

Xiaomi’s main assistant is the Mi AI Assistant (formerly called Xiao AI), which is built into the firmware and activated through system settings. The path to it has changed in the latest versions of MIUI 14/15, so old guides can be misleading.

To find a helper:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Additionally. → Special facilities → Voice assistant (for MIUI 15)
• 🔍 In the settings search box, enter "assistant" or «AI» — The system will tell the current path
• 🎤 On some models (Xiaomi) 13/14, Redmi Note 12) There's a separate section AI and devices in the main settings menu

If your region has Mi AI Assistant disabled (e.g., in European firmware), you will see a notification saying “Function not available in your region” and you will have two options: reflash your device to the global/Chinese version of MIUI or use Google Assistant.

2.Why the assistant may not be on the menu

Even if you know exactly where the Mi AI Assistant partition should be, it can go missing for several reasons:

Especially often, the problem arises after a reset or firmware update. For example, in MIUI 14 for Xiaomi 12T, the assistant can “hide” in the Smart Home section – the logic of placement is not always intuitive.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI For example, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G) Mi AI Assistant is often replaced by Alice from Yandex.To return the original assistant, you will need to manually remove the system application com.yandex.alice via the Internet. ADB.

3.Activate Google Assistant on Xiaomi

If the standard assistant from Xiaomi doesn’t suit you (or doesn’t exist in your firmware), the alternative is Google Assistant, which supports Russian and is integrated with Google services.

1. Make sure that you have Google Play Services installed on your phone (there may not be any on Chinese firmware).
2. Press the Home button (on screen or physical) or say “OK, Google.”
3. If the assistant is not activated, go to Settings → Apps → Installed → Google and update the app.
4. For voice activation from the lock screen, turn on the option in Settings → Security → Voice Match.

On some models (POCO F5, Xiaomi Pad 6), Google Assistant may conflict with Mi AI. In this case, you will have to choose one of the assistants in the default settings (Settings → Applications → Default → Voice Assistant).

Install the latest version of Google|

Enable access to the microphone in the permission settings |

Activate voice control in the Assistant| settings

Check regional settings (Russian/English should be selected)-->

4. Voice commands and hidden capabilities

Few people know, but the Mi AI Assistant has more than just opening apps on a voice command. Here are some hidden features:

• 📸 Say “take a selfie” or “take a picture of what’s in front of me” – the camera will open automatically.
• 🔋 Quick settings: The commands “turn on Bluetooth”, “increase brightness” or “Go to plane mode” are triggered without opening the menu.
• 🌐 Real-time translation: Point the camera at the text and say “Translate this into Russian” (works with the camera). MIUI 13+).
• 🎵 Music Management: "Play Song [Title]" or "Next Track" - works with Mi Music and Spotify.

To activate these commands, you need to pre-train the assistant to your voice, this is done in the section Assistant settings → Voice model → Training. The process takes 1-2 minutes and requires a quiet environment.

5. Assistant on Xiaomi Smart Devices (not phones)

Mi AI Assistant is available not only on smartphones, but also on other gadgets of the Xiaomi ecosystem.

• 📺 Mi TVs TV/Redmi TV: Activated by a microphone button on the remote or by a voice command “Little Curious” (for the Chinese version).
• 🎧 Headphones Xiaomi: In models Buds 4 Pro and newer assistant is enabled by double touch (setting in Mi Home) → The device → Touch control).
• ⌚ Smartwatch: On the Mi Watch and Redmi Watch 3, the voice assistant is called by holding the button (requires a phone connection).

On the Mi TV with PatchWall firmware (India/China), the assistant is integrated with content recommendations, such as saying, "Show Tom Cruise movies," and the system will give you a list with the ability to immediately start watching.

⚠️ Note: On Xiaomi Mi Smart Speaker (e.g. Mi) AI Speaker Play) voice assistant works only with Chinese Mi Account accounts. For Russian users, the alternative is to connect via Yandex Alice or Google Home.

6. Solving problems with the work of the assistant

If the assistant doesn’t respond to commands or is unstable, check the following points:

1. Microphone: Make sure it is not physically drowned out (dust, foreign objects) and permissions for assistant are included in Settings → Privacy → Permissions → Microphone.
2. Internet: Mi AI Assistant requires a network connection to process commands. Check mobile internet or Wi-Fi.
3. Application Conflict: Some programs (such as Greenify or Battery Saver) may block the assistant from working in the background.
4. Firmware errors: After major MIUI updates, the assistant can "fly off." Helps reset via Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset (choose "Reset App Settings" rather than a full reset!).

For diagnostics, it is useful to see the assistant's logs. This is done through Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → [Tap 7 times by version number] → Allow debugging over USB. Then connect the phone to your PC and use the command:

adb logcat | grep -i "assistant"

If the logs appear errors such as “No Internet connection” or “Service unavailable”, the problem is on the side of Xiaomi servers – you just have to wait for the fix.

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To speed up the assistant’s response to voice, turn off the energy-saving mode for the com.miui.voiceassist app in the battery settings.

7.Alternative assistants for Xiaomi

If built-in solutions don’t fit, consider third-party options:

To install Alice, download the Yandex application from the official website (there may be an outdated version in Google Play). After authorization, the assistant will be available through the widget or voice command "Alice".

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On devices with MIUI for the EU (for example, Xiaomi 13 Lite), all voice assistants except Google Assistant are disabled by default. To return Mi AI, you will need to manually install APK from Chinese firmware (risky!).

FAQ: Frequent questions about assistant in Xiaomi