Xiaomi smartphone owners often face intrusive system services, particularly the Google Assistant, which can be activated by accidentally pressing the power button or appear on the home screen, interfering with easy navigation, especially annoying those who prefer the voice assistant MIUI or do not use voice control.
Fortunately, the Android operating system in the MIUI shell provides some flexible tools to manage this service, so you can not only hide its icon, but also completely reassign the actions that trigger the assistant, which makes using your smartphone more comfortable and personalized to your habits.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to deactivate and configure Google Assistant. We will look at standard methods through system settings, working with control buttons and using additional utilities for advanced users. Follow the instructions to regain full control of your device.
Disconnection through Android system settings
The easiest and safest way to limit the functionality of the assistant is to disable it in the general operating system settings. This method does not remove the application completely, but makes it inactive for user requests. You do not need superuser rights or a computer connection.
To start, go to the Settings menu of your Xiaomi smartphone. Find the Google section (often at the top of the list or in the Google Services group). Next, select Settings for Google apps and in the list that opens, find Search and Assistant. This is where the basic controls are hidden.
Inside the Google Assistant menu, you need to find the Phone or Devices section, and there's a switch that's responsible for the activity of the Assistant, and once it's turned off, the Assistant will stop responding to voice commands "OK, Google" and will not pop up if you press the home button long enough (if it's been active), but it's worth considering that the location of the items may vary slightly on different versions of Android.
⚠️ Warning: Disabling the service completely in your settings may affect other Google features, such as voice input in instant messengers or a smart home.
If your goal is simply to remove the visual presence of the assistant, this step may not be enough. Often requires additional adjustment of activation methods, which we will talk about in the next sections, it is important to understand the difference between "off state" and "no access to activation".
Reconfiguring the power button and gestures
One of the most common causes of annoyance is the accidental activation of the assistant through the lock button. In modern versions of MIUI and Android, a long press on the power button is the default Google Assistant.
Follow the Settings path → Additional → Buttons (or Keyboard Combinations). Here you will find Google Assistant Start. By clicking on it, you will see the option to select the action with a long press. You can switch this feature to call the Power Off menu, which is a more common scenario for many Xiaomi users.
- 📱 Select the "Switch Off Menu" option if you want to return to standard button behavior.
- 🗣️ Leave Google Assistant if you use voice search but want to remove it from other places.
- 🚫 Disable the feature completely if such an option is available in your firmware version.
Also, check your gesture settings. If you use gesture control instead of on-screen buttons, try pinching the corner of the screen or swiping to see if it's calling an assistant. In Settings → Additional → Gesture Management, you can turn off the application launch or swipe assistant.
☑️ Setting up the power button
After changing the settings of the power button, be sure to check the result. Press and hold the lock button several times. If the mode selection menu (No Sound, Vibration, Turn off) appears, then you successfully removed the intrusive Google Assistant call.
Removing updates and rolling back the application version
Because Google Assistant is a system component, the usual removal through the app menu is often not available — the Remove button will be inactive. However, there is an effective method of freezing or rolling back to the factory version, which often has stripped down functionality and does not manifest as aggressively.
To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Search Google (the main app, not the Assistant separately) in the app management menu that opens, click on the three dots in the top corner and select Remove Updates. The system will alert you that the app will be returned to the factory version.
⚠️ Note: After the rollback version, the application can automatically update again through the Play Market. To prevent this, you need to disable the automatic update for a particular application in the store settings.
This method temporarily eliminates new features and widgets that may appear on the lock screen or in the news feed.The factory version of Google App most often runs in the background and does not have extended rights to display the interface on top of other windows.
If you choose to use this method, be prepared for the fact that some of the functions of search and speech recognition may work less correctly, which is a fee for getting rid of the intrusive interface without the use of complex technical means.
Hiding widgets and Google Discover tapes
People often confuse the Assistant with the Google Discover News Feed, which is to the left of the home screen, where the news, weather and microphone buttons are located, and you can remove this screen directly from your desktop without going into complex system settings.
Put two fingers on the home screen to go into desktop editing mode. Flick to the right until you see a Google tape screen. The top corner usually has a switch. Turn it off and the tape disappears from navigation. This removes the visual element that many perceive as part of the assistant.
It's also worth checking the widgets that are installed on the desktop. Sometimes users accidentally add an assistant widget or Google Search widget with a microphone button. Long clicks on this widget will allow you to select the Delete option, which will clear your interface of unnecessary voice controls.
| Interface element | Wherever | Method of shutting down |
|---|---|---|
| Google Discover Tape | Left of the main screen | Switch in table editing mode |
| Search widget | On the desk. | Long pressing → Delete |
| Microphone button | In widgets or search bar | Widget settings → Hide the microphone |
| Lock screen | With the screen off | Settings → Passwords and Security → Labels |
Why is Google’s feed coming back?
Cleaning the workspace not only improves visual perception, but also saves RAM resources. News feed constantly updates content in the background, which can affect the autonomy of the device.
Using ADB for full deaktivatsii
For advanced users who want to securely remove Google Assistant and related services, there is a method of using USB debugging (ADB), which allows you to remove system packages that are not available to the average user. Be careful: improper actions can lead to unstable system operation.
The first step is to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI Version. After the message "You became a developer" return to the settings menu, find the Additional → For Developers section and turn on the USB Debugging Toggle.
Connect your phone to your computer via a quality cable. The PC must have ADB drivers installed. Open the command line or terminal in the tool folder and enter a command to check the connection:
adb devicesIf the device's serial number is displayed on the phone screen, you'll see a request for debugging permission, confirm it. If the terminal displays the device's serial number, the connection is established.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.googleassistant⚠️ Note: Removing system packets through ADB It is not a reversible simple way. To return the functionality, you will need a complete reset of the phone settings (Wipe Data).
This is the most radical method, which removes the voice assistant packet from the user profile completely, and the system will assume that the application has been deleted, even though the files will remain in the system partition, which is ideal for those who want to clear the smartphone from Google services.
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Before using ADB, make sure to make a full backup of important data to a cloud drive or computer, as there is a risk of damage to the system.
Alternative solutions and replacement of assistant
If you don’t like the standard Google Assistant, but you still need voice control, you can consider alternatives: Xiaomi’s ecosystem has its own Mi AI assistant built in (often limited in global versions), or you can use third-party development.
However, just installing an app from the Play Market is not enough. To respond to the call button, it will need special permissions. On Android, only one assistant can be active by default. You can access the settings through Settings → Applications → Default Applications → Digital Assistant.
- 🤖 Alice (Yandex) is a popular alternative for Russian-speaking users, perfectly integrates with Yandex services.
- 🔊 Siri – not available on Android, but there are interface emulators, although the functionality will be limited.
- 🧠 Brainy is a lightweight, open source assistant that doesn’t collect any extra data.
Using third-party solutions often requires fine-tuning the microphone and screen permissions. Under MIUI battery optimization, these applications can be offloaded from memory. To avoid this, lock the application in memory and remove background restrictions.
If you only want to search, it's easier to use a search bar widget without voice activation. If you want to manage a smart home, make sure that the assistant you choose supports your devices.
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Completely removing system components through ADB is the best thing to do, but it requires caution. For most users, reconfiguring the power button and turning off in Google’s settings is enough.