How to completely remove the app “Tape widgets” on Xiaomi: from disconnection to removal

The Widget Ribbon app (officially Mi Home or GetApps) has become one of the most annoying features of MIUI firmware for many Xiaomi users. It not only takes up space on the home screen, but is constantly updated, consumes traffic in the background, and its widgets (weather, news, advertising) interfere with quick access to the desired functions. Worse, standard removal through the application menu is often blocked by the system - the Remove button is simply inactive.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways to get rid of the Tape, from simply hiding the icon to completely deleting system files (including methods for rooted devices). You’ll also learn how to turn off automatic widget returns after a MIUI update, a problem that even experienced users face. Instructions are relevant for MIUI 12, 13 and 14, including the Redmi Note 10/11/12, POCO X3/X4, Xiaomi 12/13 and others.

Why can’t the widget tape be removed in the standard way?

The Mi Home app (or GetApps, depending on the region) is built into MIUI firmware as system software, which means that:

• 🔹 It is protected from removal without superuser rights (root).
• 🔹 Even after “deleting” through Settings → Applications are restored after restarting or updating the system.
• 🔹 Widgets Tapes integrated into Launcher MIUI — Xiaomi launcher, so blocking them requires additional manipulations.

Xiaomi is also actively using this app to:

• 📢 Advertising display (including personalized banners).
• 🌍 Data collection on user behavior (anonymized statistics, according to the company).
• 🔄 Forced Updates – Security patches and new versions are often distributed through GetApps MIUI.

It’s important to understand that even if you hide an icon or disable widgets, the app itself will remain on the system and consume resources.

Method 1: Hiding the icon Tapes without removal (for beginners)

If you are just disturbed by the Mi Home icon on the home screen, but you do not want to interfere with system files, use the built-in MIUI features:

1. Press and hold the Tape icon** (or GetApps) on the home screen.

⚠️ Note: This method does not disable weather, news and advertising widgets. These will still be displayed when swiped left on the home screen. To remove them, go to Method 2.

For POCO Launcher or third-party launchers (e.g. Nova Launcher):

• 🔧 In the launcher settings, find the Hide apps option and add Mi Home to the list.

Method 2: Disabling Tape widgets through MIUI settings

If you're annoyed by weather, news and advertising widgets, you can turn them off without removing the app itself.

1. Go to Settings. → Main screen screen.
2. Select Tape Settings (or Home Screen Widgets in newer versions of MIUI).
3. Turn off the sliders opposite: 🌤️ Weather. 📰 News 🎯 Recommended (advertising) 📊 Steps and activities (if not used)

Save the changes and restart the smartphone.

⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI To prevent automatic widgets from turning on, turn off auto-update for Mi Home:

1. Open Google Play → Menu → My Apps
2. Find GetApps or Mi Home, click on three dots → Disable Auto Update.

Method 3: Removing updates and rolling back to the factory version

The Mi Home app is often updated through Google Play, adding new widgets and ads. If you turn off the updates and return it to the factory version, some of the features will stop working, and the widgets may disappear.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find GetApps or Mi Home, open up information about it.
3. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner → Remove updates.
4. Confirm action. The app will return to the factory version (usually v4.x.x instead of the current v6.x.x).
5. Return to Google Play and turn off auto-update for this app (see Method 2).

🔧 Step-by-step instruction:

1. Connect the phone to your computer and allow debugging over USB.
2. Open the command prompt (cmd on Windows) in the folder with ADB.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must appear serial number of your device.
4. Run the command to delete Mi Home: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.mi.android.globallauncher For GetApps use: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.mipicks
5. Reboot your smartphone.

⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI The application may recover. To prevent this, re-run the delete command via ADB.

💡

ADB-The deletion does not affect the system files, so the risk of "bricking" the phone is minimal, but after resetting to the factory settings, the tape will return.

Method 5: Remove with root rights (for power users)

If you have root rights (e.g., through Magisk), you can completely delete the system files of the Tapes, including widgets and services, which is the most reliable method, but requires caution.

🛡️ Warning: Mistakes with system files can lead to loss of service phone.We recommend backing up through TWRP beforehand.

📂 What files should be deleted:

🔧 Instructions:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /system/priv-app/ and find the MiHome (or GetApps) folder.
3. Remove the entire folder or rename it (for example, in the MiHome_bak).
4. Clear cache and data through Settings → Applications → Mi Home.
5. Reset the device.

🔹 Pros: The tape disappears forever, widgets do not return even after updates.

🔸 Cons: Risk of disrupting other system components. Certain functions (e.g. topics) MIUI) They may stop updating.

How to prevent the return of the tape after the MIUI update

The main problem when removing Mi Home is its automatic recovery after a firmware update. To avoid this, use one of the methods:

• 🔄 Turn off auto updates MIUI: Go to Settings. → The phone. → Update the system. Press three dots. → Settings → Turn off Automatic Booting.

Block the update servers through hosts:

• Using the AdAway app (requires root), blacklist the domains: 127.0.0.1 update.miui.com 127.0.0.1 api.io.mi.com

Remove the update package via ADB:

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.updater

Attention:

everything

🔹 Alternative: Install custom firmware (like LineageOS or Pixel Experience) that doesn’t have Xiaomi apps built in. However, this requires unlocking the bootloader and may take you out of warranty.

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing widget tapes