Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro often face annoying advertising right in the standard gallery MIUI. Banners appear between photos, while watching albums and even editing pictures — it is not just annoying, but slows down the device, the reason lies in the policy of monetization of the branded shell, which Xiaomi is actively implementing in its budget smartphones.
Many users mistakenly believe that gallery ads cannot be removed without rooting or buying a premium version. There are actually legal ways to simply disable personalized ads to completely replace a standard application. In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods, including the hidden settings of MIUI 12/13/14, which will help to clean the gallery of unnecessary banners without harming the system.
It is important to understand that some solutions will require minimal technical skills, such as installation. APK-But even beginners can do it if they follow the instructions Step-by-step, and for those who are afraid of breaking something, we've prepared safe alternatives, from third-party galleries to fine-tuning permissions.
Why is there an ad in the Redmi 8 Pro Gallery?
The main reason is the built-in monetization of the MIUI shell. Since the version of MIUI 11, Xiaomi has been actively integrating advertising modules into system applications, including a gallery, a music player and even settings. In the case of the Redmi 8 Pro (model M1901F7H), advertising appears because of:
🔹 Service MSA (Mi System Ads is a framework that displays targeted banners, analyzes your actions (which photos you view, how often you open a gallery) and selects “relevant” ads.
🔹 Built-in advertising SDK In the com.miui.gallery app, even if you turn off personalized ads in the settings, the modules themselves will remain active.
🔹 Updates MIUI, which often "return" ads after resetting, such as after upgrading to MIUI 12.5 Many users have noticed the reappearance of banners.
Fun fact: European firmware (MIUI Global) has fewer ads than Chinese or Indian versions, which is due to local data protection laws, but even in Global ROM, banners slip periodically — especially if you use a Mi Account account in India or China.
Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in settings
The simplest method, which works on 70 percent of devices without any manipulation, is that it doesn't remove the ad units completely, but it reduces the number of impressions significantly.
1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
2. Go to Account Settings → Personal Data → Advertising.
3. Turn off the sliders:
- Personalized recommendations
- Show interest-based advertising
4. Go back to the basic settings and open the Applications → Application Management.
5. Find the Gallery, press Permissions and disable access to Location and Warehouse (this will limit data collection for targeting).
🔹 Effect: Advertisements will appear less frequently, but will not disappear completely.Banners may remain in the "Recommendations" section or when viewing albums.
🔹 Limitation: After the update MIUI You can reset the settings. Check them once in a while. 1-2 month.
💡
If your account settings do not have an Advertising option, update your Mi Account application via Google Play or clear your cache in Settings → Apps.
Method 2: Resetting cache and application data Gallery
Banner ads are often stored in the app's cache, and cleaning them helps remove previously downloaded ads and reset targeting settings.
1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2.Look for the Gallery (or com.miui.gallery) and open its settings.
3. Click Warehouse → Clear the cache (do not delete the data, otherwise you will lose the albums!).
4. Return and select Stop (forced stop).
5. Reboot the smartphone.
🔹 If the ad returns after a few days, repeat the procedure and turn off the auto-update gallery in Google Play.
🔹 Warning: Don't click Clear Data - This Will Delete All of Your Albums and Sort Settings!
Open Settings → Applications
Find the Gallery app
Clear only the cache (not the data!)
Stop the app
Reboot the phone-->
Method 3: Install an alternative gallery (no advertising)
If the system methods don't work, the radical solution is to replace the standard gallery with a third-party one.
📌 Google Photos – automatically backs up images to the cloud, has a built-in editor and is guaranteed without ads.
📌 Simple Gallery Pro is a lightweight, open source app that supports album encryption and doesn’t collect user data.
📌 A+ Gallery - optimized for weak devices (relevant to Redmi 8 Pro with 4 GB of RAM) has a built-in editor and design themes.
📌 QuickPic is a classic gallery from Cheetah Mobile, but in the latest versions without ads (check reviews before installing).
🔄 How to make an alternative gallery the main:
- Install the selected application from Google Play.
- Open any image through the file manager.
- Click Open with Help and select a new gallery.
- Always tick (or use it by default).
⚠️ Note: After installing a third-party gallery, the standard com.miui.gallery app can be disabled via Settings → Apps, but this can disrupt some features (e.g. editing screenshots through notification curtain).
Method 4: Disabling Advertising through ADB (for Advanced Advertising)
This method requires connecting your smartphone to a PC and using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to completely block ad impressions in the gallery and other system applications, but if used incorrectly, it can disrupt the stability of MIUI.
🛠 Step-by-step instruction:
- Download Platform Tools from the official Android website.
- Turn on USB Debugging on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode), then go back to Settings → Additional → Developer and enable debugging.
- Connect Redmi 8 Pro to your PC and type in the command line: Adb devices (your device should appear).
- Follow the commands in turn: adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics
- Reboot the phone.
🔹 Effect: Advertising will disappear from the gallery, music player and other system applications.The method works until the next reset or update. MIUI.
⚠️ Note: pm hide commands temporarily freeze ad services, but do not remove them.If after the reboot the ad returns, repeat the steps or use more radical methods (for example, delete via reboot). ADB root-righted).
What if the ADB can’t see the device?
Method 5: Manual removal of advertising modules (requires root)
If you are ready to get root rights, you can permanently remove advertising SDKs from system applications, which is suitable for advanced users, as it carries the risk of disrupting MIUI.
🔧 Essential tools:
Getting Roots through Magisk (instructions for Redmi 8 Pro are available on the XDA Developers forum).
File Manager with access to /system (e.g. Root Explorer)
- Backup copy of the data (required!).
📂 What files to delete:
| The path to the file | Description | Risk of removal |
|---|---|---|
| /system/priv-app/MiuiSystemAdSolution | The main module of MIUI advertising | Low. |
| /system/app/AnalyticsCore | Collection of statistics for targeting | Medium (can break error reports) |
| /data/app/com.miui.analytics-* | Cash analysts. | Low. |
| /system/priv-app/QuickSearchBox | Search for a launcher ad | High (may disrupt the search) |
⚠️ Attention: Deleting system files without backup can lead to bootloop ( looped boot).Before any manipulation, create a backup through TWRP Or OrangeFox Recovery.
🔄 Alternative: Instead of removing modules, you can freeze them via Magisk with DisableFlags or Universal Ad Blocker.
What if the advertisements returned after the update?
MIUI updates often bring back ads, even if you've previously disabled them, because newer firmware versions contain updated ad SDKs.
🔹 Step 1: Check the gallery version on Google Play. If you have an update, roll back to the previous version (download). APK APKMirror).
🔹 Step 2: Repeat Method 2 (cache reset) and Method 1 (disable personalized advertising).
🔹 Step. 3: If the update MIUI came by air (OTA), Try to put the installation on hold. 1-2 During this time on the forums (e.g, 4PDA) There may be patches to block advertising.
🔹 Step 4: For a radical solution, install custom firmware without advertising, for example:
Pixel Experience (Pure Android)
LineageOS (without unnecessary Xiaomi services)
MIUI by XDA (modified version without ads)
⚠️ Attention: Disable automatic updates through Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Settings won't help for long. Xiaomi forcibly installs critical updates through com.miui.update.
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The most reliable way to avoid advertising after updates is to use an alternative gallery (Method 3) or custom firmware. System methods (Methods 1-2) require regular repetition.