Users of the Xiaomi ecosystem often encounter intrusive ads that interrupt viewing of favorite movies and TV shows.This is especially annoying when you want to relax after work, but instead are forced to watch commercials.The built-in video player known as Mi Video often becomes the source of these notifications and banners.
Fortunately, there are several effective ways to get rid of this digital noise: Advertising in Xiaomi’s system player is generated through the MSA (MIUI System Ads) service, and disabling this component is a key solution. We will look at methods that do not require superuser rights (Root), but require you to be careful when setting up the system.
In this article, we will discuss not only standard settings, but also deeper system changes, you will learn how to protect yourself from random clicks on banner ads, and we will also discuss the topic of alternative solutions if the built-in functionality is categorically not satisfied with you.
Analysis of advertising sources in MIUI
Before we take any action, we need to understand the way the advertising system works: there is a dedicated service in the shell of MIUI and its new version of HyperOS that is responsible for displaying marketing materials, which is integrated deep into the system and activated when you connect to the Internet.
Users often confuse in-app advertising with in-app advertising. It's important to distinguish between these concepts. MSA (MIUI System Ads) is responsible for system pop-ups, while a particular application may have its own monetization settings. Disabling one does not always guarantee the elimination of the other.
There is a myth that ads only appear in free firmware versions. This is not quite true. Even in global versions of software that are considered more "clean," ad modules are often present by default, and their activation depends on the region specified when the device is first launched.
⚠️ Note: Complete removal of system components through ADB This can cause an unsteady interface, and be careful when you turn off services that you don't know the name of.
Understanding the structure of advertising helps you choose the right method of combating, so if you just ban the Internet for a player, you lose the ability to watch online content, so spot setting is preferable to rough blocking.
Settings inside the Mi Video app
The first step to a more comfortable viewing experience is to check the internal settings of the video player itself. Developers often hide the options to disable personalized ads in the depth of the menu, you'll need to open the app and find the settings section, usually marked with a gear.
Inside the menu, look for a privacy or online service item, and that's where the switch for getting recommendations is hidden, and its name can vary depending on the version of the shell, like "Get recommendations" or "Personalized ads."
Once you find the right switch, you have to uncheck it, and the system can try to convince you to leave it as it is, saying it will improve the experience, and don't follow these tricks and confirm the disconnect.
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If you can’t find settings inside the app, try updating Mi Video to the latest version through the GetApps store or Google Play – newer versions often change the settings interface.
It's also worth checking the About section, which sometimes has a separate Privacy Policy section that leads to a hidden menu of disabling ads, which is a feature of Xiaomi's interfaces.
- 🎯 Open the Mi Video app and go to profile or settings.
- 🎯 Find the “Settings” section or the gear icon.
- 🎯 Turn off the “Receive References” or “Online Service” option».
- 🎯 Confirm the action in the pop-up window if it appears.
These actions will remove some of the advertising debris, but do not guarantee complete disposal of all banners. System advertising can overlap the player's interface regardless of its internal settings.
Disable MSA service through system settings
The most effective way to combat intrusive marketing is to disable the MSA system service, which is responsible for displaying ads in the entire shell, including the video player, and you can find it in the general settings of your smartphone or TV.
You need to go to Passwords and Security or Advanced Settings, and you need to find Access to Personal Data or Authorization and Review, and in the list of system services, find msa and turn off the slider.
The system will start a countdown (usually 10 seconds) requiring confirmation, and this is done specifically to make it harder to shut down, so you have to wait until the timer ends and press the "Disable" button. If you don't succeed the first time, try again.
☑️ Shutdown MSA
After a successful MSA shutdown, it is also recommended to disable MIUI Daemon, which collects device usage data and can also be linked to advertising mechanisms, a process similar to find in the list and disable access.
Some users have noted that widgets or some theme features may stop working after the MSA is disabled, but for the basic functionality of the video player, this is not critical.
| Service | Function | Impact on advertising | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| msa | MIUI System Ads | High. | Shut down. |
| MIUI Daemon | Data collection | Average. | Shut down. |
| GetApps | App store | Average. | Clear the data |
| Analytics | Usage analysis | Low. | Shut down. |
Using DNS to Block Advertising
A more advanced method is to configure a private DNS, which blocks network-level advertising requests without requiring additional software, especially for Android TV set-top boxes where it is difficult to install blockers.
In your device's network settings, find DNS settings. Instead of automatically receiving addresses, select manual mode. In the DNS 1 field, enter dns.adguard.com. This is a free service that filters traffic and cuts off known advertising domains.
Once you save the settings, you need to restart the device, and the next time you run the video player, the ad requests will be blocked at the network level, which means that the banners will simply not be able to boot.
List of alternatives DNS-server
It is important to understand that DNS-Filtering is not a panacea. Some ad networks use the same domains as useful content, so some of the ads can leak out.
This method also helps to speed up the loading of pages and applications, since advertising traffic does not consume your communication channel.
Installation of alternative video players
If Xiaomi’s built-in solution continues to be annoying, the logical step is to install a third-party video player. The Google Play store features a variety of free and powerful counterparts that lack built-in advertising.
Popular variants like VLC for Android, MX Player or Nova Video Player support all the required codecs and subtitles formats. They often have a more flexible interface and customization options.
To make the third-party player the default, run the video file through the file manager. When you select an action, specify a new player and click "Always." Now all videos will open in the selected application.
- 🚀 VLC Player: completely free, open source, no advertising.
- 🚀 MX Player: powerful engine, gesture support, there is a paid version without advertising.
- 🚀 Kodi: For advanced users, turns your device into a media center.
Using third-party software also offers the benefit of regular security updates that can come faster than updates to MIUI system components.
⚠️ Note: When installing players from unknown sources (APK-Always check the file with antivirus.The official Google Play store provides basic protection.
Resetting and cleaning of application data
Sometimes the ads are due to accumulated cache or errors in the application, in which case a complete reset of the video player data helps, which will return the application to the state of “after purchase”.
To perform this operation, go to your smartphone settings, select Apps and find in the Mi Video list. Inside the app menu, select Memory or Storage, and then click Clear Data and Clear Cache.
After this procedure, all your settings inside the player will be reset, you will have to reconfigure the path to the folders with the video and playback preferences, but this often solves the problem of suspended advertising.
It is recommended to perform this procedure after each major system update, new firmware versions can change configuration files, and the old database may conflict with the new rules for displaying content.
Even if the reset didn’t work, consider a factory-fabricated rollback of the entire device, a radical measure that requires backup of all data, but it’s guaranteed to remove any software errors.