Modern Xiaomi smartphones with global firmware or MIUI for the international market is almost impossible to imagine without a pre-installed package of services Google. This is the industry standard for providing maps, navigation, synchronization of contacts and, of course, the Play Market store. However, for many advanced users, the presence of dozens of background processes from the American Corporation becomes a problem, consuming precious resources of the processor and RAM.
The desire to clean up the system of unnecessary code is often dictated by the desire for maximum autonomy of the device or the requirements of digital hygiene. Standard methods of the Settings menu → Applications will not remove system components of GMS (Google Mobile Services) because they are protected by the rights of the superuser.
In this article, we will discuss in detail how to safely get rid of imposed services without disrupting the basic functionality of the smartphone. You will learn how to minimize risks, which packages can be removed painlessly and which cannot be touched. Complete removal of Google system packages can lead to the inoperability of third-party applications dependent on GMS. We will consider the use of ADB (Android Debug Bridge) - the most effective tool for such manipulation.
Why you should consider removing Google services
The main reason that enthusiasts are looking to get rid of Google Apps is because of resource consumption: Background services are constantly scanning geolocation, synchronizing data and collecting telemetry, which significantly drains the battery. On devices with little RAM, such as the budget models of the Redmi or Poco series, every megabyte counts.
There is also a privacy aspect: users who value their digital privacy often choose not to share their movements and search queries with corporations, and removing or disabling GMS services can significantly reduce the amount of telemetry transmitted.
But you have to understand the difference between completely uninstalling and simply disabling, and if you just turn off apps in the settings, they will stop running, but they will stay in the system partition, taking up space. Using ADB allows you to delete them for the current user, freeing up space and stopping processes, but leaving the possibility of recovery if necessary.
⚠️ Warning: Before you start any manipulation of system files, be sure to back up your critical data. Incorrect removal of critical components can lead to a cyclical restart of the device.
It’s also important to note that many popular apps, such as Uber, Yandex.Taxi, banking customers, and even some games, require Google Play Services frameworks to function properly for notifications and geolocation.
Preparing Xiaomi smartphone to remove system applications
Before you connect your phone to your computer and type commands, you need to set the device up correctly. Android's standard operating mode prevents external programs from making changes to the system. The first step is to activate the hidden menu for developers.
To do this, go to the Settings. → About the phone and find the item Version MIUI (Or the OS version. Press it quickly. 7-10 Once in a row, until a pop-up notice that you have become a developer appears, and then a new section will appear in the settings menu. → For developers.
Inside this menu, you need to find and activate two critical parameters. USB, It allows the computer to send commands to the phone. The second one is Safe debugging. USB (USB Debugging (Security Options) is required for Xiaomi devices with shell MIUI to perform actions that simulate clicking or removing system packets.
- 📱 Activate Debugging on USB developer menu.
- 🔒 Enable the option of Safe Debugging by USB (may require insertion SIM-map).
- 🔌 Use an original or quality cable USB PC-connect.
- 💻 Install the drivers. ADB and Fastboot on your computer.
When you first turn on secure debugging, the system may request permission to debug without confirmation. Accept the warning by reading the countdown timer. This is a necessary step for the package management utility to work.
☑️ Checklist of Xiaomi preparation
Tools required: ADB and Universal Android Debloater
To manage system applications effectively, we’ll need a bundle of Android platform tools and a user-friendly graphical interface, and the most reliable and time-tested method is to use ADB (Android Debug Bridge).
You will need to download the SDK Platform Tools from the official Android developer website, a set of console utilities that lets you communicate directly with the device. However, working with the command line can seem difficult for beginners, so it is recommended to use the Universal Android Debloater (UAD) shell.
UAD is an open source program that automatically identifies a connected device, scans a list of installed packages, and flags safe to remove. It supports Xiaomi, Redmi, and Poco devices, automatically filtering lists by risk level.
| Tool. | Interface type | Difficulty | Risk of error |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADB (command line) | Textual | Tall. | Medium (depending on the user) |
| Universal Android Debloater | Graphic | Low. | Low (there are security filters) |
| Third-party launchers | Graphic | Low. | High (often require a Root) |
Using graphical shells makes it much easier to do this because they already have databases of "safe" and "dangerous" packages, and you don't have to remember the exact names of system processes, such as com.google.android.gms.
Where to download Safe UAD?
Removal process: step-by-step instructions
After installing all the necessary components and setting up the phone, connect it to the computer with a cable. On the screen of the smartphone will be a request for debugging permission from this computer - be sure to click "Allow" and, if necessary, tick "Always allow from this computer."
Run a demo-ater program. It should automatically identify your device. In the app list, you'll see the division into categories: User, System, and Google. We're interested in the Google service tab.
Select the packages you want to remove. The program usually highlights them in color depending on the danger: green is safe, yellow is careful, red is critical. To remove Google services with Xiaomi without losing basic functionality, often choose only unnecessary applications, leaving frameworks.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.photosThe command above is an example of manually uninstalling through a console if you're not using a GUI.It removes the Google Photos app for the current user (--user 0), without affecting the system partition, which allows you to return everything back by simply resetting the settings.
If you use UAD, just tick the boxes and press Uninstall. The process will take a few seconds. Once complete, it is advisable to restart the device so that the system reassembles the cache and applies the changes.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete com.google.android.gsf (Google Services Framework) if you plan to use an app store or game.
💡
Tip: Before mass removal, take a screenshot of a list of all Google packages with their names. If the alarm or notifications stop working after cleaning, you can quickly find and restore the deleted component.
What Google Packets Can Be Deleted Safely
Not all Google apps are equally important to Android, and there are a number of apps that are purely user-friendly and do not affect system stability, and their removal is almost always without consequences for the rest of the functionality of the Xiaomi smartphone.
Safe to remove include multimedia and office apps that can be easily replaced or not used at all, such as Google TV, Google Music (if you don’t stream music), Google News and Google One.
- 🎬 com.google.android.videos – a movie and TV service.
- 📰 com.google.android.apps.magazines - news feed.
- 📚 com.google.android.apps.books – e-books.
- 🎵 com.google.android.music - Music player (obsolete).
- 📹 com.google.android.apps.tachyon – video calls (replaced with Meet).
Chrome is a special browser, and if you use another browser, such as one built into MIUI or Firefox, you can remove it, but remember that it is a system component for opening links from some applications, unless you choose the default browser.
Be wary of Google Photos. While it can be removed technically, many system features, such as taking screenshots with a "Share" suggestion or editing images in a gallery, may try to trigger it.
💡
Safe removal is only possible for Google custom add-ons, and the core of the system (GMS Core, Play Services) cannot be touched without specialized knowledge.
Possible problems and solutions
Once a service is removed, users may experience some functionality that is not stable, most often with notifications from applications that rely on FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging), Google’s push notification service, and if you delete the extra but leave the underlying services, the notifications should work.
A common problem with Xiaomi is aggressive energy saving. Even if you haven't removed services, the system can kill their processes. After cleaning, make sure that the "No Limits" is selected for the remaining Google components in the battery settings.
If you have login errors or persistent "Google Services Stopped" pop-ups, you need to restore deleted packets. If you used pm uninstall --user 0, the data is still there, it's just hidden.
To restore, use the command:
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.package_nameIf the problem is that the phone has stopped seeing the network or lost sound, it is likely that a system package that is not directly connected to Google but depends on the libraries you have deleted will be affected, in which case only a factory reset will help.
⚠️ Warning: Deleting Google Play Services (com.google.android.gms) will render most modern apps, including maps, taxis and banks, inoperable.
Alternative methods and conclusion
If you think ADB is too risky or too complicated, there is a softer method, which is to freeze applications, and you can use utilities like Titanium Backup (requires Root) or Ice Box (works without superuser rights through ADB), which allow you to “sleep” the application, making it invisible to the system, but retaining the ability to quickly defrost.
Another option for advanced users is to install custom firmware (like LineageOS or xiaomi.eu without Google Apps). xiaomi.eu, which is a modified version of Chinese MIUI with added languages and services, often already has a choice when installing it: install Google services or not.
To sum up, removing Google apps from Xiaomi is an effective way to speed up your device and increase privacy, but it requires caution: The rule of thumb is to only remove the one you are 100% sure of assigning, or use proven lists of secure packages in debloaters.
Remember that modern Android is deeply integrated with the Google ecosystem. Complete isolation from it is possible, but requires the transition to specialized Android builds (for example, GrapheneOS), which is not always implemented on Xiaomi smartphones and requires unlocking the bootloader, which is officially prohibited in some regions.