Xiaomi smartphone users often encounter intrusive interface elements that appear after updating the system or installing certain applications. One of the most annoying moments is the appearance of a Pulse widget or Mail.ru news feed on the desktop or in the lock menu. This is not just a random bug, but the result of pre-established agreements between manufacturers and services that aggressively promote their content.
The developers of MIUI and HyperOS are looking to monetize their devices by offering content providers a place on the user's screen. As a result, gadget owners see news, weather and recommendations that consume traffic and battery power. Fortunately, Android allows you to manage these elements with enough flexibility if you know where to click.
In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to remove the pulse in Mail.ru on Xiaomi, as well as how to get rid of other built-in widgets, such as Glance or Yandex. You will learn to clean your desktop from garbage and return the device to the minimalist appearance that engineers originally conceived.
The nature of the appearance of the pulse widget on the desktop
The appearance of a news feed or a Pulse widget often occurs unnoticed by the user, which can happen after a major firmware update, when some personalization settings are reset, or after installing an application from the Mail.ru Group ecosystem, which the system perceives as the default widget permission.
It’s important to understand the difference between Xiaomi’s system news feed (Mi Browser or GetApps) and third-party widgets that are implemented through affiliate programs. The pulse widget is a specific element that can be part of a launcher or a separate application running in the background. It has access to geolocation and the Internet to download current headlines.
Often users confuse the system function of the "Widget Tape" (which opens swipe to the left of the first screen) with a specific widget on the desktop. If in the first case it is about settings of the system, in the second it is about a specific application that needs to be found and neutralized, you can determine the source of the problem by long-term pressing on the element itself.
⚠️ Note: Some widgets may disguise themselves as system processes. If you press the widget long enough not to appear delete menu, but only the sentence "Edit", then this is part of the system launcher, and you need to delete not the widget itself, and disable the function in the desktop settings.
Removing the widget through desktop settings
The easiest and safest way to get rid of the excess element is to use the standard functionality of the MIUI shell. This method does not require the installation of third-party software and works on most models, from budget Redmi to flagship Mi and POCO.
You need to go to desktop editing mode first, do a long press on the blank space of the screen, or pinch the screen with two fingers to see all the open pages, and find a page with a Pulse widget or news feed.
Press and hold your finger on the widget itself. In the context menu that appears, select either Remove (basket icon) or Settings widget. If the widget is part of the system tape, you may need to go to the general launcher settings.
☑️ Checklist for widget removal
If standard removal doesn’t work, perhaps the widget is fixed or part of the theme, in which case try changing the theme to a standard Classic through the Themes app, which will reset desktop customization and often remove intrusive elements.
Disabling the news feed in the system settings
Often, Pulse is part of the global Widget Ribbon or Google Discover function, which is activated by default, and to completely disable this feature and prevent it from reappearing, you need to delve into the system settings.
Go to Settings for your smartphone’s main menu, find Desktop or Home (depending on the translation version of MIUI), and there are key switches that control the behavior of the home screen.
Inside this menu, find an option called "Widget Ribbon," "Google Discover," or "Cards." The switch must be active (burn blue or green). Click on it to deactivate the function. After that, the swipe to the left of the first screen will stop opening the news feed.
| Function on the menu | Where to find out. | Action. | The result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widget tape | Settings → Desktop | Turn it off. | Removes left-hand screen with news |
| Recommendations | Settings → Passwords and security | Shut down. | Hiding ads in folders |
| Glance/Blocking | Settings → Always on screen | Choose No. | Removes ads on the lock screen |
Also worth checking is the settings of Xiaomi's Security app, which often hides recommendations from partners inside it, open the app, click on the settings gear in the corner, and find "Get recommendations." It needs to be turned off.
What to do if the settings are reset?
Management of Mail.ru applications and removal of components
If the Pulse widget is the result of installing a specific Mail.ru application (e.g. Mail, Cloud, or Browser), then simply removing the widget from the desktop won’t stop the app itself from working.
To completely remove, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. In the list, find the app associated with Mail.ru. If it is a system application, the Remove button may be inactive, but the Disable button will be available.
Click on the app and select "Disable" or "Delete" and the system will alert you that the widgets and notifications will stop working. Confirm the action. This is guaranteed to remove all associated interface elements.
In some cases, the application may be hidden or system-based, preventing its removal, and then you can use a more advanced method through notification settings. Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification Management. Find Mail.ru and prevent it from showing notifications or running in the background.
⚠️ Warning: Disabling system applications labeled as “Google Play Services” or “System Launcher” can cause the phone to malfunction. Only remove those applications that clearly have a brand name (Mail.ru, Yandex, GetApps).
Cleaning up advertising in Xiaomi system applications
The Pulse problem often comes with other ads in the system, and to make your Xiaomi truly clean, you should go through the main system utilities and turn off marketing mailings.
Start with the Explorer app. Open it, click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Find Receive References and turn it off. This will remove banner ads from the bottom of the Explorer.
Then go to the Downloads app, which also has a lot of recommendations, click three dots in the corner, select Settings, and turn off Recommended Content, and you can do the same thing in the Topics and Music app.
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Use the “No Sound” mode to check: if news appears on the lock screen after the silent mode is turned on, then the Glance or Lockscreen Magazine service is active, which must be disabled separately in the lock screen settings.
Don’t forget to check your Mi Account settings. Go to Settings → Mi Account → About Service and Rules. You can find Ad Personalization settings here. Disabling Personalized Ads won’t take away ads completely, but it will make them less intrusive and random.
Using third-party launchers for complete freedom
If the built-in techniques seem too complicated to you, or the system constantly returns widgets back, a radical solution is to change the launcher.
By installing a third-party launcher, such as Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Smart Launcher, you completely replace the standard MIUI interface. In such launchers, there are no news feeds, “Pulse” and advertising, unless you add them yourself.
Once the launcher is installed, the system will suggest you select the default home screen app. Select the launcher installed. Now your desktop will look clean, and swipes will only perform the actions you set up.
However, it’s worth considering that third-party launchers can consume slightly more battery life than Xiaomi’s optimized system launcher.In addition, some specific features, such as one-handed gestures or a dual-tape to turn on the screen, may require additional customization in the “Special Features” section.
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Changing the launcher is a 100% guarantee of getting rid of system widgets Mail.ru and Xiaomi, but requires getting used to the new interface and can slightly affect autonomy.