MSA in Xiaomi: what it is and how to disable system advertising

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often encounter intrusive banner ads that appear in standard applications such as Music, Conductor or Security. When trying to find the culprit in the list of running processes or in traffic statistics, users notice the mysterious acronym MSA. Many perceive this process as a virus or malware, but in fact it is a legitimate system component of the MIUI shell.

MSA stands for MIUI System Ads, which is an embedded mechanism that displays marketing materials and promotions directly in the operating system interface. Although Xiaomi is known for its aggressive pricing, which is often below the cost of devices, the company compensates for costs by advertising in software. MSA is the engine that loads ad units into application folders, on the lock screen and in system utilities.

No, it's not a virus, and removing it won't cause a phone to break, but it requires caution. Unlike malware, MSA has a digital manufacturer's certificate and is part of the firmware. However, for many users, having persistent advertising becomes an annoying factor that reduces the comfort of using the gadget. In this article, we'll take a look at how the service works, what data it collects, and how it can be restricted without losing the guarantee and stability of the system.

⚠️ Note: Complete removal of system components through ADB or obtaining root rights may lead to disruption of some shell functions MIUI. All actions to modify the system you make at your own risk.

Principle of operation and appointment of MSA

The MSA (MIUI System Ads) process is integrated into the deepest layers of the Android operating system with the MIUI shell. Its main task is to analyze user actions and show targeted advertising based on the data obtained. When you open a standard browser, launch the Downloads application or simply unlock the screen, the MSA activates, sends a request to the server and receives a current advertising banner.

The system analyzer tracks which apps you use more often, what times of day you are active, and what categories of products you may be interested in, and it is transmitted to Xiaomi servers to generate a personalized advertising offer, which is why, after searching for, for example, sneakers in an online store, through MSA, you can see ads for sports shoes in the system folders.

It is important to understand that MSA is not just a single file, but a bundle of processes closely related to other system services such as mspd (MIUI System Process Daemon) and daemon. Trying to disable only one component can be temporary, since watchdog processes can restart advertising.

Where exactly does MSA advertising occur?

Users are often surprised at how deeply MSA is integrated into the smartphone interface. Advertising can appear in the most unexpected places where it seemingly does not belong. Knowing these places helps to find switches to disable marketing in the settings of specific applications faster.

Most often, MIUI System Ads banners are found in the following system utilities:

• 📂 Conductor – Product promotional cards often appear at the bottom of the screen when viewing files or in the Recommendations section».
• 🎵 Music – banners can pop up when you launch an application or in the “My Playlist” section».
• 🛡️ Security – after scanning the system for viruses or clearing the cache, it is often suggested to “optimize” the phone using a third-party app.
• 📥 Downloads – the list of downloaded files may show suggestions to install games or applications.
• 📁 Desktop folders – when you open the folder with application icons, sometimes a recommended application appears with the note “We recommend».

In addition, MSA can be manifested in the Themes app, which offers paid or sponsored themes, as well as in the standard Mi Browser browser, which is the default news feed aggregator with inlays. Even the Calendar and Dictophone app in some versions of the firmware may contain pop-ups from the system advertising module.

Set up built-in advertising restrictions

The safest and easiest way to reduce MSA activity is to use the standard tools provided by Xiaomi developers, which allows the company to partially limit data collection and display of ads, although it hides these settings quite deeply. The first step should always be to turn off the personalization of advertising.

To do this, go to the smartphone settings menu. Find the Password and Security section (or additionally in older versions of MIUI) and select Privacy. Scroll down to the bottom where you find Ad Services. You need to switch the slider to the "Off" position. This action prevents the system from using your advertising ID to select personalized offers.

Then you should turn off receiving recommendations in each system application separately, since there is no global switch for all programs at once.

1. Open the desired application (for example, “Conductor” or “Music”).
2. Click on the menu (three dots or three bars) and select Settings.
3. Find the item “Receive recommendations” or Show ads.
4. Turn the switch to an inactive state.

After these steps are completed, the MSA will continue to work in the background, but will no longer receive data for targeting and, in theory, should show less advertising or stop downloading advertising units altogether if the settings are applied correctly.

Disable MSA via network settings and DNS

A more radical but effective way to combat MIUI System Ads is to block the connection of the process to the ad servers. Since you need to contact Xiaomi’s server to download a banner, breaking this connection at the network level will prevent advertising from appearing, in two ways: through private DNS settings or by changing the hosts file (requires Root rights).

The easiest method for the average user is to use a private DNS. In the smartphone settings, find the Connection and Sharing (or Wi-Fi) section. DNS (Private DNS). Select the mode "Host Name provider" DNS» and enter the address of a trusted ad blocker, such as dns.adguard.com.

This method has its pros and cons: on the one hand, it blocks ads not only in the system, but also in many applications and browsers. DNS It may slightly increase ping in games or, in rare cases, cause some local services to be unstable if the provider blocks third-party services. DNS-request.

⚠️ Note: When using the Private Method DNS Make sure you have a backup internet connection (mobile data) in case your Wi-Fi settings cause you to lose your network connection.

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If you have included a private DNS The internet has stopped working, try to write it down. DNS-Manual servers in your Wi-Fi network settings: Primary DNS: 94.140.14.14, Secondary DNS: 94.140.15.15 (AdGuard servers).

Removing MSA via ADB (for Advanced)

For those who are not afraid of the command line and want to remove the MSA guaranteed, there is a method using the ADB tool (Android Debug Bridge), which does not require obtaining Root rights, but requires a computer, the essence of the method is to freeze or delete the packet for the current user.

Before starting the procedure, you need to enable USB debugging. Go to Settings → About Phone and press 7 times on the MIUI Version to activate Developer Mode. Then in Additional → For developers, turn on USB Debugging. Connect your phone to your PC and start the command line with administrator rights.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.global

This command will remove the MSA packet for the current user. The system will continue to work, the process will disappear from the list of running, and the advertising should disappear. However, it is worth remembering that when you reset the phone to the factory settings (Wipe Data), all system applications, including MSA, will be restored automatically, and you will have to repeat the procedure.

There is also a list of related packages that are often linked to the advertising module and are responsible for collecting statistics (Analytics), and their removal is also safe for the basic functionality of the phone:

• 📊 com.miui.analytics – the main compiler of statistics on the use of data.
• 📰 com.miui.personalassistant – a tape of widgets to the left of the desktop (often containing ads).
• 🌐 com.miui.daemon – background data collection process (delete with caution).

Comparison of methods of combating advertising

The choice of the MSA disablement method depends on your technical background and system stability requirements. Below is a comparison table that will help determine the best solution for your case.

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The optimal balance between security and cleanliness is the combination of disabling recommendations in each application + using Private DNS. This removes 95% of ads without the risk of system failure.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)