Owning a Xiaomi smartphone is often associated with a great price-to-performance ratio, but there is one aspect that regularly raises questions among users: intrusive advertising that can appear in system applications, on the lock screen, or pop up on top of the interface while using third-party programs. For many, this comes as an unpleasant surprise, especially if previous experiences with gadgets were associated with more closed ecosystems.
Understanding the nature of this phenomenon is the first step to solving the problem: Advertising in the shell of MIUI or the new HyperOS is not a virus in the classical sense, although it behaves like malware. It is an embedded monetization mechanism that allows the manufacturer to keep the cost of hardware low. In this article, we will discuss in detail what processes are responsible for displaying advertising content and how to stop them correctly.
It's worth noting that the ad availability depends on the region you chose when you first set up your device. If you listed a high-income country, the aggressiveness of marketing algorithms may be lower, but the system won't disappear completely. Deleting ads requires a holistic approach, because it's not one service, but several system services that are responsible for it.
Economic model and pricing of devices
The main reason why Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO have ads is because of the company’s business model, which says it has a 5% net profit margin on hardware, which means that when it sells high-powered hardware at cost or at a minimal margin, it must look for other sources of revenue to cover development, engineering and marketing costs.
It's the software ecosystem that becomes the tool that compensates for the low margins of iron. Advertising integrations in MIUI allow you to subsidize the cost of a smartphone for the end user. In fact, the buyer pays for the device either with money when they buy it or with their time and attention spent watching ads. This is the classic freemium model applied to hardware.
⚠️ Warning: Complete removal of all advertising components may disrupt some system applications, as they are tied to a single service framework.
It is important to understand the difference between global and Chinese firmware. In China ROM versions, advertising is the de facto standard and often more aggressive as it competes with local giants. Global ROMs are usually cleaner, but even they have monetization elements, such as recommendations in folders or news in widgets.
System Processes: MSA and mab
Specific system services are responsible for the emergence of banner ads, pop-ups and recommendations in standard applications. The main engine of advertising is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) process, which collects data about your preferences and generates personalized offers that you see in the interface.
The second important component is the mab (MIUI Ads Browser) process, which is often responsible for ad integrations in the browser and some system widgets. Also worth mentioning is the daemon service, which can hide additional analytics modules. Without disabling these processes, advertising will be ineffective, since they have priority when the operating system loads.
These services do not require superuser (Root) rights to operate, but you need to access advanced settings. In some cases, especially on newer versions of Android and HyperOS, the system can automatically reactivate these services after an update or reboot, which requires rechecking the settings.
💡
Before disabling system services, it is recommended to create a full backup of data so that in the event of a reset, you do not lose important information.
Step-by-step instructions for disabling advertising
The process of getting rid of intrusive ads requires sequential action in several settings menus. There is no single magic button that will remove everything at once, so be patient. The first step is to disable receiving recommendations from the MIUI system itself.
Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. In the list that opens, find msa and switch the switch to “Switched off.” The system will warn you that some features may stop working, and prompt you to wait 10 seconds before confirming. Click “Disable.”
Next, turn off ad personalization. Go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Advertising Services. You need to activate the “Disable Ad Personalization” switch. This action will not remove the ad completely, but will make it less relevant and intrusive by resetting your advertising ID.
☑️ Checklist of ad-shutdown
Also, remember to check your settings for specific applications. For example, in Explorer, you need to go to settings (three bars) → About → Settings and turn off Get Recommendations. Similar actions are required for Security, Music and Downloads applications.
Setup of system applications and widgets
Ads are often hidden inside the standard utilities we use daily.The Security app, which is analogous to antivirus and optimizer, often contains a "Recommendations" block at the bottom of the screen. To remove it, launch the app, click on the settings gear in the corner and find "Get recommendations," after which deaktivirujte it.
The built-in browser is also a source of traffic. Open your browser, go to settings (three dots or bars) → Settings → Privacy and Security. Here you should disable "Receive Notifications" and "Popular Articles" to prevent news feeds and push notifications from affiliate services.
| Annex | The path to adjustment | What to turn off |
|---|---|---|
| Conductor | Menu → Settings → About the application | Receive recommendations |
| Security | Settings (cogs) | Receive recommendations |
| Downloads. | Three points → Settings | Show recommended files |
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Showing Advertising, Auto Update |
The Theme app is a special feature, and it's where you get notifications about sales and new wallpapers, go to the user profile (human icon), click on the settings gear, and turn off "Show ads" and "Auto Update," which will significantly reduce information noise.
Hidden advertising modules
Clearing cache and resetting identifiers
After the basic settings are completed, it is recommended to clean up the accumulated data. Advertising identifiers may have been stored in the cache of system services, which will continue to provoke the display of ads. → Annexes → All applications.
Find the MSA app in the list. Click on it and select Memory. Here you click Clear (or Delete Data). A similar procedure should be done for MIUI Daemon applications and Services and Feedback, ensuring that old configuration files are deleted.
It is also helpful to reset your Google Advertising ID. Go to Settings → Google → Advertising and click Reset Advertising ID. This action will break the link between your current profile and accumulated Google Impression History, which is useful for overall digital hygiene.
⚠️ Note: After cleaning the system application data, some interface settings may return to factory values, they will need to be reconfigured.
Advanced methods: DNS and ADB
For users who want to guarantee to block advertising at the network connection level, there is a method of using private advertising. DNS. This method does not require the installation of third-party applications and works for the entire system at once. DNS-server that filters advertising requests.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Host Name mode and enter the value:
dns.adguard.comSave settings. Now all requests to known ad servers will be blocked at the network level, effectively removing banners in games and applications, but does not affect the MIUI system recommendations, which require you to disable through the settings described above.
A more sophisticated method involves using USB debugging and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool, which can remove system applications responsible for advertising without Root permissions. However, this method requires a connection to a computer and basic command line knowledge.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.misys💡
Use of the DNS-filtering is the most effective way to remove ads in third-party apps and browsers without deep interference with the system.
To sum up, Xiaomi ads are a fee for available hardware, but this fee can be minimized by combining system services shutdown, app setup and usage. DNS-With filters, you can turn your smartphone into a clean and fast tool, free of noise, and regular checks for updates are also important because newer versions of the system are designed to be more efficient. MIUI HyperOS and additional privacy switches appear.