Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face a situation where the device emits pleasant but inappropriate sounds of rain, forest or ocean. This can occur in a variety of scenarios: when setting an alarm clock, running a timer or even while using certain system functions. System sounds built into the shell of MIUI or HyperOS are designed to create an atmosphere, but in real life they often become a source of irritation, especially if there is a loud noise of the forest in the middle of a meeting.
The main reason is that manufacturers are actively promoting their audio themes and standard tune sets, where natural noise dominates. The user can randomly choose such a tune when the device is first set up or after a system update, when the sound settings are reset to default values. To remove the sounds of nature, you need to understand which application or settings section they are activated, since there is no single button “turn off all nature”.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all possible sources of these audio effects, learn how to manage alarm settings, change system notifications, and even disable hidden features that can generate background noise. We will look at both standard methods through menus and deeper settings for advanced users.
Sources of natural sounds in the MIUI and HyperOS system
Before you start to shut down, it is important to identify the source. In the Xiaomi ecosystem, there are several independent modules responsible for playing audio. Most often, natural sounds (rain, crickets, stream) are built into the standard Watch application, but can also be part of the system theme or lock-screen effects.
The MIUI shell is known for its deep customization, which sometimes leads to confusion. The sound you hear may not be a notification signal, but a lock background that is activated when you turn the screen or connect the charge. Understanding the context of the sound is 90% of the success in solving a problem.
⚠️ Warning: Before making changes to the system sound settings, it is recommended to remember the current values or take a screenshot to return everything as it was if you need to, if the standard melodies seem too sharp to you.
Also, you should consider that some sounds can be streamed through the Mi Sound app or Sound Effects if it has surround sound mode with virtualization of the environment, but 95% of the timers and alarms are custom settings.
Disabling natural sounds in the Watch app
The most common source is the Watch app, which defaults to a set of "natural" alarm clocks, so to remove them, you have to open the app and go to editing the specific alarm clock, and it's not enough to just turn off the activity switch, you have to change the sound source.
Click on the alarm clock you want, then select "Sound" or "Melody." In the list that opens, you'll see categories. If you select a category "Nature" or a specific file like "Rain," just replace it with a standard Xiaomi signal or download your track. A similar situation is observed with a timer: when you finish the countdown, often the sound "Gong" or "Forest" plays, which also changes in the timer settings.
☑️ Checking the clock settings
It is important to check not only the main alarm clocks, but also the Meditation or Breath section if they are present in your version of the software. There are often long tracks with sea or wind noise that can be triggered by accident, by default. Make sure that the timer settings section also selects a neutral sound, such as Beep or Digital.
If you use a clock widget on your desktop, it may have its own audio settings, independent of the main application. Check the widget settings with a long press to rule out the likelihood that it is the source of background noise.
Managing system sounds and notifications
The second tier of customization is the system sounds of the interface. Android and MIUI have a separate section for notification sounds, calls and system events. Nature sounds are often disguised as standard notifications of messengers or systems if the user has previously installed thematic packages.
Go to Settings → Sound and Vibration. You're interested in the Notification Sound section here. If there's a tune called "Forest," "Rain" or "Ocean," replace it with "Miui.mp3" or "Note.mp3," which will remove the natural sounds when the system notifications arrive.
| Type of sound | Where to find | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Alarm clock | Annex Clock | The alarm clock tune |
| Timer. | Appendix Clock (Timer tab) | Sound of completion |
| Notifications | Settings → Sound and vibration | The sound of the notification |
| Lockdown | Settings → Wallpaper and personalization | Lock/unlock sound |
Also worth paying attention to the screen lock sounds. In some themes, the design is accompanied by an audio row. Go to Settings → Wallpaper and personalization → Sound and check if exclusive theme sounds are included. Disabling this option will return a standard silent click.
Customization of wallpaper with carousel and multimedia
The Wallpaper Carousel feature on Xiaomi devices is a powerful personalization tool that often becomes an invisible source of sound. The carousel can automatically download new wallpapers that contain built-in audio effects or video screensavers with nature.
To fix this, open the Wallpaper app (or Wallpaper Carousel). Click on the profile icon or settings (usually three dots or a gear). Find the Multimedia or Sound section. Here you can activate the "Reproduce Sound" or "Sound when you turn on the screen." Turn off this switch to remove the audio.
Why do sounds come back after the reboot?
Also, check the settings of the wallpaper itself. If you have a live wallpaper with a waterfall or thunderstorm, it may have a soundtrack, and replacing it with a static image is guaranteed to remove background noise.
Sometimes, nature sounds can be broadcast through a widget, such as a weather widget or a "Mi Fitness" widget, if they include the "Nature Sounds" function for relaxation. Check the settings of each widget on your desktop by pressing and holding your finger on it, then select "Widget Settings."
Third-party applications and background processes
Third-party software should not be discounted. Meditation applications (such as Calm, Headspace or their counterparts from GetApps), sleep trackers, and even some "optimizers" can have background sounds function. They can run automatically when unlocked or on a schedule.
Check the list of running apps. If you see an application that's related to relaxation or sounds, open its settings. Look for options like "Sunset," "Background," or "Ambient Sounds," and removing or disabling those apps will solve the problem if the system settings didn't work.
⚠️ Note: Some Chinese firmware versions may have system applications with names like "Relax" or "Nature Sounds" preinstalled, which cannot be removed in the standard way. ADB.
Also check autoboot. Go to Settings → Apps → Autorun. If there are suspicious apps with audio content, stop them from autorun. This will prevent them from activating immediately after the phone is turned on.
Use of Do Not Disturb modes and sound profiles
If your goal is not to find and delete a file, but to temporarily silence all foreign sounds, including nature, use Do Not Disturb mode. Configure it to block all sounds except calls from selected contacts.
Xiaomi has a handy feature called "Sound Profiles" (or scripts in the Security app) and you can create a Job or Sleep profile that forces the volume of media and notifications to zero and the system sounds to be replaced by "No." By switching between profiles, you control the sound environment.
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Use Quiet mode in the side menu (curtain) to instantly turn off all sounds except the alarm clock if nature takes you by surprise.
For more fine-tuning, use Settings → Sound and Vibration → Additional Sound Customizations, where you can fine-tune the behavior of the sound when you connect your headphones or dock, which can also be a source of unexpected tunes.
Resetting sound and themes settings
If none of the methods worked, and the sounds of nature continue to be annoying, there may have been a conflict in the theme cache files or a system failure, in which case the effective solution would be to reset the sound circuit settings to the factory ones.
The most radical, but powerful, method is to change the theme to the standard one. Go to the Themes app, go to the profile, and select the Classic or Default theme. Apply it and reboot the device, and that will replace all system audio files with the original ones, killing any third-party or altered sounds of nature.
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Changing the theme to the standard (Classic) is the fastest way to replace all system sounds, including alarm clocks and notifications, with factory ones.
In extreme cases, if the problem is software-related and update-related, cleaning the Topic and Wallpaper app data can help. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Themes → Memory → Clear. This will not delete your downloaded themes, but reset your application settings.