My phone has ads, which do not care about the volume - POCO M3 Questions & Answers

Hello! I have been struggling with a problem for a while. Most of the time I have my sound off, but then there is an ad that plays at full volume. I understand marketing strategy behind this, but is there anyway to disable sound making ads? This way I will not have another heartattack because I did not expect loud sound.

It's a Poco M3 btw

Post your screenshots to identify exact root cause. Here is the way to disable ads in MIUI
Settings > Passwords & Security > Privacy
Under this look for User Experience Programme and disable Enroll, Usage and Diagnostics and Ad services.
Also, disable ads from each MIUI stock app such as music, security, file manager, mi video etc by disabling recommendations.
I would suggest to use MIUI fastboot tool to debloat system app specifically miui deamon, analytics, joyce, msa etc

Keylyon1 said:
It's a Poco M3 btw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong thread (Poco F3)
You have custom roms that remove that manufacturer bloatware(ads, preinstalled software, etc), so have at it.
POCO M3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Other Develop
Improve your POCO M3's battery life, performance, and look by rooting it and installing a custom ROM, kernel, and more.
forum.xda-developers.com
I know I'd probably first try crDroid since M3 is not officially supported by LineageOS, as sad as that may sound.

Where exactly is that ad playing? Which app and at which point?

Related

Z300M How to disable the excessive sharpening in YouTube.

On the Zenpad I have the issue where the YouTube app is vastly over sharpened to the point it harms the visual experience. I can't find a way to turn this off, I have tried force stopping Splendid but it doesn't work. Anyone know of a fix? Ideally lineage os is what I need to get away from this Zenui (it's alright I guess but has weird things that can't be turned off, like this visual enhancement)
I think it's the "Tru2Life" Program, I think it is only removed thru root
Yes, it's the Tru2Life app, aka VisualMaster. The way it makes YT look is total BS. But it's not just YT. There's a database of about 15000 eek apps that it applies different display profiles to. These apps are mostly video, photo, games and other multimedia.
So you do need to have root to disable it. Or at least a custom recovery. The easiest method is probably to use a root-level app manager that can safely disable Tru2Life, which is a system app. Or you can manually edit the package manager config files yourself if you have the skills and don't want root.

Multitasking/RAM

You're busy and don't have time to wait, which is why you need to stop reading this thread and get back to organizing your Pogs. Rate this thread to express how the performs when multitasking. A higher rating indicates that the keeps many apps in memory so that they don't need to reload, and that when moving between apps, transitions are smooth and performance is excellent.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Really really bad multitasking performance on k20pro 6/64 for me, I just hit home from the game, launch facebook for 5 minutes and went back and the game already reload?? Why xiaomi? why should it be that bad?. I'm using xiaomi eu 9.7.4 with no tweaking to the system whatsoever
boanhdaytien2 said:
Really really bad multitasking performance on k20pro 6/64 for me, I just hit home from the game, launch facebook for 5 minutes and went back and the game already reload?? Why xiaomi? why should it be that bad?. I'm using xiaomi eu 9.7.4 with no tweaking to the system whatsoever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could've added the game title so that anyone who plays it on the same device can comment and approve/disprove your input.
plskillme said:
You could've added the game title so that anyone who plays it on the same device can comment and approve/disprove your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's AOV, I don't use any boosting feature or something like that btw.
boanhdaytien2 said:
Really really bad multitasking performance on k20pro 6/64 for me, I just hit home from the game, launch facebook for 5 minutes and went back and the game already reload?? Why xiaomi? why should it be that bad?. I'm using xiaomi eu 9.7.4 with no tweaking to the system whatsoever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change the settings in battery saving to "no restrictions" and also to allow the game to stay on in the background go to app permissions and allow the game or app you want to autostart and to start in the background (also found in permissions ) < all this if you are using MIUI
hope it helps
Mohdan99 said:
Change the settings in battery saving to "no restrictions" and also to allow the game to stay on in the background go to app permissions and allow the game or app you want to autostart and to start in the background (also found in permissions ) < all this if you are using MIUI
hope it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the tip, but it's not that kind of an issue, I believe that settings is for notification purpose, not multitasking.
boanhdaytien2 said:
thanks for the tip, but it's not that kind of an issue, I believe that settings is for notification purpose, not multitasking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try by disabling MIUI optimisation from developer options.
I did and looks like most of my apps are staying in the memory until I close them (but not games, I am talking of google maps, Facebook, browser, etc.).
Mohdan99 said:
Change the settings in battery saving to "no restrictions" and also to allow the game to stay on in the background go to app permissions and allow the game or app you want to autostart and to start in the background (also found in permissions ) < all this if you are using MIUI
hope it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes battery saver is actually freezing our background apps. and its force closing.
1. if you want performance then put it on "No Restrictions" from app permission.
2. if you want optimisation then optimistic option is there for all apps like Yes battery saver is actually freezing our background apps. and its force closing.
1. if you want performance then put it on "No Restrictions" from app permission.
2. if you want optimisation then optimistic option is there for all apps like installed and systems as well as.
3. if you like battery automatically without turns on "Battery Savings" then go to apps details and manually check our own choice.
4. Xiaomi i am having in a worst time to seen that you are still using "CLEAN MASTER" by default in security apps, i hate cheetah Mobile Corporation.
please remove Clean master.
and best app is "QUICK HEAL". please tie-up with QUICKHEAL Co. They are best.
Avast is also good. But u should give users priority first on after sales services. Atleast do this on your premium devices like K20 PRO.
5. Add AppLock on SECURITY . anyone can delete our data from "CLEAN UP" option.
and best app is "QUICK HEAL". please tie-up with QUICKHEAL Co. They are best.
Avast is also good. But u should give users priority first on after sales services. Atleast do this on your premium devices like K20 PRO.
Regards,
Suman Sarkar
Devices- Redmi K20Pro, Mi8, Mi9 Pro. and Mi Mix
boanhdaytien2 said:
Really really bad multitasking performance on k20pro 6/64 for me, I just hit home from the game, launch facebook for 5 minutes and went back and the game already reload?? Why xiaomi? why should it be that bad?. I'm using xiaomi eu 9.7.4 with no tweaking to the system whatsoever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to disable option "Use Adaptive Battery" under Battery & performance.
I have a K20 Pro with Global ROM for MI9T Pro. Superb multitasking with "Use Adaptive Battery" On and also MIUI optimization is On. Just the apps that I want to stay in memory are set to "No restrictions". In multitasking also the apps that I need are with lock.

Few quick questions on MIUI 11

Can anyone help answer a few quick questions on MIUI 11 on the Redmi 7A ( or any other Xiaomi device) please?
1. Does MIUI 11 have the cursor magnifier bubble that pops up when editing text or moving the cursor? This is native in Android Pie but some Android 9.0 builds (I'm looking at you Samsung) didn't have it in. Do a lot of texting so this is really useful.
2. Is MIUI 11 still stuffed with ads like the previous versions? Have Xiaomi finally provided a one click option to remove / stop all ads?
3. Can you remove factory apps in MIUI 11, either through Settings or using adb? (I've no use for Facebook, Twitter and a bunch of other bloat in any ROM).
Thanks in advance, looking at getting a Redmi 7A (or Android Pie based Redmi device) as a cheap second phone which will e used for email, chat and text but find editing text is very fiddly on Android without the cursor magnifier thing that iOS has.
I can only answer questions 2 and 3. 2) Miui contains ads that can be disabled in each app from an option called recommendations. After this, the ads are not usually noticed in apps. 3) It is possible to debloat the device without root, there is even a tool that lets you see which apps you can disable: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/miui-xiaomi-global-debloater-the4anoni-t3879739
My opinion: If you unlock the device, flash mokee, you can use it with up to android 10 (It has less lags than miui, and you can restrict usage in the background) and with/without gapps, and you will get a lot of battery. Or reach the end of the day with 60-70% (no games, occasional uses,we are in quarantine, I have not tried it in a day outside.).
So I ended up buying a brand new Redmi 7A running Global firmware Android Pie and can answer the questions:
1. MIUI 11 does not have the cursor magnifier thing like stock Android it uses the same teardrop bubble cursor that Samsung phones use (this might be fixed in MIUI 12).
2. Yes, it's still stuffed with ads and you have to go into individual apps to try and get rid of them. Even this doesn't work fully though, the whole UI is riddled with ads.
3. Not possible to remove the apps and in fact, it's the worst phone I've ever seen that doesn't even let you disable apps either. All the Google crap like Music, Movies, Books, Games, etc. you can't even disable let alone uninstall them like you can on other phones.
I had the phone for approximately 1 day, hated MIUI and promptly sent it back for a full refund. Never again Xiaomi

Guidance - ROMs / Tweaks.

Hey all.
Familiar with the general process, messed around with a bunch of HTCs, Sonys and Pixels back in the day.
Third Oneplus phone, haven't really "needed" to play around with custom ROMs or mods in a while, so have never done it on a OnePlus.
Things that annoy me, or I wish I could have:
Quick setting toggle for FHD / QHD, and for 120hz / 60hz
90Hz option introduced for 8Pro, with battery benefits?
Battery management - option to stop charging at 80% (or whatever user sets), maybe even custom charge speed (10W, 15W, instead of 30w).
Better optimised kernel? standby seems decent, but low powered use (social media, scrolling) seems to be a bit higher than desired.
Is there anything out there that fits the above, or, any work in progress to deliver the above? Preferable with no other drawbacks - Google play security still ok, not lose DRM or Widevine L1, root hidden, etc.
sephstyler said:
Hey all.
Familiar with the general process, messed around with a bunch of HTCs, Sonys and Pixels back in the day.
Third Oneplus phone, haven't really "needed" to play around with custom ROMs or mods in a while, so have never done it on a OnePlus.
Things that annoy me, or I wish I could have:
Quick setting toggle for FHD / QHD, and for 120hz / 60hz
90Hz option introduced for 8Pro, with battery benefits?
Battery management - option to stop charging at 80% (or whatever user sets), maybe even custom charge speed (10W, 15W, instead of 30w).
Better optimised kernel? standby seems decent, but low powered use (social media, scrolling) seems to be a bit higher than desired.
Is there anything out there that fits the above, or, any work in progress to deliver the above? Preferable with no other drawbacks - Google play security still ok, not lose DRM or Widevine L1, root hidden, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the latest updates, L1 is present for apps like Netflix, Prime Video.
If you have Tasker, you can create your own QS tile to toggle between refresh rates. As for screen resolutions, I have tried and it doesn't work.
90Hz I don't think is possible unless OnePlus introduces it
Use ACC from the Magisk modules repo for charge control
I don't want to favour any kernel but I personally use BluSpark and it's been great. I also use an app called Naptime for better standby
Sorry I couldn't find a solution for all your questions!

Does this phones' UI have ads? Do stock apps ask for unwanted permission?

Hello!
I just wanted to know if this phones' software have ads anywhere in the UI? If yes, is there an option to opt-out?
Secondly, I've heard Xiaomi phones are notorious for having stock apps that ask for unwanted permission to function (eg: calculator wanting to access contacts etc.), is this one a victim of that?
Also does the stock os has an option to disable gesture based navigation and use on-screen navigation bar instead?
Finally, does it come with 3rd party keyboard(like swiftkey etc.) out of the box, or how is the built-in one in terms of privacy? Was it known for data gathering in the past?
If you have the device in hand, please do check these things and let me know. Are there anything else that I should be aware of, like known issues? I am not planning to flash custom roms or modify deeply.
Thanks in advance.
@n1troV I have been using my M3 for more than one month, I hope that I have answered all your questions.
1. ads anywhere in the UI?
Yes, in all Xiaomi system apps, you have to go through the settings in each of them and choose to trun off "Recommendations", to disable ads for each app.
2. unwanted permission
The calculator in MIUI does not require any permissions, in the settings, the Storage permission is listed, but denied, the calculator can still be used without the permission. There are a lot of pre-installed Google apps. The dialer, messages, and contacts apps are also from Google.
(Edit: The Taiwanese version uses the original MIUI dialer app and messages app)
3. option to disable gesture based navigation
Yes, it can be changed in the settings, please see the screenshot below.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
4. 3rd party keyboard
Yes, it came with Gboard pre-installed, you can install a different keyboard, if you do not want to use it. By default, Gboard sends analytics data back to Google, but that can be disabled in the settings.
I am using the stock MIUI ROM, and the fingerprint unlocking was very slow when I got the phone, but after getting two system updates, now the unlocking speed is faster.
If possible, I suggest that you can use Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools (can be downloaded from GItHub) to debloat the phone with adb, to remove some unwanted system apps like MSA , WMService, Analytics, Chrome and other Google apps.
I used the phone for navigation several times, and the GNSS accuracy is about 4m, it is usually enough, but sometimes if another road is too close, the maps app thinks I am on the other road.
By default, VoWiFi is not enabled on this phone, but it can be enabled by disabling carrier check, using the code *#*#869434#*#* in the dialer.
If privacy is important to you, you can use a private DNS service like AdGuard DNS or NextDNS to block unwanted connections.
The phone is not perfect, but it is still a good phone for its price. If you want to have more RAM and an ultra-wide-angle camera, you can take a look at Redmi 9T, it has almost the same hardware, but it's better, and its price is the same as or similiar to M3's price, depending on which country you are in.
You can ask me if you have any other questions about the phone.
Thank you very much! You've answered pretty much all of questions I had and then some. I was unaware of the sluggish fingerprint sensor and inaccurate GPS, neither of which are dealbreakers to me, personally.
I've considered 9T too, I actually dig the design language of that one abit more than M3 and there's a slight bump in performance too. It's significantly more expensive compared to the m3 where I live though.
By the way, have you tested read/write performance of the ufs storage on the m3? If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Moreover, are there any noticeable lags/frame drops in the UI, delays in app opening? I am not expecting ~$150 phone to perform like ~$1000 flagships but I'd like to know what the general user experience is like.
And thanks for the tips on secure DNS. I was thinking of implementing pihole for network-wide ad-blocking, will look into private DNS services too.
Thanks again for taking your time to write a well-detailed reply, cheers!
@n1troV It takes about 2 seconds for the phone to open an app, I have tested with different apps. I think it's acceptable for the price.
My previous phone had SD625 chip, and M3 has SD662 chip, after changing to M3, I feel that M3 is a lot faster.
There is one thing I forgot to mention, this phone has dual speakers, but when I tried it the bottom speaker is a lilltle louder than the top speaker, I think when I watched review videos of M3, someone also mentioned this problem.
I will test the storage speed tomorrow when I have time.
n1troV said:
If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Below is a screenshot of passmark.
(Edit: The phone has 4GB of RAM, but passmark only shows 3GB)
I have the 128GB version, so the storage is UFS 2.2, the SD card I use is Kingston Canvas Select Plus 32GB.
I also have another screenshot of the CIT mode, it shows the hardware information of the phone.
To show you what it feels like to open apps and to scroll through Google Play on the phone, I have recorded a video using the built-in screen recorder, it is in the attached zip file.
Thank you! The ufs storage performance was abit underwhelming though. Have you had an emmc 5.1 based phones in the past? I suppose those chips perform about the same in benchmarks. In fact, having ufs based storage is one of the main reasons I've considered m3 hoping it would help sustain good overall ui performance/snappiness although that does not seem to be the case here.
As for the muffled earpiece speaker; I guess i can pass on that since even higher end phones suffer from the same issue likely due to the fact that there isn't much space in phones with edge-to edge displays and camera hardware to fit a better speaker.
Does this phone support streaming off of popular platforms? There used to be a requirement of some codecs or something along those lines to support drm enabled streaming out of the box iirc, can this one do?
Lastly; if you're in the market for sub $200 phone and m3 and 9t are not your options, what would be your next best pick? Just curious.
@n1troV Previously, I had used two different Redmi phones, both with emmc storage, and they have Snapdragon 435 and Snapdragon 625 chips.
After start using my M3, when I transfered files from my laptop to the M3 using a USB cable, it still took a long time, the speed of transfering files from PC does not feel any faster than my previous phones that have emmc storage. I think this is because the phone only has a USB 2.0 port.
The phone supports Widevine L1 DRM certification, so it can play DRM content at the maximum quality.
I have not played any DRM content on it, but the "DRM Info" app shows that the security level is L1.
I already got used to XIaomi's MIUI, since I used two Redmi phones previously, I would only choose a phone that is made by Xiaomi, this is why I bought the M3.
Before I bought the M3, I had thought about buying other phones that are made by Xiaomi, including Redmi Note 8T (It is not sold in where I live), Redmi Note 9 Pro (It supports NFC, but it is too expensive), and Redmi 9.
When I decided to buy a new phone, because the Redmi phone I was using (Redmi 6 Pro) had GPS issues, last year, I went to XIaomi's website again, and saw that there was a new phone called POCO M3, and I compared its specs with Redmi 9.The specs of M3 are a better than Redmi 9's, except that the CPU of Redmi 9 has better performance, and Redmi 9 has a wide-angle camera. So I decided to buy the M3, since I don't take photos often, and I don't play mobile games.
After using the M3, I feel that the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is a lot more convenient than the rear-mounted fingerprint sensors that my previous phones have, with the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, it's easy to unlock the phone even when it is on the table.
Excellent! I'm relatively new to the world of android phones and almost everybody here is pushing big-name-brand phones despite them having worse specs purely for the brand recognition (I suppose?) I've come to conclusion that M3 offers good value/performance for the price you're paying, not without its fair share of shortcomings though. That's to be expected, I guess.
Thanks for saving me lot of time not having to search answers for each questions I had. It certainly helped getting answers directly from an owner of the mighty M3.
That usb 2.0 bottleneck situation is understandable though. There are $1k devices on the other side of the pond still utilizing usb2 protocol, so yeah.
I mostly agree with your argument on fingerprint sensor placement except I personally prefer rear-mounted sensors mostly due to the fact that those got large surface area to work with and tends to be more accurate and quick. Usually your index finger sits there so its only natural to unlock the device as you pick it. Only downside is not able to unlock when device is on table.
Side mounted sensors on the other hand solve that issue but depending on the placement, it might be hard to reach specially on big phones. Having a hole cut on the side of the frame shouldn't help in terms of structural rigidity either. Eitherway I'd pick any capasitive implementation over gimmicky in-display sensor in a heartbeat.
@n1troV I just remembered that I could also do a read/write speed test on my old phone (Redmi 4X), it has LPDDR3 RAM and emmc 5.1 storage, the screenshot below shows the test results of Redmi 4X.
(POCO M3 has LPDDR4X RAM)
Since you have not used Xiaomi phones before, I think you need to know that Mi and Redmi phones have the original MIUI launcher, and the MIUI launcher does not have an app drawer, but POCO phones only have the POCO launcher, it has an app drawer, and cannot be disabled.
I have tried to install the MIUI launcher on my M3, but it could not be installed, so the only ways to install MIUI launcher on POCO phones are installing a custom ROM, or root/installing a magisk module.
Hmm it turns out ufs based storage is still significantly faster, at least on the reads.
You brought up an interesting point on the launcher, does M3 use swipe up gesture to launch app drawer or it has an option to have that dedicated grid style icon?
I don't dig the stock icons/ui elements on the above mentioned phones though. As long as a 3rd party launcher can be installed with unread counts reliably shown without random crashes, it should be fine.
I've had friends who used Mi phones in the past that I got to have some hands on time with (can't recall the exact model names), most of them were either android go/one devices though. Miui based phones were from 2016-17 so I'm sure alot has changed since then.
EDIT:
I might consider flashing custom rom as my last resort option, specially if I found stock apps constantly phoning home. Preferably a privacy focused rom (graphene/lineage?) with bare essential apps and 3rd party store (aurora?) minus the google stuff. That is only if services like realtime notifications are unaffected. Also there's a steep learning curve as I've not done any of this before
@n1troV The POCO launcher uses the swipe up gesture to open the app drawer, if you do not want to have an app drawer, there is a 3rd party launcher called Lawndesk, it can be installed and used on M3, and it can show unread counts after giving it the notification access permission.
Other 3rd party launchers can also be installed on the phone, but almost all of them have app drawers.
I had unlocked the bootloader of the phone and installed Magisk on it before, but it was difficult to update the phone with Magisk installed, so I reinstalled stock MIUI ROM and relocked the bootloader with Mi flash tool.
I am currently using NextDNS on the phone, because it is customizable, below is a screenshot showing blocked connections to Xiaomi. I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
I still prefer using the stock ROM and POCO launcher, at least I have blocked those connections with NextDNS.
cbw said:
if you do not want to have an app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey that's not what I mean. Remember before the swipe up gesture was a thing, there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap? I was wondering if such option is present on M3 to use drawer icon instead of swipe up.
cbw said:
I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this is the kind of stuff that bothers me. You went through all the trouble navigating deep in system settings and opting out, yet it does sh!t like this in the background. In the screenshot you've attached, you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it. Who knows what else its pinging
It's impractical for average user to go through each and every request phone is making as there is probably hundreds if not thousands of them. I really do believe that if you opted out of something it should not be pinging servers over the web period. Privacy is becoming a bigger and bigger problem every day yet most people ignore it entirely. I doubt average user would know or care about such sketchy behaviors of their "personal" devices.
tl:dr Probably not the best for privacy, at least not out of the box.
n1troV said:
there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
POCO launcher does not have that option, but there is a small arrow that can be clicked to open the app drawer.
I have found a 3rd party launcher called Apex Launcher, it still has the old Android icon for opening the app drawer, but I think the old version (3.3.3) of it is better than the current version.
n1troV said:
you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do it, because I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
For browsing websites on the phone, I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
n1troV said:
Who knows what else its pinging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser, below is a screenshot of NextDNS's log.
Thanks for the update on stock launcher and possible third party options.
cbw said:
I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. Embedded trackers within apps is whole another story. I was more concerned about OS telemetry that cannot be disabled. There is no guarantee that the phone is pinging domains only have "mi" in it.
cbw said:
I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also aware that the mobile firefox has somewhat limited extension support. However adding more and more extensions doesn't exactly help with browser fingerprinting. In fact it makes matters worse as you stand out more compared to the "default" ff installations. uBo is my go to addon for adblocking on computers, will definitely have that on phone as well.
cbw said:
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled? I mean still its imperfect way to track ALL the requests phone is making specially when its on standby, and for such small period of time. Unless its connected to pi-hole or some sort of firewall/nw analyzer all the time, there's no way you can tell whats going on
n1troV said:
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have enabled sync for my Google account. With DNS, I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
I have installed AdGuard to filter requests on my phone (with local VPN method), and I will post screenshots of blocked requests later.
These are the blocked requests.
Xiaomi Cloud (and Cloud Backup), Xiaomi Service Framework, and System Apps Updater can be uninstalled using Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
It is possible to use Android Debug Bridge (adb) to uninstall Google Play Services, but I do not know if it is safe to do it.
After searching online about uninstalling the Mi Account app, I found this.
https://gist.github.com/Biswa96/81fe477079fa5279f7cfd7b98d5519c7
Do not uninstall com.xiaomi.account if you've already logged in MI account.
You will get "This device is locked" message and won't be able to unlock it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for saving the day, again! I'm so glad the first person to reply to my thread happens to be somewhat privacy conscious.
cbw said:
I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! Unfortunately same thing applies for network activity monitors. Pi-hole seem to have a decent dashboard, probably 3rd party hardware firewalls too.
cbw said:
uninstalling the Mi Account app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not planning to log into any third party services. Probably not even google on setup wizard.
I was wondering, is there a way to sandbox apps in android? As in you could isolate app data from one another and have full control over each app as to whether it's getting access to internet/gps and whatnot. I heard Shelter does this, not sure how that works exactly.
Unrelated to privacy: does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
n1troV said:
Shelter
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It will cause bootloop in MIUI.
I also saw this in Shelter's description.
Some vendor / custom ROMs may have a broken implementation that may cause crashes and even bricking of your device. One such example is MIUI from Xiaomi.
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If I want to test apps without installing them on my phone, I use a virtual machine app called "VMOS Pro", it works well on my M3, but it sends analytics data to several servers, and there is no option to disable that.
By the way, POCO launcher also sends data to two different severs, "api.accelerator.intl.miui.com" and "api.ad.intl.xiaomi.com", so you might want to avoid using it, POCO launcher can be uninstalled using adb or XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
n1troV said:
does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
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Yes.

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