Database Info

Switch to Poco from Huawei P9 - is it possible to solve this? Launcher/Dialer/Ad apps

Hi to the club! I have my first xiaomi phone - Poco f2 pro and I'm happy with it. But, is it possible to solve a few thinks which drive me crazy?
1.) Poco Launcher doesn't suit me - it can be uninstalled (somehow I can't find a way how)?
2.) contact search - I was used to searching without accents (eg the contact stored with diacritics but searched/typed without it will not be found). Any way how to solve this?
3.) ring time - on a previous Huawei phone I saw how long someone called me (ring time) - can it be set somehow with Poco?
4.) There are many adverts (and apps/games suggestions icons) in my original ROM, how to get rid of it?
Many thanks!

milanf said:
Hi to the club! I have my first xiaomi phone - Poco f2 pro and I'm happy with it. But, is it possible to solve a few thinks which drive me crazy?
1.) Poco Launcher doesn't suit me - it can be uninstalled (somehow I can't find a way how)?
2.) contact search - I was used to searching without accents (eg the contact stored with diacritics but searched/typed without it will not be found). Any way how to solve this?
3.) ring time - on a previous Huawei phone I saw how long someone called me (ring time) - can it be set somehow with Poco?
4.) There are many adverts (and apps/games suggestions icons) in my original ROM, how to get rid of it?
Many thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) You can install any 3th party launcher, ie Nova launcher and set it as default.
4) If I'm not wrong you can disable a permission in a certain system app to get rid of ads, but I can't remember which one, but you could find some more info in google probably. I use Blokada to disable almost all ads, it works without root.

Ads built into OS. Not as bad as all that?

Hi all.
Thinking of grabbing one of these come payday but heard conflicting info regarding ads built into the OS. Apparently they only appear in the Xiaomi apps or when you install something from the play store. I wanted advice from actual owners, are there many ads? And is there a way to remove them (using AdGuard)?
For the price and specs I'm really tempted but not sure how I feel about being bombarded with ads.

Tetsuo1981 said:
Hi all.
Thinking of grabbing one of these come payday but heard conflicting info regarding ads built into the OS. Apparently they only appear in the Xiaomi apps or when you install something from the play store. I wanted advice from actual owners, are there many ads? And is there a way to remove them (using AdGuard)?
For the price and specs I'm really tempted but not sure how I feel about being bombarded with ads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a bit curious and having time to explore the devices, leaves you with absolutely no ads on the device.
For instance, you disable all sorts of tick boxes on the crappy MIUI security app, disable suggestions during setup and also while in the package installer, you press on its settings button (top right) and unselected both options there.
I have done this and confirm I have absolutely no ads on system apps on my Poco X3

Havent noticed much ads after turning off suggestions, an ad after downloading an app on playstore appears but nothing like a video ad or an unskippable one. So far no problems on my end as well. Deleted some apps using the debloater and I use mostly non-miui apps.

If you turn "security scan" off in the settings you will not get any adverts while installing apps. On my poco x3 those were the only ads i got while using the phone so everthing is well. The issue is not only the poco x3 tho, it is with more MIUI phones fortunately you can turn it off.

If I do buy this phone I am wait till I can replace the Stock OS as I hate Ads

Ads? Haven't noticed any ads yet.
I did factory reset the phone x4 times (other problem) and I think it got rid of some of the pre-installed games. Maybe it helped with ads to?

Where can I find the setting for off the suggestions?

machoguy said:
Where can I find the setting for off the suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the app itself.... Either recommendation or suggestion turn all to off...

Well I caved and got one. Betty happy with it and have tinkered and shut down all the ads I think. Not as intrusive as I feared but annoying. Glad you can remove them. Tempted to remove some of the bloatware but last time I used adb it went horribly wrong

General Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus 5g Ads and Bloatware.

I bought my device on the 14th and the time that I have had it I haven't seen a single ad on any of the miui apps. I see ads on other apps I use like boost for reddit. But no miui ads. My file manager is clean. I remember seeing ads on it on whyred ages ago.
As for Bloatware I only had Facebook and YouTube music and YouTube itself. Otherwise I don't consider the radio, miui service feedback as bloat.
Anyone else with this device have the same. I see a lot of complaints from x4 pro owners but my experience on miui has been very solid. Only real issue I've seen is the screen flickering at certain brightness levels.

Nvm. I guess it took a while but I see ads now.

KHSH01 said:
I bought my device on the 14th and the time that I have had it I haven't seen a single ad on any of the miui apps. I see ads on other apps I use like boost for reddit. But no miui ads. My file manager is clean. I remember seeing ads on it on whyred ages ago.
As for Bloatware I only had Facebook and YouTube music and YouTube itself. Otherwise I don't consider the radio, miui service feedback as bloat.
Anyone else with this device have the same. I see a lot of complaints from x4 pro owners but my experience on miui has been very solid. Only real issue I've seen is the screen flickering at certain brightness levels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, it seems that i didn't receive ads for a while too
can't say when it stopped since I've shifted to an AOSP based rom
but all my time being on Miui I've received no ads on this device (i have received ads on a different device though)
can't say the same for bloatware sadly, Miui IN has way too much bloatware for me to even list down
some of them are
Mi pay, Mi mail, Mi store, Mi coin, Mi Browser and the list just keeps going on

For me I only see adds in a couple of apps if I run them so try not to run them like in cleaner and I think the security app as for bloatware I would say Kaspersky is rubbish as the phone has i think avast as it's security within the phone that I don't think you can take off for me I think maybe what if they leave say 90% of all apps of the device and maybe have a file app with all the crap so you can choose what to install so no Google apps apart from the play store you know the basics that is vital for you to use your phone but still give the phone some nice things a strange one for me is second space some apps for me in there are not on the main account

Received my Global X4 Pro 5G last week and it came with bloat, ads and other junk but the Android 12 update pending. However, after updating to 12 the only things still there are Mi remote, Themes and Mi Video. I'm also using ControlD as my private dns and when I check the logs there are all sorts of blocked polling attempts to Xiaomi servers.

Question Restrict app access to mobile / WiFi data?

Hi,
New pixel user as of today!
On my OnePlus 7t I used to be able to prevent network access for specific apps which would stop some annoying adverts from loading for apps that didn't actually require internet access - Is this feature / setting not available for Pixel phones and/or Android 13?
Cheers!

No, that's an OxygenOS feature.

mko000 said:
No, that's an OxygenOS feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn.. that's a shame. Thanks!

There are options of course - if you're rooted.

mko000 said:
There are options of course - if you're rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't rooted for years now - I don't know if it's still the case but I used to have issues with banking apps etc back in the day.

mmotti said:
I haven't rooted for years now - I don't know if it's still the case but I used to have issues with banking apps etc back in the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are still issues with apps looking for root. Usually, there are workarounds (for now), but you have to stay on top of the required actions.

mmotti said:
Hi,
New pixel user as of today!
On my OnePlus 7t I used to be able to prevent network access for specific apps which would stop some annoying adverts from loading for apps that didn't actually require internet access - Is this feature / setting not available for Pixel phones and/or Android 13?
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use the NetGuard app for this purpose [it doesn't require root, though it will create a VPN connection].

Question Individual App Lock in Settings?

Hi all,
I'm new to Google phones, I got my Pixel 7 Pro on release day after having a Huawei Mate 20 Pro for the last 4/5 Years. Is there anyway to have individual Apps locked that require you to give your fingerprint to open them without the use of a 3rd Party App from the Play Store?
I used to be able to do this on my Huawei in the settings and lock any apps individually but I can't seem to find that option on my Pixel 7 Pro. I've seen the "Pin Required" option on Whatsapp but even that doesn't work great as you can see everything when the app is opened behind the pin screen.
Thanks for reading.

1gavinr said:
Hi all,
I'm new to Google phones, I got my Pixel 7 Pro on release day after having a Huawei Mate 20 Pro for the last 4/5 Years. Is there anyway to have individual Apps locked that require you to give your fingerprint to open them without the use of a 3rd Party App from the Play Store?
I used to be able to do this on my Huawei in the settings and lock any apps individually but I can't seem to find that option on my Pixel 7 Pro. I've seen the "Pin Required" option on Whatsapp but even that doesn't work great as you can see everything when the app is opened behind the pin screen.
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll find, as I have, that a lot of that creature comfort stuff are not in pure android. Unless I'm wrong, you'll need an app to do it for you.

Correct. As @xgerryx said, there are apps in the Play Store to make that feature available, although I don't use them so I don't keep up with what's best, or what works.

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping it could be done within the settings of the phone without the need for another 3rd party app being installed. Shame small things like this aren't available within stock Android on Google phones yet this was available years ago on other Android handsets.

Issue with app lock applications from the Playstore on non-rooted devices, it's easy to bypass for anyone with an iota of Android knowledge. You really need one baked into the OS as they're far more difficult to overcome.

I the same for me !!!! coming from oneplus with smart launcher pro....incredible thing any native app locker one by one in android stock !!!!
where can i ask this point with google team ?
hope for next version ?

karmoussa said:
I the same for me !!!! coming from oneplus with smart launcher pro....incredible thing any native app locker one by one in android stock !!!!
where can i ask this point with google team ?
hope for next version ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frequently asked questions | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
How can I contribute to Android?​You can report bugs, write apps for Android, or contribute source code to the Android Open Source Project.
There are limits to the kinds of code contributions we accept. For instance, someone might want to contribute an alternative application API, such as a full C++-based environment. We would decline that contribution, because Android encourages applications to be run in the ART runtime. Similarly, we won't accept contributions such as GPL or LGPL libraries that are incompatible with our licensing goals.
We encourage those interested in contributing source code to contact us via the channels listed on the Android Community page prior to beginning any work. For details, see Contributing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

1gavinr said:
Hi all,
I'm new to Google phones, I got my Pixel 7 Pro on release day after having a Huawei Mate 20 Pro for the last 4/5 Years. Is there anyway to have individual Apps locked that require you to give your fingerprint to open them without the use of a 3rd Party App from the Play Store?
I used to be able to do this on my Huawei in the settings and lock any apps individually but I can't seem to find that option on my Pixel 7 Pro. I've seen the "Pin Required" option on Whatsapp but even that doesn't work great as you can see everything when the app is opened behind the pin screen.
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey!
I was dissapointed, too, after switching from s20 ultra and mi11 ultra about this missing feature.
My workaround:
(0. Microsoft launcher to hide needed apps)
1. Tasker lock screen function (you can define apps that require lock), (I am tasker heavy user) so i don't need any more extra apps
2. Terminal-systemizer magisk module to help tasker not being killed (can be killed anyway, but enough for my needs)
3. Profit.

kislack said:
Hey!
I was dissapointed, too, after switching from s20 ultra and mi11 ultra about this missing feature.
My workaround:
(0. Microsoft launcher to hide needed apps)
1. Tasker lock screen function (you can define apps that require lock), (I am tasker heavy user) so i don't need any more extra apps
2. Terminal-systemizer magisk module to help tasker not being killed (can be killed anyway, but enough for my needs)
3. Profit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse