Rather rude tone to take for a reasonable question.
You do note in the article that you are locking at Android 16 - so the cost of following this guide is no security updates thereafter? That is a rather high cost (IMO immediate disqualifier), it is reasonable to discuss it and I don't see why you think it appropriate to rudely dismiss it.
Its great that you use the phone only for the camera. But you decided to post this as a guide and people who use their phones as a general-purpose device might be interested in discussing it too. The specificity of your particular use-case is nowhere visible in the article.
Android come to the point where you choose so-calles "security" trading all your data (read privacy) to random guys in the cloud. Every person choose his own wisdom.
I mentioned my needs in the article and i use device as a phone also.
We discuss phones here, which on 2026 host ton of important and sometimes critical functions. Security is #1 concern for anybody at least a bit smart, you can't ignore reality of 2026.
I love photography, but this is exactly reason why I dont consider chinese phones at all, even if they would be for free (carrying it as pure camera phone around - then I can buy proper camera with much better results ie in night and ergonomics anf dedicated battery).
Too cheap phones = I am the product, or my data are.
If you mentioned your needs in the article, I don't see it. You need to explicitly state somewhere that you are only interested in the camera app and the phone app. I mean I guess it's obvious that you're going to end up with a phone where nothing works. But still...
I had many Xiaomi phones roughly from 2014 to 2024 and all were chock full of software bugs, going worse in more recent phones up to the point I couldn't take it anymore and bought a Samsung.
I will never go back to Chinese crapware. The hardware is useless without stable software and what they have is a sad impression of such. Couldn't care less if Xiaomi puts a trillion zillion gigs of RAM and CPUs and cameras and shit, wouldn't pay one dollar for their flagship phone, not to mention asking comparative prices to top Samsung, lol. Never again Chinese!
I may have been lucky then with my Redmi Note 5 Pro (and a similar one for my daughters), possibly because the first thing I did with these phones was root them, remove all bloatware, remove all Xiaomi-specific apps including the 'Mi account'-related things, remove the Googly bits, add F-Droid and install free software. Never had problems with the things for 8 years, I'm currently running one of them with LineageOS 23.2 (Android 16), the other lost its screen so it is playing Linux server. Good hardware, possibly questionable firmware but that can be mitigated. I was forced to move to a new device with NFC (a Motorola G75) by the same app - Swedish BankID (and this time also Dutch DigiD) - which forced me to move from the Motorola Defy+ to the Redmi Note 5 Pro all those years ago. In another 8 years time they'll probably force me to move yet again for reasons as of yet unknown. Since I also used the Defy+ for about 8 years this seems to be the current practical lifetime of an Android device, at least for me. Those now 16 year old Defy+ devices still work but Android 4.4 has gone out of fashion quite a while ago. They are still usable for other purposes though, as trailer camera, sensor device, music player and more.
I was afraid of this but switched from Samsung to an Oppo Find X9 Ultra anyway as the new Samsung S26 Ultra feels stuck in the past. I was pleasantly surprised with ColorOS. The only thing Samsung has going for it is OneUI. OneUI is better, but not by a lot.
I skimmed the docs for this but couldn't find an answer: Is there something that says what each of those services is actually for and what the trade-offs are for disabling them? Clearly not all of them are strictly bloatware. (Some people probably need com.android.bluetoothmidiservice.)
Yes, you can use Canta[1]. When you select an app, it also provides you with some info (sometimes a bit vague) about what the app does. I used it to debloat my Oppo X9 Pro.
It says they're freezing at Android 16 because Android 17 has more tracking and that kind of stuff, but then they go on to recommend Nova Launcher which sold out and has ads and who knows what else?
Something pretty crazy is that, in its early days, Xiaomi gained traction as a smartphone manufacturer because its devices offered incredible hardware for the price. At the same time, Xiaomi provided its own Android skin with virtually zero bloatware, while giving users an insane level of customization to make the experience fit their needs perfectly.
But that was before, now they pack more bloatware than samsung devices.
that's just not truth, MIUI was always bloated, but Xiaomi had great VFM + unlockable bootloader so nobody cared, nowadays is very difficult to unlock the bootloader, though you can achieve similar result with Shizuku and other tools which take advantage of Shizuku, the VFM ain't that good anymore, same goes for now discontinued OnePlus
redmi note 3 pro ain't xiaomi though, but redmi, I still have one, though physical buttons are gone
but anyway I though you are talking about different bloat, like system bloated with features and Xiaomi apps, if we talk about preinstalled apps in general then yes, there are more of them, but same goes even for "clean" Pixel ROMs, all phones have in general way more apps than they used to
as for the apps, honestly never seen an app in Xiaomi system, just disable bunch of options in settings and you are good, doesnt require much hacking, just regular user available settings
if you dont like useless apps, especially the ones from Xiaomi, you can disable them through Shizuku + Canta, though need to be careful, some can cause bootloop, so always read description
the trick I use is that `adb disable-user` still works without root and it works on anything, including even the most privileged system-level apps. some phones detect this and actually brick themselves (looking at you Samsung Knox), but a lot of phones don't notice at all.
Downside of course is that if you use multiple users, you'll have to repeat it for each user.
Xiaomi openly violates GPL too. If you email them for source code they won't provide it and if you press it they will just say haha sue us, or ghost you.
If you don't like the Xiaomi experience, don't buy a Xiaomi phone. Xiaomi ships an intentional set of features and apps that deliver what they believe is a best-in-class smartphone experience.
Yeah but does all this stick after the next major OS update?
THat's why I avoid all these top bang for the buck Chinese phones with amazing HW. Fighting the bloatware and spyware is too much hassle.
You typo'ed "Windows".
> THat's why I avoid all these top bang for the buck Chinese phones with amazing HW
I mean Apple and MacOS is not much different. Can you i.e. delete Apple Stocks application without disabling SIP?
[flagged]
Rather rude tone to take for a reasonable question.
You do note in the article that you are locking at Android 16 - so the cost of following this guide is no security updates thereafter? That is a rather high cost (IMO immediate disqualifier), it is reasonable to discuss it and I don't see why you think it appropriate to rudely dismiss it.
Its great that you use the phone only for the camera. But you decided to post this as a guide and people who use their phones as a general-purpose device might be interested in discussing it too. The specificity of your particular use-case is nowhere visible in the article.
i didn't want to offend anybody.
Android come to the point where you choose so-calles "security" trading all your data (read privacy) to random guys in the cloud. Every person choose his own wisdom.
I mentioned my needs in the article and i use device as a phone also.
We discuss phones here, which on 2026 host ton of important and sometimes critical functions. Security is #1 concern for anybody at least a bit smart, you can't ignore reality of 2026.
I love photography, but this is exactly reason why I dont consider chinese phones at all, even if they would be for free (carrying it as pure camera phone around - then I can buy proper camera with much better results ie in night and ergonomics anf dedicated battery).
Too cheap phones = I am the product, or my data are.
If you mentioned your needs in the article, I don't see it. You need to explicitly state somewhere that you are only interested in the camera app and the phone app. I mean I guess it's obvious that you're going to end up with a phone where nothing works. But still...
I'll add some clarification in the top of the article, good suggestion
I had many Xiaomi phones roughly from 2014 to 2024 and all were chock full of software bugs, going worse in more recent phones up to the point I couldn't take it anymore and bought a Samsung.
I will never go back to Chinese crapware. The hardware is useless without stable software and what they have is a sad impression of such. Couldn't care less if Xiaomi puts a trillion zillion gigs of RAM and CPUs and cameras and shit, wouldn't pay one dollar for their flagship phone, not to mention asking comparative prices to top Samsung, lol. Never again Chinese!
I may have been lucky then with my Redmi Note 5 Pro (and a similar one for my daughters), possibly because the first thing I did with these phones was root them, remove all bloatware, remove all Xiaomi-specific apps including the 'Mi account'-related things, remove the Googly bits, add F-Droid and install free software. Never had problems with the things for 8 years, I'm currently running one of them with LineageOS 23.2 (Android 16), the other lost its screen so it is playing Linux server. Good hardware, possibly questionable firmware but that can be mitigated. I was forced to move to a new device with NFC (a Motorola G75) by the same app - Swedish BankID (and this time also Dutch DigiD) - which forced me to move from the Motorola Defy+ to the Redmi Note 5 Pro all those years ago. In another 8 years time they'll probably force me to move yet again for reasons as of yet unknown. Since I also used the Defy+ for about 8 years this seems to be the current practical lifetime of an Android device, at least for me. Those now 16 year old Defy+ devices still work but Android 4.4 has gone out of fashion quite a while ago. They are still usable for other purposes though, as trailer camera, sensor device, music player and more.
The only reason i use this phone is periscope camera and it's quality, there is simply no other manufacturer who delivers such things.
I was afraid of this but switched from Samsung to an Oppo Find X9 Ultra anyway as the new Samsung S26 Ultra feels stuck in the past. I was pleasantly surprised with ColorOS. The only thing Samsung has going for it is OneUI. OneUI is better, but not by a lot.
Oppo is also superior as cameraphone comparing to Samsung
This matches my experience with xiaomi phones.
https://github.com/Universal-Debloater-Alliance/universal-an...
I skimmed the docs for this but couldn't find an answer: Is there something that says what each of those services is actually for and what the trade-offs are for disabling them? Clearly not all of them are strictly bloatware. (Some people probably need com.android.bluetoothmidiservice.)
Yes, you can use Canta[1]. When you select an app, it also provides you with some info (sometimes a bit vague) about what the app does. I used it to debloat my Oppo X9 Pro.
[1] https://github.com/samolego/Canta
Well known application, but i chose to do things manually in my way and without puter at all
It says they're freezing at Android 16 because Android 17 has more tracking and that kind of stuff, but then they go on to recommend Nova Launcher which sold out and has ads and who knows what else?
Nova version 8.1 no ads at all, way better than native junk
They should probably explain that, though, since right now they've simply got a link to the website that's hawking the current version.
as Nova Launcher user for more than 10 years I can recommend Lawnchair Launcher, no issues with switching or missing features
https://lawnchair.app
there is no point recommending Nova Launcher for years, it is like recommending QuickPic...
Thanks for recommendation, i'll look into it
Something pretty crazy is that, in its early days, Xiaomi gained traction as a smartphone manufacturer because its devices offered incredible hardware for the price. At the same time, Xiaomi provided its own Android skin with virtually zero bloatware, while giving users an insane level of customization to make the experience fit their needs perfectly.
But that was before, now they pack more bloatware than samsung devices.
that's just not truth, MIUI was always bloated, but Xiaomi had great VFM + unlockable bootloader so nobody cared, nowadays is very difficult to unlock the bootloader, though you can achieve similar result with Shizuku and other tools which take advantage of Shizuku, the VFM ain't that good anymore, same goes for now discontinued OnePlus
Wrong in the first one I got, maybe something like note 3 pro and so, there was absolutely no useless preloaded or ad apps
redmi note 3 pro ain't xiaomi though, but redmi, I still have one, though physical buttons are gone
but anyway I though you are talking about different bloat, like system bloated with features and Xiaomi apps, if we talk about preinstalled apps in general then yes, there are more of them, but same goes even for "clean" Pixel ROMs, all phones have in general way more apps than they used to
as for the apps, honestly never seen an app in Xiaomi system, just disable bunch of options in settings and you are good, doesnt require much hacking, just regular user available settings
if you dont like useless apps, especially the ones from Xiaomi, you can disable them through Shizuku + Canta, though need to be careful, some can cause bootloop, so always read description
the trick I use is that `adb disable-user` still works without root and it works on anything, including even the most privileged system-level apps. some phones detect this and actually brick themselves (looking at you Samsung Knox), but a lot of phones don't notice at all.
Downside of course is that if you use multiple users, you'll have to repeat it for each user.
Are the pics that good?
Neither Apple nor Samsung are capable of delivering this level of quality, they are just outsiders in terms of cameraphone features.
The photo is AI-generated (or edited, or fake, whatever you choose), here is a proof: https://www.gizchina.com/xiaomi-phones/xiaomis-supermoon-mod...
It mistaken turning the sun into the moon.
Text was put on the picture in Affinity Photo. I don't even got what you are talking about and how it is related to the article
Honestly this level of snobbery is reserved for D/SLR cameras
I have the same phone. And I also use it just as a camera - it truly is that good! Gotta try it yourself to believe it maybe.
Comprehensive de-bloat guide
I hate that this is still a reality in 2026.
the whole article is unreadable, so I will write here my whole article with same content in headline:
"How to debloat your Xiaomi phone: Install Shizuku + Canta and read Canta descriptions"
that's all, much shorter and better readable than that horrible website
Do us a favor smarty-pants
Xiaomi openly violates GPL too. If you email them for source code they won't provide it and if you press it they will just say haha sue us, or ghost you.
If you don't like the Xiaomi experience, don't buy a Xiaomi phone. Xiaomi ships an intentional set of features and apps that deliver what they believe is a best-in-class smartphone experience.
If you bought the device, then you have the right to do what you want with the device (modify, tweak, repair).