How to Block Porn on a Xiaomi or Redmi Phone: Sites, Apps and Hidden Spaces

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones are everywhere in Arab homes. In Egypt they are often the first phone a family buys for a son or daughter, because the price is right. But Xiaomi's software (MIUI in the past, HyperOS today) ships with strong privacy features, and some of them become a back door to porn if you do not know they are there.

This guide walks through what Xiaomi's and Google's own tools can do, step by step, where they stop, and how to close the gaps they leave open.

Why does a Xiaomi phone need its own plan?

The risk is real and starts early. In a Common Sense Media survey published in January 2023 of 1,358 US teens aged 13 to 17, 73% said they had seen pornography online, the average age of first exposure was 12, and 58% said they had come across it by accident.

Xiaomi phones add four features you need to know before you block anything:

• Second space: a whole second system inside the phone, with its own apps, files and settings.
• Dual apps: a second copy of almost any app, signed in to a different account.
• Hide apps: removes any app from the home screen without uninstalling it.
• App lock: puts a password on chosen apps.

A block that leaves these open is half a block. A browser inside Second space, or a dual copy of a social app, may not follow what you set in the main space.

A note on menu paths: Xiaomi's official support pages are written for specific models (such as the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G on HyperOS, the Xiaomi 14T and the Redmi Note 14 Pro), and Xiaomi itself says paths vary by model. If you cannot find a name, type it into the search bar at the top of Settings.

Step 1: Turn on Google SafeSearch

SafeSearch hides explicit results in Google Search. Open the SafeSearch settings and choose Filter, not Blur. According to Google's help page, Filter blocks all explicit results, while Blur only blurs explicit images and explicit text and links can still appear.

Know its limit: Google says SafeSearch applies to Google Search only and does not affect other search engines or websites.

Step 2: Set a filtering Private DNS

Private DNS is an Android setting that decides which server translates site names. Point it at a family filtering service and porn sites are blocked on both Wi-Fi and mobile data.

According to Xiaomi's support page for the Xiaomi 14T:

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose More connectivity options.
3. Tap Private DNS.
4. Choose Private DNS provider hostname and enter the filtering service's hostname.

On other models it may sit elsewhere, so search Settings for Private DNS.

The weakness is big: anyone holding the phone can go back to the same screen and pick Off or Automatic in seconds, and VPN apps skip the setting entirely. That is why we wrote a separate piece on why DNS blocking alone is not enough.

Step 3: Turn on parental controls if the phone is a child's

Xiaomi's support page says parental controls let you set age-appropriate content ratings and screen-time rules for the child's Google Account, with two routes depending on the model:

• Method 1: Settings, then Digital Wellbeing & parental controls, then Set up parental controls, then follow the prompts.
• Method 2: Settings, then Additional settings, then Parental controls, then Turn on and draw your unlock pattern.

It is a good start for managing use, but it is built for a young, cooperative child, not a teenager looking for a gap, and it does not close Second space or VPN apps.

Step 4: Check for Second space and delete it

This is the most important step on a Xiaomi phone, and the one most often skipped. Xiaomi describes Second space as a separate, isolated environment with its own set of apps, settings, files and data. In other words, a second phone inside the phone, which can hold a browser and apps you never see.

To check and delete (per Xiaomi's page for the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G on HyperOS):

1. Open Settings, then Additional settings, then Second space.
2. Or open the Security app, then Second space under Common features.
3. If a Second space exists, a trash icon appears: tap it, then Delete.

A sign to watch for: when a Second space exists, a Switch icon sits on the home screen for moving between the two spaces.

Deleting wipes everything inside the Second space, so move important photos and files out first.

Step 5: Review Dual apps

Dual apps makes a second copy of an app with its own data and account, marked with a special badge on the copy's icon. Xiaomi's page notes that the feature is built on Android's Managed Profile (the "work apps" feature).

• Path: Settings, then Apps, then Dual apps. On some models: the Security app, then Manage apps, then Dual apps.
• To remove: switch the app off on the same page, or delete the copy from the home screen. Xiaomi says turning it off deletes the copy's data and it cannot be restored.

One more detail from the same page: with a Second space as well, up to three copies of the same app can exist on one phone.

Step 6: Uncover hidden apps and App lock

Hidden apps: a hidden app does not show on the home screen or in the app list, but it is installed and running.

• Quick look: spread two fingers apart on an empty part of the home screen.
• Full list: the Security app, then Hide apps. Any switch that is on is a hidden app.

App lock: the path is Settings, then Apps, then App lock. As a parent you can turn it to your advantage and lock the app store and browsers with a password your child does not know. But note what Xiaomi says: if you forget the password, a Xiaomi Account is the only way to recover it; otherwise it takes a factory reset.

Summary: what each built-in tool does and where it stops

Tool	What it does	Where it stops
SafeSearch	Filters Google Search results	Does not block sites or other search engines
Private DNS	Filters the connection on Wi-Fi and data	Can be changed in Settings; VPN apps bypass it
Parental controls	Content ratings and screen time	For a child account; does not close hidden spaces
Deleting Second space and Dual apps	Closes the spaces that exist now	They can be created again in a minute
App lock	Password on chosen apps	Blocks no content; the password can leak

Why do all these settings fail in the end?

Because they are all set from inside the phone, and whoever holds the phone can undo them. Changing the DNS, installing a VPN app, creating a new Second space, or a factory reset from Settings puts everything back the way it was.

Protection that holds needs rights above the user's. On Android those rights are called Device Owner: an official Android mechanism, with no root, no bootloader unlock and no effect on the warranty. Read more in Device Owner explained.

How does Tabaa close these doors on a Xiaomi phone?

Tabaa runs with Device Owner rights, so the blocking comes from the system itself:

• Cannot be removed or stopped from inside the phone: the system removes the uninstall, force stop and clear data buttons.
• Private DNS pinned and locked: to the filtering resolver, covering browsers, in-app browsers, Wi-Fi, mobile data and any SIM.
• Porn always blocked, SafeSearch enforced: and the porn block cannot be lifted from the app.
• VPN, proxy, Tor and DNS-changer apps blocked: the VPN setting is locked on a child's phone; in Tabaa Adults the VPN lock is on from the start and you choose whether to commit to it.
• Factory reset from Settings locked.
• Hidden spaces can be locked: Second space, extra users and the work profile, so a new Second space cannot be made after you delete the old one.
• Keeps working after a reboot and with no internet.

It does not use the Accessibility service and does not read the screen or messages, so banking and mobile wallet apps keep working, and Google accounts are untouched.

Which product fits you?

• If the phone is your child's: Tabaa Children, controlled from the Supervisor app on your phone. Only the apps you approve open, and Second space is locked by default.
• If you are protecting yourself: Tabaa Adults, with no supervisor and nobody seeing your reports. You choose security factors such as blocking extra users and the private space, and commit to them for a term or for ever.

Before you install on Xiaomi: a checklist

You install from a Windows computer over the charging cable, with no factory reset and nothing erased. Before you start:

1. Move the contents of Second space into the main space, then delete it. Any hidden space must be removed before install, and removing it deletes what is inside.
2. Move what you need out of Dual apps, then turn them off.
3. Turn on Developer options by tapping the build number seven times, then turn on USB debugging.
4. Connect the phone to the computer and accept the prompt.
5. Sign out of every account when the program asks (Settings, then Accounts), then sign back in after the success mark appears.

The full walkthrough is in installing without losing data. Tabaa needs Android 10 or later. If you want help, support on WhatsApp answers in Arabic, and partner shops can install it for you.

Start today

Do the free steps now: SafeSearch, then check Second space, Dual apps and hidden apps. Then put in protection that does not fall with one tap, so you are not starting from zero every time a new gap appears.

Sources

• Xiaomi: Second space on the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G
• Xiaomi: Dual apps
• Xiaomi: Dual apps on the Redmi Note 14 Pro
• Xiaomi: Set Private DNS on the Xiaomi 14T
• Xiaomi: Hide apps on the Xiaomi 14T
• Xiaomi: View hidden apps
• Xiaomi: App lock on the Xiaomi 14T
• Xiaomi: Turn on parental controls
• Google: Advanced network settings and Private DNS on Android
• Google: SafeSearch
• Common Sense Media: Teens and Pornography report, 2023