MIUI users have a strange situation they need to consider and be aware of what’s going on. Recently, Xiaomi introduced three system-level Facebook apps with its MIUI global dev 8.1.25:
- Facebook App Installer
- Facebook App Manager
- Facebook Services
Each of these apps has permissions for full network access and viewing network connections. These MIUI Facebook apps can as well run at the startup of the device and can prevent the phone from sleeping.
Given that you have root privileges (and you need the same to see these apps arrive on your device), uninstalling them is possible. But, the concern is that uninstalling the apps will get Google Play Services broken. This will lead to MIUI being unable to recognize your phone’s IMEI number, and will repetitively prompt you for the same.
This is pretty disturbing for the MIUI users, and reactions have been revealed from them since last night on the Reddit forum. On request of a user, the original post announcing the entire issue is now updated with a screenshot of where exactly the apps will be shown on your device.
One of the users reported that these three apps are visible on Samsung smartphones too. Disabling those from the system settings is possible, as they point out. It is though strange about Xiaomi that MIUI won’t recognize IMEI without the apps installed. As they write: “This suggests the handling of the actual phone is somehow run through Facebook.”
Well, we are waiting for Xiaomi to come up with something official regarding this. Meanwhile, why don’t you share with us in the comments below your experience with the MIUI global dev 8.1.25? Stay tuned for our next timely coverage on the development of this matter.
