One of the things we noted while reviewing the new Xiaomi Mi 9 was the appearance of Mi Pay. We called it out as an unexplained addition that just appeared on the phone, as though Xiaomi had installed it without permission. Fortunately, that's not the case.

Mi Pay is part of MIUI 10, it's one of the system apps that's normally hidden on devices that don't have support for it. Although Xiaomi didn't mean to reveal it on MIUI global phones, that's what happened.

"Mi Pay is Xiaomi's payment app which is integrated within MIUI and is pre-installed as a system app with every MIUI smartphone. In the global version of MIUI, Mi Pay has been hidden because the payment service is not yet available in many global markets," Xiaomi told Pocket-lint in a statement.

"The recent appearance of Mi Pay on some users' phones occurred erroneously as Xiaomi is preparing for its launch in India. We are working on the updates and will notify the users as soon as possible. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused." 

That clears up the mysterious appearance of Mi Pay and we know there have been other reports of this happening on other Xiaomi and Redmi phones. For those in India it's to be expected, but for those in other regions that don't support Mi Pay, you can essentially ignore it. 

But it does also add to the weight of concern around MIUI and how much bloat it brings with it. Surely the better way to handle these things is to have these system apps as standalone apps that can be installed as and when a user wants and needs them, rather than them sitting in a device taking up space?