How to remove the phone icon in the photo of Xiaomi: the complete guide

Owners of modern smartphones brand Xiaomi often face a situation when after shooting on the final image appear extraneous elements of the interface. These can be watermarks model device icons, icons of shooting modes or even icons of active calls that accidentally got into the frame. the presence of such artifacts spoils the aesthetics of the picture and requires additional time for retouching or deleting.

The reason for these features is because of MIUI software or the new HyperOS shell. It offers a lot of features to automatically improve your photos, but sometimes they work too intrusively. Understanding where the settings that control the visual tags are hiding will allow you to take clean pictures right away when you take a photo.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all possible causes of icons in photos. We will look at the regular settings of the camera, the features of watermarks, as well as situations when the photo gets a system notification of a call.

Causes of appearance of foreign elements in pictures

The first thing you need to do is classify the type of icon that you're concerned about. There are several types of photo tagging in the Xiaomi ecosystem. Most people confuse the model watermark with the system notifications or interface elements left in the background. Defining the exact source of the problem is the key to quickly solving it.

The main reason for the "Shot on Xiaomi" or model name is the activated watermark function, which developers turn on by default on some models to emphasize the quality of shooting, but for many users, this is unnecessary information that requires deactivation through the settings menu.

Another common scenario is that you get a shot of interface elements during a call or notification. If you take a screenshot of the screen during an incoming call, the handset icon may stay on the image. There are special camera modes, such as Double Exposure or Live Photos, that add their tags.

• 📷 Watermarks – Text Marks and Dates that are automatically added.
• 📞 Interface elements – call icons, notifications or system icons that are captured in the frame when screenshot.
• 🎨 Camera Modes – Specific Filter Labels, AI-camera-mode.
• ⚙️ Interface bugs – stuck interface elements after a system failure.

⚠️ Note: If the phone icon only appears on screenshots during a conversation, this is the normal behavior of the Android system. You can remove it only by taking a screenshot when the screen is clean, or by turning off the display of the caller's interface in the theme settings.

It's important to distinguish between program tags and physical matrix defects, although the latter are rare. If the icon is present in all photos in the same place and does not disappear after a reboot, it's worth checking for system updates. Sometimes this is a temporary interface glitch that is fixed by a security patch.

Setting up watermarks in the Camera app

The most common request is to remove the device model inscription in the corner of the photo, with a separate switch in the MIUI and HyperOS shell, allowing you to flexibly manage what will be displayed on the finished image: only the model, only the date or the full information.

To access the settings you need to open the Camera app, and in the upper right corner of the screen is a menu button represented by three horizontal bars, and clicking on it opens a drop-down list where you should select Settings, and that's where all the customization tools are concentrated.

In the settings list that opens, look for a section that might be called "Watermarks" or "Watermark Settings." Inside, you'll see a few options. By default, you can check the box against "Device Model" or "Model and Time," and you need to deactivate those items to make the icon disappear.

It's worth noting that some firmware versions can have different tabs, so if you don't find a shared switch, look for the option "Add time" or "Save settings," and disabling these features ensures a clean frame without too much text.

• 🔍 Open the camera. → Settings.
• 🚫 Find the watermarks item and uncheck all the ticks.
• 📅 Check the date and time settings separately.
• ✅ Take a test shot to check the result.

Once the changes are made, the system doesn’t need to restart. The new settings apply instantly to each subsequent frame. If you use third-party camera apps like Open Camera or GCam, the settings will be in their own menus, often under General or Output settings.

Removal of Call and Notification Badges

When you see a phone phone icon or an incoming call interface in a photo, it's usually when you take a screenshot, and if you're using a phone and you're taking a screenshot, the call elements are captured in the image, and it's harder to remove them after the fact than to prevent them from appearing.

Xiaomi’s theme settings can change the style of the lock screen and call screen. Some themes hide large icons, making them less visible in screenshots. However, you can’t completely prevent the system from displaying the incoming call interface with standard means, since this is a critical function of the operating system.

If the phone icon appears in the photo as an artifact (for example, a “ghost” of the interface that does not disappear), this may indicate a graphics accelerator error, in which case cleaning the Camera app cache or a complete reboot of the device helps. Sticky interface pixels are a rare but possible bug.

For those who often take screenshots while they're talking, there's an alternative method: Use Screen Record instead of screenshot, and then select the right frame from the video, which allows you to select when the call interface is folded or hidden, and save a clean image.

Specific shooting modes and their tags

Modern Xiaomi smartphones are equipped with a variety of smart modes. the camera can automatically add icons indicating the use of the device. AI-These tags are often placed in the corners of the frame and can be mistaken for watermarks.

Unlike standard watermarks, these elements are sometimes embedded in the processing of images at the algorithm level. To remove them, it is not enough to just turn off one switch. Often you need deaktivirovat the shooting mode itself. For example, the "AI" icon will disappear if you turn off the artificial intelligence in the top panel of the viewfinder.

Special attention should be paid to the Documents or Text mode, in which the camera can add a frame or scan icon that is saved in the photo. Switch to Photo or Video mode to avoid automatically adding such elements.

Some of the filters in the built-in gallery also add their own logos. If you've applied the filter before saving, check the settings of the specific filter. Often there's a button to hide the name of the effect, which is typical of creative modes and Master Cinema filters.

Using third-party cleaning applications

If the icon is already in the photo and you can't delete it through the settings, you'll have to resort to retouching. There are many applications in Play Market and GetApps that specialize in removing objects, and they use cloning and filling algorithms to mask unwanted items.

One effective tool is Google's Snapseed app. The "Point" feature allows you to highlight the icon with your finger, and the program will automatically replace it with the surrounding background. For simple backgrounds like the sky or the wall, this method works perfectly and leaves no trace.

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When retouching icons on a complex background (such as a person's face or tissue texture), use the Clone tool instead of automatically removing them, which will allow you to manually copy a clean patch of texture to the icon's place, preserving the naturalness of the image.

Other popular apps, like TouchRetouch or Adobe Photoshop Express, offer more advanced tools that remove lines, spots, and large objects, but remember that the more complex the background under the icon, the more visible the result will be.

• 📲 Snapseed – Free, Effective for Simple Backgrounds.
• 🎨 TouchRetouch – paid but powerful removal of complex objects.
• 🖌️ Adobe Lightroom – Professional retouching and cloning.
• ✨ Meitu – popular in Asia, well removes artifacts from faces.

Using neural networks in modern editors can do wonders. Services like Google Photos (a Magic Eraser feature on some devices) or online AI-based tools can remove a phone icon in seconds, even if it overlaps important details of a shot.

Resetting settings and problem prevention

In cases where icons in the photo appear due to a system failure or application conflict, a more radical approach may be needed. Resetting the settings of the Camera application to factory values often helps eliminate software errors that lead to unnecessary interface elements.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Find Camera, click on it and select Clear → Clear All Data. Attention: This action will not delete your photos, but will return all camera settings (resolution, grid, filters) to the original state.

⚠️ Note: Before resetting the application data, make sure that important settings (such as saving geotags or aspect ratio) do not need to be manually restored.

If the problem is massive and is seen on a particular model after the update, it's worth waiting for a patch from the manufacturer.The user community on Xiaomi or 4PDA forums is a great place to find out if this is a known firmware bug.

Regularly updating the camera system and app is the best prevention. Xiaomi engineers are constantly working to improve the interface, and in many new versions of HyperOS, the logic of watermarking has become more transparent to the user.

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The most reliable way to avoid icons is to preemptively set up the camera before an important shot, turning off all automatic tags and watermarks in the settings menu.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)