Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often want to personalize their device, making it not only convenient but also visually pleasing. One of the basic but important features is to set a unique image for subscribers in the phone book. This allows you to instantly recognize the caller without even reading the name, which is especially true in noisy environments or in poor vision. In the MIUI operating system and the new HyperOS, this process is implemented in an intuitive way, but has its own nuances depending on the shell version.
The procedure for installing an avatar can vary depending on where your phone book is stored – in the device’s local memory, in a Google account or in the Mi Cloud service. Understanding the source of contacts is key, since sometimes the system defaults to save the image only to a local profile, ignoring synchronization. To avoid confusion, it is important to determine in advance which contact you are editing and to which account it is associated.
In addition, modern firmware versions allow you not only to upload a static image, but also to create dynamic avatars or use ready-made design templates. Personalization of the interface is becoming an increasingly deep process, affecting not only desktop wallpaper, but also elements of the call system. In this article, we will discuss all available methods, consider possible errors in synchronization and give tips for optimizing the display of images.
Image Preparation and Format Requirements
Before you start uploading a file directly to the phone book, you need to make sure that the image you choose meets the technical requirements of the system. Although modern Xiaomi smartphones have powerful graphics processing processors, using files that are too high resolution can lead to slowing down the call interface or incorrect cropping of the frame.
The Android system that MIUI is built on is best for square images or photos where the main subject is in the center of the frame. If you try to set a horizontal landscape, the automatic cropping algorithm can shift focus, and the subscriber's face will be outside the visible area when the call is made, so it is recommended to crop the image in the gallery in advance.
- 📸 It is recommended to use images in format JPEG or PNG for maximum compatibility.
- 🖼️ The optimal resolution of the avatar is from 400x400 before 800x800 pixels, which provides clarity without unnecessary load.
- 🎨 For better readability in a dark interface theme, choose contrasting photos with a clearly distinguishable face.
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Use the built-in editor in the Xiaomi gallery to pre-cut the photo in a 1:1 ratio before installing it on the contact – this will save time and nerves during the final fit.
It’s also worth considering that if a contact is synced with Google, heavy files can take longer to load when you change your device or after you reset.In a corporate environment where standard avatars are used, file weight can be strictly regulated by security policies. IT-department, although for personal use such restrictions are rare.
Installation of photos through the standard Contacts app
The most obvious and frequently used way to add an image is to edit a subscriber card directly in the Contacts app, which is universal and works on most versions of MIUI, regardless of the year of release of the smartphone. The algorithm here is quite simple, but requires careful consideration when choosing the source of saving changes.
To start, open the Contacts app or go to the phone book through the handset icon. Find the right subscriber in the list or use the search bar at the top of the screen. After opening the contact card, look at the top of the screen, where the round stub with the first letter of the name or the standard silhouette of the person is usually displayed.
☑️ Algorithm of adding photos
Clicking on the avatar area, the system will offer you several options: take a picture on the camera, choose from the gallery or, in some versions of the shell, choose from pre-installed avatars. Once you select a file from the gallery, a framing interface will open, where you can shift and zoom the image so that the subscriber's face is located strictly in the center of the circle.
⚠️ Note: If you save the changes, the system may request confirmation to write to a specific account (Google, Mi Account or Phone). Make sure you choose the same account where the phone number is stored, otherwise the photo may not sync with other devices.
Adding an avatar through the Gallery app
An alternative, and often more convenient, way to do this is to put a photo directly from the Gallery app, which is especially useful if you've just taken a picture or downloaded an image from the Internet and want to assign it to a contact immediately without going to the phone book, and the logic is a little different, but the result is identical.
Open the image in the gallery. In the bottom menu or in the additional "More" option (often indicated by three dots), find the option "Appoint contact" or "Install as a photo of contact"; the system automatically goes to the list of your subscribers, where you can select an existing contact or create a new one if this number is not already in the database.
The main advantage of this method is that you see the original image quality before you trim it, so you can apply filters beforehand, improve color reproduction, or eliminate the red eye effect using the built-in MIUI editor tools, and then assign a photo, which ensures that the avatar will look the best.
What if the “Appoint Contact” item is not displayed?
Don’t ignore this stage, as the proportions of the bell screen may differ from the proportions of the photo in the gallery, and without manual adjustments, important details can be cropped.
Working with Mi Cloud and syncing Google
One of the most common problems faced by Xiaomi users is to desynchronize photos of contacts when switching to a new phone or after resetting, due to a conflict between local storage, the Mi Cloud and Google services, and understanding how these systems work will help avoid data loss.
By default, modern Xiaomi smartphones offer to save contacts and their attributes (including photos) in your Google account. This is the most reliable way, because it provides cross-platform compatibility. If you add a photo to a contact saved in Google, it will automatically pull up to any Android smartphone where you log in under this login.
| Parameter | Local storage | Google Contacts | Mi Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synchronization | Absent. | Automatic. | Automatic (in the Xiaomi ecosystem) |
| Access to PC | Impossible. | Through contacts.google.com | Through i.mi.com |
| Risk of loss | High (when broken) | Minimum | Low. |
| Photo support | Complete. | Complete. | Complete. |
If your contacts are stored in Mi Cloud, the process of adding photos will also be successful, but it will be displayed mainly on Xiaomi devices. MIUI, The subscriber can see the standard stub because not all operators and devices support the transmission. HD-Google Contacts is a more universal standard in this regard.
To check sync status, go to Settings → Accounts and Sync. Make sure the switch opposite Contact is active. If sync is disabled, the photo you add will only remain on that particular device and will not be updated in the cloud, putting you at risk of data loss.
Image editing and cropping
Once you've selected a photo, the system will suggest editing it. The editor interface in MIUI is functional enough, but it takes habit. The main field is the image itself, covered with a round or square frame (depending on the style of the topic), and your task is to put the person's face inside this frame.
Use two fingers to zoom in (plug) and one finger to move the image. Try to have your face occupy about 60-70% of the circle area. If you place your face too far away, you may not see the locks when you call in picture-in-picture or on the screen. If you get too close, your ears or crown will be cut off.
Some firmware versions also have a background blur filter, which is useful if the original photo has a motley background that distracts from the face, and blurs make the avatar more professional and focus on the subscriber, but use this feature carefully to avoid creating a plastic face.
⚠️ Warning: After framing, be sure to click the Save button or check box, and many users forget to do so, believing that the change will apply automatically, and as a result, return to contacts, seeing an old image there.
Possible problems and ways to solve them
Despite the simplicity of the process, users may face a number of technical difficulties, most often associated with application access rights or overflow of the system cache. If you add a photo but it does not appear or disappears after a reboot, it is worthwhile to conduct a diagnosis.
The first thing to check is the permissions of the Contacts and Phone app to the storage. Without that permission, the system cannot physically read the image file. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Contacts → Rights and make sure that access to the files is allowed.
The second common problem is cache: Accumulated temporary files can cause display conflicts; clearing the cache won't delete your contacts or photos, but will force the system to re-index the image database; this often solves the problem of "missing" avatars.
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If the contact photo is not displayed by the caller, the problem may not be in your phone, but that the operator does not transmit. HD-Photos or the interlocutor has restrictions on the display of media.
Also worth mentioning is the problem of duplicate contacts: If you have the same number stored in both Google and phone memory, the system can combine them into one card, but the photo from one source is given priority, ignoring the other, in which case it is recommended to manually combine contacts or delete duplicate records.