How to turn off the wallpaper carousel on Xiaomi Redmi 9A

Owners of budget smartphones often face intrusive functionality that is introduced by the manufacturer to monetize the device. Xiaomi Redmi 9A owners are no exception, as the MIUI system offers many services that can be annoying with their activity. One such feature is the automatic change of images on the lock screen, known as the "Wallpaper Carousel".

Not only does it consume Internet traffic in the background, it also sometimes causes increased battery consumption. In addition, accidentally unlocking your phone while trying to flip through a picture can cause serious discomfort in everyday use. In this article, we will discuss how to completely deactivate this feature and regain control of the interface of your gadget.

Disabling this option does not require superuser rights or complex device reprogramming. All necessary actions are performed by regular tools of the Android operating system with the MIUI shell. We will consider several methods, including standard settings and additional parameters for advanced users.

Why you need a wallpaper carousel and why it is worth turning it off

The Wallpaper Carousel feature was developed by Xiaomi engineers as a way to diversify the look of the lock screen. It automatically uploads new images from the cloud storage every time the display is turned on. For many users, it seems like an interesting feature that allows you to see a new picture every day without manual intervention.

But there's a downside to this, too: the service is constantly hanging in the device's memory, waiting to connect to the network to download new content, which leads to a subtle but constant consumption of mobile traffic, which is critical for data plans with a limited limit of gigabytes, and the background activity of the application can slightly slow down the processor when the screen is turned on.

⚠️ Warning: Wallpaper carousels sometimes block the ability to quickly change a static image to your own photo, as priority is given to cloud content.

Another important aspect is privacy, because it collects data about what images you like and sends analytics to the manufacturer's servers, and if you value privacy and don't want your phone to constantly tap on the server, it's a logical step to turn it off.

Step-by-step disabling instruction through settings

The easiest and safest way to remove intrusive image change is to use the built-in settings menu. MIUI interface may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic of actions remains the same for all models of the Redmi 9A series.

To start, unlock your device and find the Settings icon on your desktop, which usually looks like a gray gear. Go to the menu and scroll down to the section that personalizes the interface. It can be called differently on different versions of Android, but it's usually Wallpaper or Lock Screen.

Inside the menu, find a switch called "Wallpaper Carousel" or "Glance." It should be active if the function is working. Just click on the slider to put it inactive. The system may request confirmation of action or show a pop-up asking you to leave the function on - ignore this and agree to shut it down.

Once you do this, the background of the lock screen should become static, if you have previously installed your image, it will return to its place, and if the background remains black or standard, you may need to select the image in the gallery and set it as wallpaper for the lock screen manually.

Management through the Security app

In the MIUI shell, many system services are tied to the built-in Security app, which often hides the cache cleaning and management settings for preinstalled services, including the Wallpaper Carousel, which is especially useful if the standard path through the Wallpaper menu is for some reason unavailable or hidden.

Run the Safety app, which has a green shield icon. In the interface, look for the Cleanup or Acceleration section. Sometimes the carousel settings are hidden in the Speed Booster section, and you need to find the settings button (usually the gear in the corner of the screen) or the wallpaper carousel settings item.

In the menu that opens, you'll see the same options as the phone's main settings, where you can not only turn off the feature, but also clear the accumulated image cache to free up space in internal memory. This is especially true for the Redmi 9A, which has a limited amount of storage.

Using the Security app gives you a deeper control over the service, and you can see traffic usage statistics for the month and see how many resources the service actually has, and for Redmi 9A owners, it's an important optimization tool.

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Periodically log into the Security app and clear the cache even if the feature is disabled, as old files may remain in the system.

Disconnection through notification settings

Sometimes the wallpaper carousel manifests itself through intrusive notifications or pop-ups, and in such cases, the effective method is to prohibit the display of notifications for the corresponding system component, which does not always completely stop the service, but removes visual noise.

Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification management. In the list of applications, find wallpaper carousel, Glance or Wallpaper. If you can't find it directly, search the settings by entering the word "wallpaper".

Enter the notification management menu for this component. Here you will see a list of notification types (e.g., “Recommendations”, “News”, “Updates”). Turn off all switches completely. It is also useful to uncheck “Allow Notifications” if you have one at the top of the screen.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling notifications does not guarantee a complete stop to background image loading, but makes the use of the feature less noticeable to the user.

This method is often used as a temporary solution or in combination with other methods, it helps if the standard switch in the wallpaper menu resets itself after rebooting the device, blocking notifications prevents annoying pop-ups.

Hiding system applications for advanced

For users who want to make sure the service never starts again, there is a method of hiding or freezing the system application. On Redmi 9A, this can be done without installing third-party software, using the built-in MIUI's access restriction capabilities.

You'll need to find the system component that runs the carousel on your application list, often called com.miui.misystem or MIUI System Services. Be careful, shutting down the wrong services can cause your phone to run insecurely.

Find the Apps section in the settings and select All Apps. Find the service you want in the list. Click Other Permissions or Permissions. You can prevent the app from accessing the network, auto-starting, and running in the background. This effectively kills the carousel functionality.

Path to check: Settings → Appendices → All applications → Wallpaper Carousel → Permissions → Mobile Network/Wi-Fi (Prohibit)

This approach ensures that even if you accidentally turn on the feature in the menu, it will not be able to download new pictures due to lack of Internet access.

Alternative methods and installation of static wallpaper

After you get rid of automatic change of pictures, the question arises: what to put on the background? Xiaomi Redmi 9A has a screen with a resolution of 720x1520 pixels, and it is important to choose the image of the right format so that it does not stretch and does not lose quality.

You can use the built-in gallery to set up a static image. Open any photo you like, click the "More" button (three dots) and select "Install as wallpaper." The system will tell you whether to display the picture on the lock screen, on the desktop or anywhere. Select "lock screen" to pin the result.

There are also third-party apps from the Google Play store that allow you to install high-quality static wallpaper without ads. Popular services like the Wallpaper Engine (for static versions) or Backdrops offer great options that will not load the processor, unlike live counterparts.

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Using third-party launchers or wallpaper apps allows you to completely ignore the MIUI system settings and get a clean Android experience.

Remember that dark static wallpaper can further save battery power on the screen if it was AMOLED, but on the Redmi 9A fixed IPS-However, darker tones visually less tire the eyes and make the interface more stringent.

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