How to turn off photo turn on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Modern Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones are equipped with sensitive sensors that instantly respond to a change in position of the device in space. This feature, known as autorotation, is designed to make it easier to view videos and work with content, but it often becomes a source of irritation when viewing photos.

The problem is that the standard gallery and many third-party image viewing apps by default allow the system to determine its own orientation. This behavior is embedded in the MIUI and HyperOS shell algorithms. Fortunately, the Android operating system provides several levels of control over this process, allowing you to lock the screen in the right position. In this article, we will examine all available methods, from simple switches to deep system settings.

Understanding how your smartphone’s accelerometer and software work will help not only solve the current problem, but also fine-tune the device to your habits. We’ll look at the standard tools, hidden menus and third-party utilities that give you complete control over the orientation of the image, which is especially true for those who often view large archives of photos in non-standard positions.

Standard methods of blocking the orientation of the screen

The most obvious and quick way to prevent the image from rotating is to use the system switch in the notification curtain. In Xiaomi smartphones, this control is usually hidden in the second tab of the control center. To access it, you need to swipe down from the upper right corner of the screen (or from the upper edge, depending on the version of the interface).

When the feature is active, the icon is usually highlighted in blue or orange, which signals that lock is enabled. In this mode, the screen will remain in portrait orientation regardless of how you turn the device body. However, it is worth noting that some applications, including the standard gallery, may ignore this setting when viewing media files if their own settings do not give priority.

For more detailed management, you can use the quick settings menu. (long press) on the turn lock icon sometimes opens an extended menu where you can choose forced orientation. While this is more common in pure Android, in MIUI functionality can be limited to basic locking. However, this is the first step you need to take before using more complex methods.

• 📱 Swipe down from the upper right corner to open the Control Center.
• 🔒 Find the “Orientation Block” icon and activate it (it should catch fire).
• 🔄 Check the gallery work: try turning the phone, the screen should remain stationary.
• ⚙️ If there is no icon, click on a pencil or three dots in the corner of the curtain to edit the buttons.

It’s important to understand the difference between blocking desktop rotation and locking apps. Sometimes settings can conflict, especially if you have customization themes from third-party developers. System themes can overlap with standard interface behavior, so you should temporarily switch to classic style if you have problems.

Settings inside the Gallery app

Many users are unaware that the Gallery app on Xiaomi smartphones has its own display settings that can override system settings. In newer versions of the shell, the settings interface is often hidden or changed, but the basic orientation management functions are retained. To access them, open any photo and click on the three dots in the upper right corner or swipe up.

The menu that opens will look for the Settings or gear icon, and inside this section you can find the option "Steer Photos" or "Steer Orientation." If the switch is active, the gallery will force the image to be rotated according to the gyroscope data, ignoring the global lock screen, which is made to make it easy to view vertical and horizontal images without unnecessary finger movements.

In addition, some versions of MIUI have a Smart Turn feature that uses a front-facing camera to determine the position of your eyes, so if the phone is on the table but you're looking at it from the side, the screen can turn, and turning it off often solves the problem of the chaotic rotation of the picture when you're viewing the photo.

⚠️ Warning: In the updated versions of HyperOS, the gallery settings menu has been redesigned.If you haven't found the orientation switch, try clearing the app's cache or checking for updates in GetApps.

Also worth paying attention to is the format of the photos themselves: files with non-standard aspect ratios or containing orientation metadata (EXIF) can behave unpredictable. Metadata can tell the app exactly how to display the picture, and the gallery will follow these instructions, ignoring your attempts to fix the screen.

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If the standard gallery is acting strangely, try installing a third-party app like Google Photos or Simple Gallery, where orientation management is implemented more flexibly.

Use of special opportunities

Android has a powerful "Special Features" section in its arsenal that allows you to control your device in more detail than standard settings. On Xiaomi smartphones, this section is often called "Advanced Settings" or "Additional Features," and this is where tools that can rigidly capture the orientation of the screen at the system level hide.

One of the useful features is the Special Features Menu, which you activate, and you get a floating button on the screen that you can use to change the settings quickly without going deep into the settings, and in some cases, you can force portrait mode to all the apps at once, which is especially useful if you use your phone with one hand and you don't want the screen to twitch.

Another method is to use the "Increase" or "Inversion of Colors" function, which sometimes have their own orientation settings. Although they are designed for people with disabilities, ordinary users can adapt them to their needs. For example, enabling high contrast mode can change the behavior of image rendering, which indirectly affects the reaction to the device's rotation.

• 👁️ Go to Settings. → Advanced settings → Special facilities.
• 🔘 Find the "Special Opportunities Menu" and turn it on.
• 🖱️ A floating button will appear on the screen, through which system functions can be controlled.
• 🔍 Learn the available actions: some allow you to record the current state of the screen.

It's worth remembering that activating too many special features can slightly increase the power consumption of the processor. Sensors will be polled at different frequencies depending on the services running, so it's recommended to turn on only the tools you need and turn them off when they're not in use.

Third-party orientation management applications

If there's not enough built-in tools, Google Play apps that are designed specifically to control the orientation of the screen come to the rescue, and one of the most popular and reliable solutions is the Rotation Control app, which allows you to create profiles for different applications and set tough rotating rules.

Once you install an app like this, you get full control of the accelerometer, you can configure the program to force the screen to be upright even if you flip the phone upside down, and these apps often have a "forced landscape" feature for games that don't officially support horizontal mode.

An important advantage of third-party gates is that you can set exceptions, for example, you can only allow autorotation for YouTube and Netflix, but you can only allow it for Gallery and Browser, and this creates a perfect environment where each application behaves exactly as you want it to, not as the firmware developer intended.

You have to be careful with permissions when using these software. They need access to the system display settings, which is normal, but you only need to download these tools from trusted sources. Viruses and malware are often disguised as useful system tools, so check ratings and reviews before installing them.

Solving sensor problems and calibration

Sometimes the problem with randomly rotating a photo is not the settings, but the sensor itself, the accelerometer and the gyroscope are complex physical components that can get lost after falling or working for a long time. If the screen turns on its own when the phone is on the table, most likely calibration is required.

Xiaomi smartphones have a hidden engineering menu to check and configure the sensors. To get into it, open the Phone app and dial the combination ##6484#. In the CIT menu that opens, you need to find the "Sensor" or "Accelerometer." Follow the instructions on the screen: you usually need to put the phone on a flat surface and press the calibration button.

Once the calibration is successful, the sensor data will be read correctly and the image will stop shaking. If the calibration does not help, it may be that the sensor is physically damaged or the plume has moved away. In such cases, software methods, including blocking applications, can only partially compensate for the malfunction, but will not eliminate the cause.

⚠️ Attention: Do not calibrate the sensors with your phone in your hands. The device must lie on a completely flat horizontal surface, otherwise you will fix the wrong values and the screen will behave even worse.

The sensors can also be affected by magnetic cases or cards attached to the back of the phone. The magnetic field can distort the compass and gyroscope readings, leading to errors in orientation. Try removing the case and checking if the problem has gone away.

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If calibration through the engineering menu didn't help, try restarting the device in Safe Mode. If the turn is correct in Safe Mode, then one of the applications you installed is causing the problem.

Additional Developer Settings

For advanced users who lack standard options, there is a Developer Menu that hides parameters that affect interface behavior and animations. Although there is no direct setting to turn off photo rotation, you can change window behavior and masturation, which indirectly affects perception of orientation.

To activate this section, you need to quickly click on the build number in the About Phone menu several times. Once the "Developer For" item appears in the settings, you can experiment with the "Do not turn the screen" option (if it is available in your Android version) or reset all window settings. This can help if the problem is caused by a software failure in the rendering system.

Beware, however: changing the settings in this section can lead to unstable system operation. Developer settings are designed to test applications, and mishandling them can cause interface reboots or other errors.

• 🛠️ Activate Developer Mode by pressing 7 times on "Version" MIUI".
• 📜 Go to Settings. → Advanced settings → For developers.
• 🔍 Find sections related to windows or display.
• ⚠️ Change the values only if you understand what they are responsible for.

In some cases, a complete reset of the display settings via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) helps, but this requires a computer connection and the availability of appropriate drivers.This is an extreme measure to resort to if nothing else is working and the problem is critically interfering with the use of the device.