Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face the need to change the geographic location of the device, whether it is due to moving to another country, wanting to access specific features, or simply the need to correctly display time and news. Changing the region is not just a formality, but an important step in setting up the MIUI or HyperOS operating system, which affects the operation of preinstalled services and the GetApps app store.
The procedure for changing the location in the phone settings does not require root rights or flashing the device. However, there are nuances that you should know about in advance to avoid blocking or disappearing important data. In this article, we will discuss in detail the algorithm of actions, possible errors and hidden opportunities that open up after a change of country.
It is worth noting that some system applications, such as Mi Video or Mi Music, can drastically change their interface and content depending on the location chosen. NFC-a module in banking applications if the region was installed incorrectly at the first start-up.
Why change the region on the smartphone Xiaomi
The main reason users are looking for a way to change region to Xiaomi is because of content restrictions: The GetApps app store and Mi Browser service stream news, weather and recommendations based on the country they choose. If you are in Europe but you are in China or India, you will see irrelevant information and promotional offers that are not relevant to you.
Another important aspect is the Google Assistant and system widgets, which provide accurate weather forecasts, traffic information and local holidays, and sometimes require a change of region to activate certain features that are blocked for specific markets.
- 🌍 Access to local content: news, weather and recommendations are tailored to the country of choice.
- ⏰ Correct time and date: automatic synchronization with servers of the selected time zone.
- 🛒 GetApps Store Work: Displaying Apps Available Exactly for Your Current Location.
- 🔧 Correction of errors NFC: Some banks require the coincidence of the region of the phone and the country that issued the card.
📊 What is the main reason for changing the region?
Access to content from another country
Correcting NFC Errors
Moving to another city/country
Just for the experiment.
I don't know, I switched.
It is important to understand that changing the region in the settings is a software change that does not change the physical location of your device. GPS-Maps and geolocation services will still require a module on GPS But for Xiaomi's system services, this is a priority.
Preparing the device before changing settings
It is recommended that you do minimal training before making changes to system settings, which will help avoid data loss or unforeseen reboots. Although the procedure is considered safe, software failures in the MIUI shell do occur, and having a backup copy will never be superfluous.
Make sure your smartphone is at least 50-60% charged, the process of changing the region may require rebooting the system services, which will require energy, and check whether you have a stable Internet connection, as after a change of country, the phone may request an update of service lists or download new language packs.
If you plan to change region to use specific applications, download their APK installation files from trusted sources in advance, as they may not be available temporarily in the official store in the new region, and it is also worth turning off automatic data synchronization during the process to avoid cloud file version conflicts.
⚠️ Attention: Some versions of the firmware may reset alarm clocks and timers when changing region, and it is recommended to check their operation after the procedure is completed so as not to sleep through an important event.
Step-by-step: how to change the region in MIUI and HyperOS
The interface of the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS is almost identical in terms of basic settings, the process takes no more than a minute and requires no technical knowledge, the main thing is to follow the sequence of actions carefully so as not to get confused in the menu.
To start, unlock your smartphone screen and find the Settings icon (cogs). In the menu that opens, scroll down to About Phone or immediately look for Additional, depending on the version of your operating system. Most current firmwares have the right item in the basic settings block.
Path to the menu: Settings → Additional settings → Region
When you go to the Region menu, you'll see a list of countries. At the top of the list, you'll usually see the current location you've chosen. Click on it and in the search you find, type in the name of the country you want, like Russia, Kazakhstan or Germany. The system will automatically suggest options, and you'll just have to tap it.
What if the right country is not on the list?
If your country is not on the list, this may be due to the limitations of a particular firmware version (Global, China, EEA). Try to choose a neighboring country with a similar language package or upgrade to the latest version where the list of countries can be expanded. In extreme cases, the change of region is only possible by flashing on the global version of the software. After selecting the country will change instantly, but for applying all the changes the system can offer a reboot. After turning on, check if the interface language (if it depends on the region), whether the weather and news widgets updated. The table of the influence of the region on the various functions of the Pomico system can affect the following. Region Influence on the system Features Russia / Belarus Full support of the Russian language, Yandex services in recommendations NFC Payments (Mir Pay, etc.), local holidays China Chinese interface, lack of Google services by default Specific camera features, calendar with Chinese holidays India English / Hindi, advertising in system applications Optimization for hot climate (heat management), FM-Radio without headset Europe (Germany) Strict privacy settings, GDPR As can be seen from the table, choosing the European region often makes the system more “clean” from advertising, but can limit some personalization features. At the same time, the region of India is known for its more aggressive advertising policy in standard applications such as Explorer or Cleanup. Sometimes, after changing the location, users are faced with unexpected behavior of the smartphone, widgets may stop working, reset the alarm settings or disappear icons of some applications. This is because some system components are tied to the original region of the device purchase. If you notice that Wi-Fi or Bluetooth has stopped working, try resetting the network settings. → Connection and sharing → Resetting Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth. This won't delete your personal data, but will return network settings to factory values, which often solves the frequency compatibility problem. 📉 Apps disappear: Check if they're hidden. Go to your desktop settings and turn on all apps to display. 🔋 Fast battery discharge: After changing region, the system can re-index files. Wait. 1-2 op-hour. 📡 No Networking: Make sure that no manual access points setting is required in the new region APN your operator. ⚠️ Warning: If the phone gets hot after the region change, go to the battery settings and see which app consumes the most resources, often a System Update or Mi Service process that tries to load content for a new location. In rare cases, a complete factory reset may be required if the errors are critical.Be sure to save all important photos and contacts to Google Drive or your computer before doing so. Changing the language and format of data changes in the region often entails the need for a date and time format, and different countries have different writing standards: in the United States, it is a month, then a day and a year, and in Europe and Russia, a day, a month and a year. To avoid confusion, check the format settings. Go to Settings. → Additional settings → Date and time: You can manually choose the 12-hour or 24-hour format, and the order of the date elements, which is especially important for users who use their smartphone to work with documents or schedule meetings. 💡If you've lost your Russian language in the interface after you've changed your region, don't panic. Go to the language settings (Language & Input) and add Russian manually from the list. Sometimes when you change to an exotic region, the language pack can be deactivated. Also, pay attention to the first day of the week. In some countries, the week starts on Sunday, while in Russia and most CIS countries it starts on Monday, which affects the display of weeks in the calendar and widgets of the scheduler. The impact of the region on work NFC For users using a smartphone for contactless payment, the region plays a critical role, and banking applications often check the correspondence of the device region and the country of the card issuer. If you are in Russia with a card of a Russian bank, but the phone settings are, for example, Kazakhstan, the bank application may refuse to work or require an update. NFC. Changing your region to “Russia” or your current country of residence ensures that the communication module will operate in the correct frequency range, providing a stable connection to payment terminals. If you use card emulators or third-party payment systems, make sure they also support your chosen region. Some services, such as Mi Pay, are only available in a limited list of countries, and changing the region can both activate and deactivate this feature. Can you change the region often and is it harmful to the phone? Technically, you can change the region as many times as you want, it does not physically harm the device. However, frequent change can lead to "junk" in the system cache, as each time new data for widgets and services is loaded. It is recommended to choose one main region and not change it without need. Will the warranty change the region? No, the software change of the region settings in the menu does not violate the warranty? There are legal limits on maximum volume (especially in headphones) in different countries to protect users' hearing. When you change a region to the European level, the volume can be programmatically limited, whereas in Asian regions it is often higher. Will the phone reset to factory settings? Usually not. Simply changing the region in the menu does not require a data reset. However, if you change the region from China to Global (or vice versa) through firmware, then a full reset is mandatory.