The Xiaomi Redmi 9 Note Pro personalization is not only about setting up bright wallpaper, but also about fine-tuning the phone book. When you get a call, you have to display a subscriber image on the entire screen, which helps you instantly identify the person you are talking to. However, users often find that there is a thumbnail of the contact, and when the call comes, only a standard gray silhouette stub is displayed. This is a common feature of the MIUI shell that requires several specific actions to correctly synchronize.
In this article, we will discuss how to properly secure an image with a phone number so that it can be displayed during a conversation. We will touch on the nuances of working with Google contacts, synchronizing and configuring the access rights of the Phone application. You will learn to bypass the system restrictions that sometimes hide avatars from the eyes of the smartphone owner.
So, setting up a visual subscriber ID right is not just a matter of aesthetics, it's also a matter of convenience: Imagine you get a call from a number you don't know, but you see a photo of a relative or colleague whose number has been saved before without a picture, or you want to quickly understand who's bothering you by not taking your phone out of your pocket, and let's look at why the system contacts sometimes lose their faces and how to fix it.
Why not show a photo when calling on Redmi
Before you start taking action, you need to understand the cause of the problem. Often users successfully upload an image to a contact card, but when an incoming call sees only an abstract human icon. This is because the Phone or Contacts app does not have permission to read media files or cache old data. In the MIUI shell, Google account contacts are often given priority, and local records can be ignored.
Another reason could be the poor quality of the original image or its inappropriate format. The system automatically crops the picture into a circle, and if important details are on the edges, they will be cut. SIM-card, and the other in the memory of the phone, the system can select the one where the photo is missing by default.
⚠️ Note: If you use third-party number detectors (such as Truecaller or GetContact), they may force your local photos to be replaced with data from their database. ID.
It is important to distinguish between contacts SIM-On modern smartphones, including the Redmi 9 Note Pro, storing numbers on a SIM is considered an outdated method, since it has a limit on the number length and non-supportive fields, including photos. The first step is to transfer all records to internal memory or Google account.
Image Preparation and Format Requirements
To make the picture look clear and not blurred when zooming, you need to prepare the original file. The Redmi 9 Note Pro screen is high resolution, and using small pictures of 100x100 pixels will lead to “grain”. The optimal solution is to use a square image with a resolution of at least 500x500 pixels.
Android automatically crops the photo in the center, forming a circle. If the photo is a person in the waist or in the company of other people, when trimming, the face can shift to the side or be partially hidden. It is recommended to pre-fracture the image in the gallery, leaving the face close-up in the center of the frame, this ensures that the contact avatar will be readable even on a locked screen.
The file format also matters. The most compatible are JPG and PNG. If you try to install an image in HEIC (often used in iPhone) or WEBP, the system may not be able to process it and simply ignore the download, leaving a standard stub. Before installing, check the properties of the file in the Details menu.
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Use contrasting photos. If the background merges with the MIUI theme color, the photo may become less visible.
It’s worth mentioning the file size, too. Although modern smartphones have ample RAM, downloading photos weighing more than 5-10 MB for a single contact makes little sense and can slow down the scroll of the contact list at the first synchronization.
Instructions: installation of photos through the standard application Contacts
The most reliable way to anchor an image is to use the native app that comes with Xiaomi. It directly interacts with the phone book database. Open the app menu and find an icon with a phone handset or address book image. We need a Contacts section that is usually located at the bottom of the screen or as a separate tab.
Find the subscriber in the list. Click on their name to open the full card. At the top of the screen, where the photo round is usually located, you will see either a gray cap or a current image. Click on this area or the pencil icon (edit) to go into editing mode. From the menu that opens, select "Change photo" or the camera icon.
The system will tell you to choose the source of the image: take a picture right now or choose from the gallery. Choose the Gallery and find the prepared photo. After selecting the image, you will see a framing interface. You can move the picture and zoom in so that the face is in the center of the circle. Finish the action with the "Done" button or the tick in the upper right corner.
☑️ Checklist of correct installation
Once saved, the system can request confirmation to sync with the cloud if this feature is enabled. This is normal. Make sure that the contact card in the Phone field shows the correct number you are being called to. If there are more than one number, the photo will be attached to all, but priority can be given to the main one.
Syncing with a Google account: the key point
Many users don't know that Redmi 9 Note Pro and MIUI are closely integrated with Google services. If your contacts are stored in a Google account, local photo change on your phone may not apply if the sync is not configured correctly. In this case, the "source of truth" is the cloud. To check this, go to Settings on your smartphone, then to Accounts and Sync.
Find your Google account (Gmail address) in the list. Make sure the switch opposite Contacts is active. If it's turned off, turn it on. Then click on the three dots in the corner of the screen (menu) and select Sync. This action will cause the phone to update data from the cloud. If you changed a photo through the web version of Google Contacts (contacts.google.com), it will only appear on the phone after this procedure.
| Parameter | Local storage | Google account | SIM-map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo support | Yes. | Yes. | No. |
| Synchronization | Only on this device. | All devices. | Absent. |
| Risk of loss | High (on discharge) | Low. | Tall (physical) |
| Photo quality | Original | Optimized | Not supported |
The advantage of Google storage is that if you lose your phone or buy a new one, all your contact photos will be automatically restored as soon as you enter your login and password. It's a reliable way to keep your phone book intact. Local contacts will be permanently lost when reset to the factory settings (Wipe Data).
What to do if the photo is not synchronized?
Setting up access rights to the Phone application
The newer versions of Android and MIUI have strict privacy policies, and the app that handles the calls may not have access to the gallery or memory where your photos are stored, and without that permission, it simply cannot "see" the picture and show it to you.
Go to Settings, scroll down to App and select All Apps. In the list, find the Phone app (usually has a green handset icon, Google developer or Xiaomi developer). Click on it, then select Permissions. Here you are interested in Photo and Video or Memory (depending on the Android version).
Make sure you have the Allow mark. If you want to "Disallow" or "Ask," change the permission setting. A similar procedure should be done for the Contacts app. Once you change the settings, it is recommended that you completely restart the device so that the changes take effect at the system level.
⚠️ Note: Do not grant permission to access contacts and calls to unknown apps from the Play Market.This may lead to your phone book being leaked to third parties.
Sometimes cleaning the app cache helps. In the same app information menu (Phone or Contacts), select Memory and click Clear Cache. Don't confuse it with Clear All (Data), as this can delete your call history or dial settings, although contacts are usually saved in the cloud.
Use of third-party applications and synchronization of social networks
The standard means is to install only static gallery photos, but many users want the avatar to be automatically pulled up from social networks such as VKontakte, Telegram or WhatsApp, which has a built-in feature in MIUI, but it is often hidden or requires activation.
Open the Contacts app, click three dots in the corner and select Settings. Find Import Social Media Contacts or similar (name may vary depending on the version of MIUI). You can link accounts here. However, due to changes in Android privacy policy, automatic uploading of photos from VK or Facebook may not work smoothly.
A more efficient way is to use specialized synchronization applications like Sync.ME or Contacts+, which scan your phone book, find matches in global databases, and substitute current photos, and when you install it, it will request the rights to manage contacts, which is necessary for its operation.
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Third-party number-defining apps are the fastest way to massively add photos to all contacts at once, but this requires transferring your calls to the application’s servers.
If you use WhatsApp or Telegram, they can also display a photo of the caller, but only at the time of the conversation through the messenger interface, not the system call. There are special modules to integrate photos from messengers into the system phone book, but their installation requires more knowledge and may not be safe for the average user.
Frequent problems and their solution
Even after doing all the actions, there can be specific errors, such as a photo is worth it, but when calling from a specific number (for example, from a city or hidden), the picture does not pop up. This may be due to the format of the number recording. If the number is written in the contact as +7999... and the caller is determined by the system as 8999..., the phone can consider this to be different subscribers and not show the photo.
It is recommended to bring all numbers into a single international format: Open contact, select number editing, and replace the number eight at the beginning with +7. This is a universal standard that helps the system correctly identify the subscriber regardless of how the number on the screen is determined.
Another problem is the photo reset after the system update. MIUI sometimes resets access rights or file paths after a major update, in which case it helps to re-synchronize with Google or reinstall updates for the Contacts app through the GetApps store or Play Market.
⚠️ If after all the manipulations the photo never appeared, try to delete the contact and create it again, immediately saving it to your Google account, not to your phone memory.
It’s also worth checking whether Do Not Disturb or Quiet Mode is enabled with special display settings, and in some scenarios, these modes minimize visual effects by leaving only textual information about the call to avoid distracting the user.