Call list personalization is not just an aesthetic whim, but a useful feature that allows you to instantly identify the caller, even if you did not have time to read the name. Owners of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S smartphone often find that the standard algorithm for working with contacts in the shell of MIUI has its own nuances. Sometimes the added image simply does not appear on the entire screen during the incoming call, remaining only a small icon in the list.
The problem is the difference between synchronizing through a Google account and locally storing data on your phone. To ensure that a photo of a contact appears when you call, you need to choose the right source of saving the number and image format. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the ways to solve this problem, including hidden settings and working with application permissions.
We'll look at the standard MIUI caller, as well as Google's alternative apps, which are often pre-installed on global firmware versions. Understanding these differences will help you avoid confusion in the future, and you'll learn why image quality can deteriorate and how to prepare a file in advance.
Image Preparation and Format Requirements
Before you start editing your notebook, make sure your image meets the system's technical requirements. While Android is quite flexible on this issue, the ideal option would be a square photo with a resolution of at least 500x500 pixels. If the image is too large, the system will automatically perform framing, which can lead to cropping important facial details.
It is recommended to use JPG or PNG formats, as they provide the best balance between quality and file size. Heavy files can take longer to load on an incoming call, creating a delay in the display of the avatar.
Pay attention to the lighting and contrast of the image, and if you're on a small screen or in a low light, you lose detail, and if you're on a contrast photo, you'll read a lot better than a blurry or dark image, and this is especially important for people with low vision who are also using your phone.
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Use portraits where the face is central to the frame, which will ensure that the avatar is displayed correctly after the system has automatically cropped.
Store your photos in a separate folder in the gallery so you don't have to search for them for long among screenshots and memes. This will speed up the process of assigning avatars to a large number of subscribers. A structured approach to media files makes life easier in general.
Standard method through the Contacts app
The most obvious and frequently used way to modify an avatar is through the standard Contacts app. In the MIUI shell, it can be simply called Contacts or have a yellow icon with a human silhouette. The interface may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic of actions remains the same for the entire Xiaomi ecosystem.
To start, open the app and find the subscriber in the list. Slip by name to open the contact card. At the top of the screen, where the gray nameplate is usually located, there should be an edit button or a pencil icon. Click on it to go into data editing mode.
In edit mode, click on a round area with an image or a stub. The system will tell you to choose the source: take a picture with the camera or choose from the gallery. Choose the second option and specify the previously prepared photo. Once you select the image, you can move and zoom the picture with your finger to highlight the desired area.
- 📸 Click on the camera icon to create a new shot right at the time of editing.
- 🖼️ Select Gallery to download saved image from device memory.
- ✂️ Use the built-in cropper to precisely fit the boundaries of the photo to a round format.
- 💾 Remember to click the “Save” button or the tick in the corner of the screen after all the actions have been completed.
☑️ Pre-conservation checks
It is important to understand where exactly the contact is being maintained. 10S The default may be to save on SIM-card or Mi Account. SIM-It is technically impossible to record a photo due to the memory limitations of older chips, so make sure that you select a Google account or phone memory in the Save in field.
Setting up display through Google Contacts
Many users prefer to sync with their Google account because it allows you to see photos on any device that you sign in to. However, MIUI sometimes has a conflict between the local caller and Google's cloud service. If the photo doesn't show up, try setting up directly through the Google Contacts app (a colored silhouette icon).
Open the app, find a subscriber, and click Change. The process of adding a photo is similar to the standard method: tap on the avatar, source selection, framing and saving. The key difference is that the changes are immediately sent to the cloud and can be seen on other Android devices.
If you add a photo to Google Contacts and it doesn’t show up when you call Redmi Note 10S, you need to check your sync settings. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google. Make sure the switch opposite Contacts is active. If sync is disabled, the phone won’t download the updated data from the cloud.
⚠️ Note: If you change accounts frequently or reset your phone, local contacts may be lost if they were not linked to Google.
Sometimes the system suggests combining duplicate contacts. If you have one entry in your phone's memory and one in Google, the system can show them as different people or create a conflict. Use the "Current and Manage" feature in the Google Contacts app to combine the records and leave one with the correct photo.
Solving Access Rights and Permits Issues
One of the common reasons why a photo isn't installed or displayed is because of Android security restrictions, which strictly controls apps' access to memory and contacts, and if a Contacts or Phone app doesn't have permission to read the storage, it simply won't be able to download the image.
You can check and change permissions in the smartphone settings menu. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find Contacts and Phone in the list. For each of these applications, you need to open the Application Permissions section.
In the permission list, make sure that Contacts, Phone, and most importantly, Memory or Photos and Video are activated. Without memory access, the application cannot physically read the image file from the disk. Once all the switches are turned on, it is recommended to restart the device.
| Annex | Permission required | Default status | Action. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contacts (MIUI) | Memory/Photo | Requested. | Check it out. |
| Phone. | Contacts | Actively. | Change |
| Google Contacts | Memory. | Requested. | Permission. |
| gallery | All files. | Actively. | Check it out. |
What if permissions are included but no photo?
Also worth paying attention to is the "Energy Saving" mode: In some scenarios, aggressive MIUI optimization can block the background loading of images for contacts to save battery power. Try turning off energy savings for contact apps or adding it to the exclusion list.
Use of third-party calls and themes
The standard MIUI call interface is not popular with everyone, and some users install alternative applications such as Truecaller, Simple Dialer or Google Phone. When using third-party software, the logic of installing photos may differ. Often these applications have their own database of avatars and do not always take data from the system notebook.
If you use themes from the Themes store, they may overlap the standard call interface. Some themes have their own contact display settings, in which case the photo may not show due to a bug of the theme itself or its incompatibility with the current version of Android.
For diagnostics, try temporarily switching to a standard theme ("Classic") and checking if a photo appears. If the standard theme works and the loaded one doesn't, the problem lies in the theme code, in which case you'd better drop it or look for an updated version.
- 📞 Third-party calls often require separate permission to access contacts when first run.
- 🎨 Modified interface themes can ignore user system avatars.
- 🔄 Number-defining apps can replace your photos with company logos or open source photos.
- ⚙️ In the settings of the call itself, there is often a “Contact Photos” item that you need to activate.
Using a popular number identifier can result in your hand-mounted photo being replaced by a picture from the service database, which is worth considering if you want to see a friend's personal photo rather than the logo of their organization.
Synchronization with Mi Account and other services
Xiaomi's ecosystem offers a cloud-based service called Mi Cloud, which also stores contacts. If your phone's settings prioritize syncing with Mi Account and your contacts are physically in Google, you may experience out-of-synchronization. Check which account is the primary one for synchronizing your contacts.
Go to Settings → Mi Account → Sync. If the Contacts switch is on, the phone will try to download avatars from the Xiaomi cloud. If there are no old versions of the photos there, and there are new ones in Google, you will see empty circles. In such cases, it is better to choose one main source of truth, such as Google, and turn off the contacts sync in the Mi Cloud to avoid duplicates.
When changing your phone to a new Xiaomi, setting this item correctly is critical. If you transfer data through Mi Mover, make sure the Contacts tick is ticked and check where it is stored on the new device. Often users forget that when you first turn on, you need to select Recover from the Cloud to catch up and photos.
⚠️ Attention: Double sync (coupled with Google and Mi Cloud) can lead to duplicate contacts. One contact with a photo, the other without.
For users of corporate networks (Exchange), there may be security policies that prohibit the uploading of photos or limit their size, in which case it may not be possible to establish a photo on the contact locally due to the limitations of the organization's server.
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A single data source (only Google or Phone) is the key to avoiding confusion with the display of photos of contacts on Xiaomi.