Are you tired of the standard contact avatars and want your favorite photo to be displayed on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO screens when you call? Not only does it make the phone more personalized, it also helps to identify the caller more quickly. Unfortunately, many users find that when you upload the picture to the contact, it does not appear on the call screen, instead it is left with a gray silhouette or a standard icon.
In this article, we will analyze all working ways to install a photo on a call for different versions. MIUI (including MIUI 14 and HyperOS), explain why sometimes the picture is not displayed, and give unique solutions for models with a high-performance design. AMOLED-You'll also learn how to make a photo of a contact appear not only in the phone book, but also on the full screen when you call.
Why is Xiaomi not showing a photo when calling?
Before we get into the instructions, it's important to understand why the image you upload might not show, and the reasons fall into two categories: software constraints and hardware features.
Among the most common problems:
- 📱 Version. MIUI: In older versions (up to) MIUI 12) Contact photos were only displayed in the phone book, not on the call screen. This feature works better in new firmware, but requires the right settings.
- 🖼️ Image resolution and format: If the photo is too large (more than 5 MB) or in a non-supported format (e.g..webp), the system may ignore it.
- 🔄 Contact Sync: If the contact is saved in Google Account or Mi Cloud and the photo is uploaded locally, there may be a conflict of versions.
- 📵 Battery Optimization: On some models (Redmi Note 10 Pro, POCO X3) Photo display function on the call is turned off when the power saving mode is activated.
Another little-known reason is the phone app settings, and some firmware has the default mode "Traffic Savings" that restricts the download of media files, including photos of contacts.
Method 1: Install photo through a standard contact editor
This is the simplest method that works on most Xiaomi devices.
- Open the Contacts app (an icon with a person’s silhouette).
- Find the right contact and tap it.
- In the upper right corner, click on the icon. ✏️ (Edit).
- Slip on the standard avatar (grey circle with a letter).
- Choose one of the options: 📷 Take a photo if you want to take a picture of your contact right now. 🖼️ Select from the gallery to upload an existing photo. 🎨 Create an avatar if you want to use an emoji or sticker.
Ready.
Save the change in contact.
If after these actions the photo is not displayed on the call, check the settings of the phone application:
- Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Find the phone and select Permissions.
- Make sure that Warehouse permissions and Contacts are included.
Photo has a resolution of no more than 1080×1080 pixels |
File format: JPEG or PNG|
The contact is stored in the local phone book (not only in the phone book). SIM)|
Permissions for the "Phone" application are included"-->
Method 2: Using the Gallery app for quick installation
Few people know, but MIUI allows you to assign a photo to contact directly from the Gallery app, which is convenient if you update avatars frequently:
- Open the gallery and find the photo you need.
- Slip on it, then tap on the three dots in the lower right corner (or swipe up).
- Choose More. → Make contact.
- In the contact list, find the right person and confirm the choice.
This method works faster, but has a limitation: the photo is not cut automatically. If the original image is not square, empty fields may remain on the avatar. To avoid this, pre-short the photo in any editor (for example, in Google Photos) to an aspect ratio of 1: 1.
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If you want a photo of a contact to be displayed on a full screen during a call, try installing it through the Truecaller app, which often bypasses MIUI's media display restrictions.
Method 3: Manually copying a photo to the system folder (for advanced ones)
If standard methods don't work, you can manually replace the contact avatar through the file manager, which requires root rights or ADB, but gives you 100% results.
Instructions:
- Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – tap 7 times, then go back to Additional Settings → For Developers).
- Download and install ADB Tools on your computer.
- Open the command prompt in the adb.exe folder and type: adb pull /data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db This will copy the contact database to your PC.
- Open the contacts2.db file with DB Browser for SQLite.
- Find the table. raw_contacts and remember the id of the right contact.
- In the data table, find a row with this id and field mimetype_id=15 (photo).
- Replace the value in the data15 field with the path to your photo (e.g. /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/photo.jpg).
- Save the changes and download the base back: adb push contacts2.db /data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/
- Reboot the phone.
⚠️ Attention: Incorrect editing of the contact database can lead to their loss.Before you start, make a backup through Settings → Google → Backup.
This method is suitable for models where standard methods do not work due to customized firmware (for example, on Xiaomi Mi A2 with Android One).
Compatibility table: which Xiaomi models support photo on the call
Not all Xiaomi smartphones work equally well with displaying photos on an incoming call. Below is a compatibility table for popular models:
| Model | Support for photo on the call | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xiaomi 13/13 Pro | ✅ Complete. | It works on HyperOS without restrictions. |
| Redmi Note 12 Pro+ | ✅ Complete. | Requires an upgrade to MIUI 14. |
| POCO F5 | ✅ Partial | The photo is displayed only in landscape mode. |
| Xiaomi 11T Pro | ⚠️ With limitations | Nana AMOLED-The screens may not appear in a dark topic. |
| Redmi 10A | ❌ No. | You need to install a third-party caller (for example, Truecaller). |
If your model is not in the table, check the support experimentally: install the photo through the standard contact editor and make a test call from another phone.
Problem Solving: Photos are not displayed on the call screen
If you have completed all the steps, but the avatar does not appear when an incoming call is made, try the following steps:
- 🔄 Cleaning the cache of the Phone application: Go to Settings → Annexes → Application management → Phone, select Warehouse. → Clear the cache. Reboot the phone.
Resetting the settings of the "Contacts" application
Sometimes it helps to reset to factory settings only for the Contacts application (without deleting the contacts themselves). To do this, select Storage → Reset settings in the application settings.
Disabling battery optimization for the "Phone"
- Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management by Apps.
- Find the phone and select No Limits.
Installation of a third-party call
Apps like Truecaller or ExDialer often work better with photo display. Install them from Google Play and assign them by default.
⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi Mi 10, Mi 11) after upgrading to MIUI 13, a bug occurs in which contact photos are reset. To avoid this, back up contacts through Settings before updating. → System and device → Backup and reset.
Why not? AMOLED-The screens of the photo may not be shown?
How to make the photo appear on the full screen
By default, many Xiaomi smartphones show a photo of the contact only in a small circle on the call screen, so that it occupies the entire screen, you need to change the settings of the call:
- Open the Phone app.
- Slip on three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings.
- Go to the incoming call screen.
- Enable Full-screen photo (or Enlarged contact photo – name depends on MIUI version)
- Choose the display style: Stretching or Filling.
If you don’t have one, try installing an alternative call, such as Truecaller’s Full Screen Caller ID feature, which shows a photo of the contact on the entire screen, including information about the caller (if there is one in the service database).
For models with HyperOS (such as Xiaomi 14), additional animation settings are available:
Settings → Display → System Animation → Call EffectsHere you can choose the style of displaying the photo (for example, Zoom or Blurring).
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On HyperOS smartphones, the photos on the call are displayed more clearly due to improved image processing. If you have an older version of MIUI, consider updating through Settings → System Update.