Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a sudden change in the appearance of the device: images automatically change on the lock screen, and sometimes advertising content appears. This phenomenon causes confusion among users who are used to a static picture or their personal photo. This feature, known as “Wallpaper Carousel” (or Glance), was introduced by developers for personalization, but is often perceived as intrusive.
New images usually appear after a major update to the MIUI or HyperOS operating system, or when a new gadget is initially set up, when a user may have accidentally agreed to an offer to activate "recommendations." Changing wallpaper consumes additional traffic and can distract from using the device, especially if the images do not match the owner's taste preferences.
Fortunately, Xiaomi’s Android shell system allows you to flexibly manage this setting. You don’t need to have superuser rights or install third-party launchers. In this article, we’ll detail how to turn off image change, return the usual static background, and get rid of possible ads that masquerade as system widgets.
The Nature of the Appearance of Changing Images
The main culprit behind the change is the built-in Wallpaper Carousel app (which in the international version may be called Glance for Mi or Lock screen magazine), a system service that accesses the lock screen and periodically downloads new content from the developer cloud. The algorithm is simple: each time the screen is turned on or at a given time interval, the system replaces the current image with a new one from the directory.
Users often confuse this feature with regular live wallpaper or widgets, but the images on the lock screen take precedence over the user's background settings if the feature is activated at the security level, which means that even if you install your photo in the gallery, Carousel will overlay it with its content.
⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse wallpaper carousel with viruses. MIUI, but it can be perceived as harmful due to intrusiveness and the inability to disable with a single click in some versions of the firmware.
Developers have positioned this as a way to diversify the visual experience by offering themed selections of nature, cars, celebrities or art. However, for many users, predictability of the interface is important, not constant visual noise.
Disconnection through lock screen settings
The best and safest way to remove intrusive images is to use the standard system settings. The path to the desired menu may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI or HyperOS, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the section responsible for the design of the lock screen.
To start, open the Settings app and go to Always on Screen and Lock (or just Lock Screen) and you'll see the Wallpaper Carousel. This is the switch that controls the loading and changing of graphic content. Deactivating it instantly returns a static image.
☑️ Shutdown algorithm
Once the function is turned off, the system may suggest that you select a new static image or leave the current one, and it's important to understand that disabling the service does not remove it completely from the device's memory, but only stops it from working.
If you use the international version of the firmware (Global ROM), the path can look like Settings → Wallpaper → Settings (cog) → Wallpaper carousel. In some cases, you need to click on the gear icon inside the wallpaper menu to see hidden control options.
Managing the Wallpaper Carousel app
In some cases, simply switching the toggler in the settings is not enough, because the background process can continue to work or cache data. To fully control the situation, you need to go to the deep application management menu, where you can not only disable, but also clean up the service data.
Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. In the list, look for Wallpaper Carousel (or Lock screen magazine). Once inside, select Clear Data and Clear Cache. This action will remove all uploaded images from the phone's temporary storage.
- 📱 Find the application in the list of system processes.
- 🗑️ Perform cache cleanup to free up memory.
- 🚫 Stop the process if it is active.
- 🔒 Check access rights and disable network access if possible.
Disable may also be available on this menu, if it is active, use it, and this will prevent the service from starting even after the device is restarted, but on many global firmware versions, this button may be inactive, which is a manufacturer's limitation.
What to do if the Disable button is inactive?
Fighting Advertising and Third-Party Widgets
Sometimes users complain not just about changing beautiful pictures, but about the appearance of banner ads or news on the lock screen, which can be the result of activating the “Get recommendations” function inside the carousel settings or installing third-party themes from the Themes store.
To remove ads, go to the wallpaper carousel settings and find the Get Recommendations switch. It should be turned off. It's also worth checking the themes installed. Some third-party themes contain built-in ads that appear on the lock screen.
Go back to the standard Classic or Default theme to eliminate the impact of third-party design. Often, it is the left-handed themes downloaded from the catalog that replace the lock screen with their own, more aggressive in terms of monetization.
| Type of content | Source | How to clean up | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change of photo (nature/auto) | System wallpaper carousel | Turn off in Settings | Low. |
| Banner advertisements | Recommendations/Side-party theme | Remove the “Recommendations” box | Medium |
| News widgets | The Browser or News appendix | Disable widgets in the editor | Medium |
| Pop-ups | Malware application (Adware) | Antivirus Verification / APK Removal | Tall. |
⚠️ Attention: If after all the manipulations, the ad does not disappear, it is possible that a malicious application masquerading as a system application is installed on the device.
Change of static background after disconnection
Once you have successfully removed the carousel, the lock screen can turn black or display the default image. Many users want to immediately set their favorite photo, and you can do this through the gallery or wallpaper settings.
Open any image in the gallery, click on the three dots in the corner (menu) and select Set as Wallpaper → Lock screen. The system will warn that the current settings may be changed, but since the carousel is disabled, your photo will remain in place.
- 🖼️ Choose a high-quality photo with the right resolution.
- ⚙️ Use the built-in editor to framing.
- ✅ Confirm the installation specifically for the lock screen.
It is important to choose the image with the right aspect ratio so that it does not crop with the camera or dynamic island (if the model supports).
💡
Tip: Use live wallpaper from Xiaomi official themes if a static picture seems boring, but you want to control the content. They don't require an internet connection to change frames.
Additional settings and personalization
The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS offer a variety of customization options that don’t require an obsessive carousel to be included: You can customize the style of the watch, add widgets, or change the date font on the lock screen.
In the Settings section → The lock screen is often available under "Time Format" or "Clock Style" and you can choose a dial that will harmonize with your new static background. AMOLED-matrix.
Remember to check the notification settings. Sometimes users confuse the preview of messages with the pictures of the carousel. In the Notifications menu and the status bar, you can configure the display of content on the locked screen, hiding the text of messages from prying eyes.
💡
The main conclusion: Full disabling of the “Wallpaper Carousel” function and cleaning the app cache ensure the return of the classic static lock screen without losing the functionality of the smartphone.
Possible problems and solutions
In rare cases, after disabling the functions, images may continue to appear, this may be due to the caching of settings or a bug of a particular version of the firmware. If standard methods did not help, try restarting the device in Safe Mode to check if a third-party application is causing the problem.
It’s also worth checking for system updates. Sometimes interface bugs get fixed in security patches. Go to Settings → About phone and click on MIUI/HyperOS to check for updates.
If the problem is massive for your model, it may be worth considering resetting to factory settings (pre-data backup) a radical but effective method that returns the phone to the “out of the box” state without pre-set custom configuration errors.