In the application Topics there was a mistake Xiaomi: what to do

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a message that says there has been an error in the Themes app, which can appear at the most inopportune moment, blocking access to the interface personalization and sometimes causing disruptions to the entire MIUI system or the new HyperOS. The problem is software-based and usually involves cache overflows, version conflict or system files corruption after a failed update.

Ignoring this bug can cause the phone to slow down and in some cases even stop displaying icons or fonts correctly. Themes app is a system component deeply integrated into the shell, so its incorrect operation affects many visual elements of the operating system. In this article, we will discuss in detail the algorithms of actions that will help restore stability to the device.

Causes of failures in the system application

Understanding the root of the problem is the first step to fixing it, and most often, a bug in Themes is caused by the accumulation of temporary files that the system cannot process correctly. With prolonged use of a smartphone without cleaning, cache memory grows to critical sizes, causing conflicts when trying to download new content or apply an installed theme.

Another common reason is background update processes. If you recently updated the firmware or the app itself through the GetApps store, versions may be desynchronized.The system tries to access the resources of the new version, while the old configuration files remain unchanged.This leads to the fact that Google services or internal Xiaomi services cannot correctly identify the application.

⚠️ Warning: Installing themes from third-party, unverified sources is often the cause of critical errors. Modified themes may contain malicious code or incompatible scripts.

Themes requires a stable connection to the developer’s servers to verify licenses and download resources. If the DNS or hosts file has ad blockers, they can mistakenly block access to Xiaomi domains, causing timeouts and a subsequent error message.

Basic cleaning of cache and application data

The most effective and safest way to fix a crash is to completely reset the application status, which will not delete your personal photos or contacts, but will return the theme settings to the factory settings. First, go to your device's settings menu. Find a section that is usually called "Apps" or "All Apps."

In the list that opens, look for “Themes” (may appear as Themes). Click on it to open the management page. Here you are interested in the “Clear” button. It is important not to confuse the actions: first select “Clear Cache”, which will delete temporary files. If this does not help, click “Clear All” (or “Reset”), which will result in a complete reset of the application settings.

Once you clean it, the system can request confirmation of the action. You can agree with it. Now you need to restart your smartphone to make the changes effective. Once you turn it on, try to open the application again. If the error "In the Application of the Themes there was an error" disappeared, then the problem was in the software conflict of files.

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Before completely clearing the data, the Themes application is recommended to manually remove downloaded themes that you want to save, if such an opportunity is provided by the interface, although most often they will have to be downloaded again.

Removal of updates and reinstallation of the component

If a simple cleanup didn't work, it might be the software version itself that is the problem. In the latest versions of Android and MIUI shells, system applications can be updated regardless of the firmware. Sometimes a new update contains bugs that developers haven't yet fixed.

To roll back to the factory version, go back to the Themes app settings. The top right corner of the screen often has a three-dot menu. Click on it and select the Remove Updates option. The system will return the app to the state it was in when you bought the phone. This often solves compatibility issues.

In cases where the update deletion button is not available or is inactive, you can try a more radical method, which is to uninstall the application itself. Since it is a system component, normal deletion may not be possible without root rights. ADB (Android Debug Bridge for forced removal.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.themes

This command will remove the application only for the current user, without affecting the system partition. After that, the phone must be restarted. The system automatically detects the absence of the component and reinstalls its clean, factory version at the first opportunity or through the app store.

Diagnostics of network connections and DNS

As mentioned earlier, the Themes app heavily relies on internet connectivity. If you have a third-party DNS installed (like AdGuard or DNS Changer), try temporarily disabling it.Blocking ad trackers sometimes gets superfluous, blocking the necessary Xiaomi server.

Check the date and time on the device too. Incorrect system clocks cause SSL security certificates to fail, the server cannot establish a secure connection to the phone if the time is not the same, and it produces an application error, set up automatic time synchronization over the network.

If you use a VPN, try changing the region of the connection or disabling it completely. Xiaomi services can block access from regions or work incorrectly through proxy servers. Switching to mobile Internet (3G/4G/5G) instead of Wi-Fi also helps diagnose a problem with the router or provider.

Using Safe Mode for Diagnostics

Sometimes, third-party launchers or interface-modifying apps cause conflict, so to test this, run your smartphone in Safe Mode, which only downloads system applications, and if there is no error in Safe Mode, then it is the third-party software that is to blame.

To enter Safe Mode on most Xiaomi models, you need to press the off button and then (hold) your finger on the “off” button on the screen until you are prompted to go to Safe Mode. After checking, you can remove the recently installed launchers or widgets.

⚠️ Warning: In Safe Mode, some phone features will be unavailable and app icons may become pale.

Special attention should be paid to memory cleanup applications or antiviruses that have deep access rights, which can aggressively delete theme cache files while they are running, which leads to failure, and removing such optimizers often solves the stability problem.

Cardinal measures: resetting and flashing

When software methods are exhausted, the final frontier is a complete data reset, which will return the phone to factory status, and make sure to back up all the important data before that step, as all the information from the internal memory will be destroyed.

Resets can be done via the settings menu (“Advanced Settings” → “Resettings”) or via Recovery Mode (pressing the power and volume button when the phone is off). Once reset, the phone will be as new and the error will likely disappear as all conflicting files will be deleted.

Even if a full reset didn’t help, the problem could be hardware (e.g., flash memory malfunction) or require deep flashing to clean partitions, in which case it’s recommended to contact an authorized Xiaomi service center, especially if the device is warranty-worthy.

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Hard Reset eliminates 95% of the software errors associated with Themes, but takes time to recover user data and settings.