Personalizing your smartphone is not just a matter of aesthetics, but also an important element of usability. When the caller's image is displayed on the lock screen or during an incoming call, you instantly know who is breaking your silence without looking at the name. Owners of budget devices are often faced with the fact that the MIUI interface has its own characteristics that differ from pure Android.
A smartphone Redmi 9A, running the MIUI shell, provides several ways to link photos to phone numbers. You can do this directly through the Contacts application, using the standard dialer, or even through the system Gallery. Each method has its own nuances, which we will examine in detail in this material.
However, sometimes users notice that the installed image is not displayed or is reset after a reboot. This may be related to access rights, synchronization via Google Account or specific power saving settings. Understanding these mechanisms will help you avoid common mistakes and ensure that your loved ones will always be “face to face” with you when calling.
Image preparation and format requirements
Before you begin changing phone book settings, you need to make sure that the source file meets the technical requirements of the system. Not every image will display correctly in the avatar circle or full screen. The best solution is to use high-resolution square photos to avoid pixelation when scaling.
The Android system on the device Xiaomi Redmi 9A automatically crops the picture to a round shape in the call list. If important details are located at the edges of the photo, they may be hidden. It is recommended to crop the image in advance in any editor, leaving the face or main object in the center of the frame.
It is also worth considering the amount of memory occupied by the file. Although modern smartphones easily process heavy images, for contacts it is better to use optimized files in the JPG or PNGformat. This will speed up the Contacts application and reduce the load on RAM when scrolling through the list of contacts.
Use photos that are at least 500x500 pixels in size for clear display on high-resolution screens.
Installation method through the Contacts application
The most direct and logical destination path avatar - use the standard application to manage the phone book. This method allows you to edit a subscriber card in a comprehensive manner, adding not only photos, but also addresses, birthdays and notes. The MIUI interface is intuitive, but has its own peculiarities in the location of the controls.
First, open the application Contact and find the desired subscriber in the list or through the search. Click on the name to go to the detailed card. At the top of the screen, where the gray silhouette of a person is usually located, you will see a pencil or camera icon - this is the edit button. Clicking on it will open a menu for changing data.
In editing mode, the system will prompt you to select the image source. You can take a new photo right now using your smartphone camera, or select an existing file from the internal memory. After selecting a photo, the system will offer to crop it, moving the selection frame to the desired position.
- 📷 Click on the camera icon to take a snapshot of the subscriber.
- 🖼️ Select “Gallery” to load the saved image.
- ✂️ Adjust the cropping area, so that the face is in the center.
- 💾 Click “Save” in the upper right corner to commit the changes.
It is important to understand the difference between contacts saved on the SIM card and those stored in the phone memory or the cloud. SIM card has an extremely limited amount of memory and often does not support storing image files. If you are trying to add a photo to a contact stored on a SIM card, the system may prompt you to first copy it to your device or Google account.
☑️ Correctly saving the contact
Adding photos through the Phone application
An alternative option that is often overlooked is working through the app Phone. This method is especially convenient if you just made a call or received a message from an unfamiliar number and want to immediately assign a name and photo to it. The logic of actions here is almost identical to working with the Contacts application, but entering the editing menu is done differently.
Open the “dialer” and go to the “Contacts” tab or find the number in the call history. Long pressing on the number or going to the subscriber's card will allow you to see the available actions. At the top of the screen there is often an edit button, indicated by a pencil. By clicking on it, you will be taken to the familiar profile editing interface.
Some versions of MIUI on Redmi 9A allow you to set a photo directly from the call history without deep diving into the menu. Just click on the profile icon in the call log, and if the contact has already been created, the system will offer options for replacing the image. This saves time and the number of menu transitions.
⚠️ Attention: If the add photo option is inactive (gray), check whether the contact is hidden in the “Only contacts with numbers” list. Sometimes display filtering prevents full editing of the card.
When editing via “Phone”, the storage priority rule also applies. If a contact is synced to multiple accounts, changes to a photo in one location may not appear in another until the sync is complete. Make sure that you are editing exactly the card that is the main one for this number.
Using the Gallery to assign an avatar
The third method, which may not seem obvious, but often turns out to be the fastest, is installing a photo through the system application Gallery. This method is ideal when you have many photos of the same person and want to choose the best one without switching between apps. The algorithm of actions here is slightly different from the standard editing of contacts.
Open the desired image in the Gallery. In the bottom menu or in the “More” drop-down list (often indicated by three dots), find the “Assign to contact” or “Set as contact photo” option. The system will automatically launch the cropping tool and prompt you to select a contact from the phone book.
After selecting a contact, the image will be assigned to him. The advantage of this method is that you immediately see the final result in full size before cutting. However, if a contact has not yet been created, the system may offer to create a new one, which is also quite convenient for quickly adding new acquaintances to the database.
Why may the photo not be saved?
If the phone memory is full, the system may reject saving new metadata for the contact. Free up some space and try again.
It is worth noting that with this installation method, the original photo remains in the Gallery, and its smaller version is copied to the contact. This means that you can delete the source from the Gallery without fear of losing the avatar in the phone book, although this is not recommended in case you want to change the angle in the future.
Setting the display on the lock screen
The question of how exactly the photo will look during an incoming call deserves special attention. On Redmi 9A with the MIUI shell there is a setting that affects the style of displaying calls. By default, the system may show a small round icon, but many users prefer full-screen mode.
To change this setting, you need to go to the settings of the Phone application itself. Click on the three dots in the corner of the screen and select Settings. Next, find the section responsible for incoming calls. There may be a “Full Screen Mode” switch or an option to select a call theme.
In some firmware versions, this function is hidden in the “Display” or “Lock Screen” section. If you cannot change the appearance of the call using standard means, you can use third-party themes from the Themes application, which offer alternative call screens with large photos.
| Option | Standard mode | Full screen mode | Theme mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo size | Small circle | Full screen | Depends on theme |
| Background | Blurred photo | Clear photo | Custom |
| Answer buttons | At the bottom of the screen | On the sides or bottom | Custom |
| Information | Minimal | Extended | Depends on the topic |
For maximum visual effect, use full-screen mode and high-quality photographs that fill the entire frame.
Solving problems with synchronization and display
Users are often faced with a situation where a photo is installed, but a standard stub is displayed on the lock screen. Most often, the problem lies in a synchronization conflict between the local phone memory and cloud services. If your contact is linked to Google Account, the changes must be pulled up from the server, which takes time and the Internet.
Check the synchronization settings in the Settings → Accounts and synchronization → Googlesection. Make sure the checkbox next to “Contacts” is active. Try to force update the data by clicking on the synchronization button or temporarily turning off and on the Internet.
Another reason may be the cache of the Contacts application. Over time, it accumulates errors that interfere with the correct display of graphics. Clearing the cache will solve this problem without deleting the numbers themselves. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications → Contacts → Storage and click "Clear cache".
If you transferred contacts from an old phone, they may have been saved in vCard format without an embedded image or with a broken link to file. In this case, you will need to manually reassign the photos. Removing duplicate contacts can also help the system decide which photo to display with priority.