It says they're freezing at Android 16 because Android 17 has more tracking and that kind of stuff, but then they go on to recommend Nova Launcher which sold out and has ads and who knows what else?
If you don't like the Xiaomi experience, don't buy a Xiaomi phone. Xiaomi ships an intentional set of features and apps that deliver what they believe is a best-in-class smartphone experience.
Rather rude tone to take for a reasonable question.
You do note in the article that you are locking at Android 16 - so the cost of following this guide is no security updates thereafter? That is a rather high cost (IMO immediate disqualifier), it is reasonable to discuss it and I don't see why you think it appropriate to rudely dismiss it.
Its great that you use the phone only for the camera. But you decided to post this as a guide and people who use their phones as a general-purpose device might be interested in discussing it too. The specificity of your particular use-case is nowhere visible in the article.
Android come to the point where you choose so-calles "security" trading all your data (read privacy) to random guys in the cloud. Every person choose his own wisdom.
I mentioned my needs in the article and i use device as a phone also.
We discuss phones here, which on 2026 host ton of important and sometimes critical functions. Security is #1 concern for anybody at least a bit smart, you can't ignore reality of 2026.
I love photography, but this is exactly reason why I dont consider chinese phones at all, even if they would be for free (carrying it as pure camera phone around - then I can buy proper camera with much better results ie in night and ergonomics anf dedicated battery).
Too cheap phones = I am the product, or my data are.
I had many Xiaomi phones roughly from 2014 to 2024 and all were chock full of software bugs, going worse in more recent phones up to the point I couldn't take it anymore and bought a Samsung.
I will never go back to Chinese crapware. The hardware is useless without stable software and what they have is a sad impression of such. Couldn't care less if Xiaomi puts a trillion zillion gigs of RAM and CPUs and cameras and shit, wouldn't pay one dollar for their flagship phone, not to mention asking comparative prices to top Samsung, lol. Never again Chinese!
I was afraid of this but switched from Samsung to an Oppo Find X9 Ultra anyway as the new Samsung S26 Ultra feels stuck in the past. I was pleasantly surprised with ColorOS. The only thing Samsung has going for it is OneUI. OneUI is better, but not by a lot.
I may have been lucky then with my Redmi Note 5 Pro (and a similar one for my daughters), possibly because the first thing I did with these phones was root them, remove all bloatware, remove all Xiaomi-specific apps including the 'Mi account'-related things, remove the Googly bits, add F-Droid and install free software. Never had problems with the things for 8 years, I'm currently running one of them with LineageOS 23.2 (Android 16), the other lost its screen so it is playing Linux server. Good hardware, possibly questionable firmware but that can be mitigated. I was forced to move to a new device with NFC (a Motorola G75) by the same app - Swedish BankID (and this time also Dutch DigiD) - which forced me to move from the Motorola Defy+ to the Redmi Note 5 Pro all those years ago. In another 8 years time they'll probably force me to move yet again for reasons as of yet unknown. Since I also used the Defy+ for about 8 years this seems to be the current practical lifetime of an Android device, at least for me. Those now 16 year old Defy+ devices still work but Android 4.4 has gone out of fashion quite a while ago. They are still usable for other purposes though, as trailer camera, sensor device, music player and more.
Xiaomi openly violates GPL too. If you email them for source code they won't provide it and if you press it they will just say haha sue us, or ghost you.
the trick I use is that `adb disable-user` still works without root and it works on anything, including even the most privileged system-level apps. some phones detect this and actually brick themselves (looking at you Samsung Knox), but a lot of phones don't notice at all.
Downside of course is that if you use multiple users, you'll have to repeat it for each user.
It says they're freezing at Android 16 because Android 17 has more tracking and that kind of stuff, but then they go on to recommend Nova Launcher which sold out and has ads and who knows what else?
If you don't like the Xiaomi experience, don't buy a Xiaomi phone. Xiaomi ships an intentional set of features and apps that deliver what they believe is a best-in-class smartphone experience.
Yeah but does all this stick after the next major OS update?
THat's why I avoid all these top bang for the buck Chinese phones with amazing HW. Fighting the bloatware and spyware is too much hassle.
You didn't read a single line from the post if you are asking such question.
I am using this phone because of the camera, this is the only reason.
Rather rude tone to take for a reasonable question.
You do note in the article that you are locking at Android 16 - so the cost of following this guide is no security updates thereafter? That is a rather high cost (IMO immediate disqualifier), it is reasonable to discuss it and I don't see why you think it appropriate to rudely dismiss it.
Its great that you use the phone only for the camera. But you decided to post this as a guide and people who use their phones as a general-purpose device might be interested in discussing it too. The specificity of your particular use-case is nowhere visible in the article.
i didn't want to offend anybody.
Android come to the point where you choose so-calles "security" trading all your data (read privacy) to random guys in the cloud. Every person choose his own wisdom.
I mentioned my needs in the article and i use device as a phone also.
We discuss phones here, which on 2026 host ton of important and sometimes critical functions. Security is #1 concern for anybody at least a bit smart, you can't ignore reality of 2026.
I love photography, but this is exactly reason why I dont consider chinese phones at all, even if they would be for free (carrying it as pure camera phone around - then I can buy proper camera with much better results ie in night and ergonomics anf dedicated battery).
Too cheap phones = I am the product, or my data are.
I had many Xiaomi phones roughly from 2014 to 2024 and all were chock full of software bugs, going worse in more recent phones up to the point I couldn't take it anymore and bought a Samsung.
I will never go back to Chinese crapware. The hardware is useless without stable software and what they have is a sad impression of such. Couldn't care less if Xiaomi puts a trillion zillion gigs of RAM and CPUs and cameras and shit, wouldn't pay one dollar for their flagship phone, not to mention asking comparative prices to top Samsung, lol. Never again Chinese!
I was afraid of this but switched from Samsung to an Oppo Find X9 Ultra anyway as the new Samsung S26 Ultra feels stuck in the past. I was pleasantly surprised with ColorOS. The only thing Samsung has going for it is OneUI. OneUI is better, but not by a lot.
The only reason i use this phone is periscope camera and it's quality, there is simply no other manufacturer who delivers such things.
I may have been lucky then with my Redmi Note 5 Pro (and a similar one for my daughters), possibly because the first thing I did with these phones was root them, remove all bloatware, remove all Xiaomi-specific apps including the 'Mi account'-related things, remove the Googly bits, add F-Droid and install free software. Never had problems with the things for 8 years, I'm currently running one of them with LineageOS 23.2 (Android 16), the other lost its screen so it is playing Linux server. Good hardware, possibly questionable firmware but that can be mitigated. I was forced to move to a new device with NFC (a Motorola G75) by the same app - Swedish BankID (and this time also Dutch DigiD) - which forced me to move from the Motorola Defy+ to the Redmi Note 5 Pro all those years ago. In another 8 years time they'll probably force me to move yet again for reasons as of yet unknown. Since I also used the Defy+ for about 8 years this seems to be the current practical lifetime of an Android device, at least for me. Those now 16 year old Defy+ devices still work but Android 4.4 has gone out of fashion quite a while ago. They are still usable for other purposes though, as trailer camera, sensor device, music player and more.
This matches my experience with xiaomi phones.
Xiaomi openly violates GPL too. If you email them for source code they won't provide it and if you press it they will just say haha sue us, or ghost you.
Are the pics that good?
Neither Apple nor Samsung are capable of delivering this level of quality, they are just outsiders in terms of cameraphone features.
the trick I use is that `adb disable-user` still works without root and it works on anything, including even the most privileged system-level apps. some phones detect this and actually brick themselves (looking at you Samsung Knox), but a lot of phones don't notice at all.
Downside of course is that if you use multiple users, you'll have to repeat it for each user.
I hate that this is still a reality in 2026.
Comprehensive de-bloat guide