[Update: New workaround] MIUI 12 Android 11 dual apps storage issue reported by many; media fails to load on WhatsApp, Messenger, & other apps

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on April 02, 2021) follows:

The Android 11-based MIUI 12 update is turning out to be a buggy mess on some devices. Several performance issues that had been addressed previously have re-emerged or have been joined by new ones.

The situation has got so bad in some cases that even a community moderator recommended sticking to Android 10 until the Android 11 update’s condition sees an improvement.

A couple of the most commonly discussed bugs are notification issues with apps like WhatsApp and Facebook and gesture issues when using third-party launchers.

Please fix the issue. Im unable to see or upload my dual apps download and upload data in anywhere. Also all the Media files are not showing in dual apps.
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After I got an update to my xiaomi mi 10t lite 5g, I had a problem with dual apps. The option that shows dual apps storage in file manager disappeared and the media no longer appears in the gallery. I’m very upset about that. Is there any way to solve this matter?
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And as if existing bugs weren’t enough, there is now a new issue making rounds. Users [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] state that following Android 11, the media sourced from cloned (dual) apps fails to show up on the system Gallery or File Manager apps.

Users have also stated that this problem was non-existent previously with Android 10. The MIUI Android 10 File Manager app had a drop-down menu to toggle between ‘Internal shared storage’ and ‘Storage for dual apps’.

This was silently removed with Android 11 though. Complainants have already tried the basic workarounds like restarting apps and deleting and recreating the second space (all dual apps) to no avail.

The issue apparently also goes the other way as there have also been plenty of reports stating that cloned apps like WhatsApp and Facebook are unable to access images from the internal storage.

Some of the affected devices include Xiaomi Mi 10, Mi Note 10, Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 10, Poco F2 Pro, and possibly many more. All of them have one thing in common – they bagged Android 11 recently.

So it’s pretty clear now that the Android 11 update is the one to blame. But what can be done about the matter? As it stands, literally nothing. The issue has most likely arisen due to a security restriction introduced with Android 11.

This restriction is known as Scoped Storage and it is implemented to prevent apps from having unrestricted access to the filesystem on the device. It could be possible that Xiaomi’s current dual app implementation isn’t properly compatible with these changes as of yet.

Nonetheless, the MIUI Android 11 dual apps issue has already been reported to the developers.

But it’s been over a month and there hasn’t been any update on the matter.

Therefore, the only ray of hope left is the upcoming MIUI 12.5 update. Perhaps the fixes for the MIUI Android 11 dual apps issue have already been merged into it. Therefore, it is advisable to wait for the same to roll out.

And you can of course stay tuned to our MIUI 12.5 tracker to keep an eye on the update’s status for your Xiaomi device.

04:43 pm (IST): A Xiaomi executive has now admitted that the bug is indeed caused by an Android 11 limitation and has hinted that a future update might fix the issue, although we wouldn’t get our hopes too high.

01:25 pm (IST): The issue now has a new workaround, thanks to our reader Shy Feyn!

To subdue this issue, you just need to make a “dual app” for your original “Gallery” app and open it. You will see the Photos on your dual apps, if storage is the one you’re looking for, just download a third-party app and make a “dual app” for it.

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