MIUI
continues to be one of the most popular Android skins around, with over 400
million users around the world. Xiaomi being the number one handset manufacturer
in India means there are over 100 million MIUI users in India alone, and in
recent years the Chinese manufacturer made decent strides in optimizing the
skin for a global audience.
MIUI 11 was
introduced back in October 2019, and just six months later Xiaomi is rolling
out MIUI 12. The update is now live in China and will be making its way to the
global MIUI build starting May 19, 2020. Even though it has just been six months from
the release of MIUI 11, Xiaomi was able to add a host of new features to MIUI
12 to make it stand out. It’s clear from using the ROM that Xiaomi focused its
attention on optimization and tweaking the overall look of the UI. As a result,
animations are smoother, visual elements are more modern, and the interface as
a whole looks much more cohesive.
I flashed
the MIUI China ROM on my Mi Mix 3 to test out the new features on offer.
Because the build is limited to the Chinese market, there are a few settings
that may not translate over to the global build. That said, it does provide a
decent look at all the new features, so without further ado let’s take a look
at everything that’s new in MIUI 12.
Privacy
gets a big overhaul
Xiaomi
caught a lot of flak for collecting browser data even in incognito mode, and
the manufacturer is now rolling out a toggle within its browser to let users
opt out of data collection. Alongside the change, MIUI itself is getting a host
of much-needed privacy and security fixes that make it easier to see what apps
have access to permissions.
The privacy
section has two tabs: Stats and Manage. Stats gives you an easy overview of all
the apps that accessed key permissions for that day, and these include location
data, contacts, call history, record audio, and storage. You can also hit the
All apps button to get a detailed look at all the apps that you opened, or
those that were allowed to autostart in the background. The Manage tab gives
you a breakdown of all apps that have access to a particular permission.
The feature
offers a comprehensive account of all app behavior on your phone, and is a
fantastic way to see just how many apps accessed key permissions. As always,
you get granular access when it comes to allowing permission access to
individual apps, and you can also set up alerts so that whenever an app
accesses your location, takes a photo, or records audio, you’ll get a
notification in the status bar.
Xiaomi is
also adding secure sharing options for photos, with the ability to
automatically remove location and metadata from images. There’s also a “Secure
sharing” watermark that shows up when you share photos on WeChat without
metadata. It’s likely this particular feature won’t show up in the global
builds.
The new
privacy tools go a long way in determining just how many apps have access to
permissions on your phone. This is a big change, and it’s great to see Xiaomi
giving users granular control over these features.
Say hello to the Control Center
One of the
new UI changes in MIUI 12 is the addition of a new Control Center. As you may
have guessed from the name, it is very similar to how the Control Center works
in iOS. You pull down from anywhere on the home screen, and you get a grid of
toggles, brightness slider, and options for toggling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and
cellular data.
The design
and usability are identical to iOS, but at least here you get the option to
change the layout of the quick settings tiles. Because it takes up so much
room, notifications are now bundled into their own pane. A pull down from the
top of the screen now shows the notification shade, and I don’t like the fact
that the toggles have been decoupled from notifications. Having said that, it
is convenient to access the Control Center as all it takes is a pull-down
gesture from anywhere on the home screen.
The best
part about this is that if you’re not a fan of the new style, you can easily
switch back to the older MIUI 11 layout from the settings. As for incoming
notifications, you can choose from the default MIUI system or switch to the
Google-prescribed method.
Wallpapers
that are out of this world
An exciting new feature in MIUI 12 is dynamic
wallpapers. Think of these as the live wallpapers that you get with Google’s
Wallpapers app, but more dynamic. You get to choose between Earth and Mars
imagery for the live backgrounds, and every time you wake the screen there’s a
swirling animation of the corresponding planet.
It is a very cool effect, and makes
unlocking the phone that much more special. I’ll admit that I unlocked the Mi
Mix 3 a few times just to see that unlock animation. There’s a similar
animation once you go from the lock screen to the home screen, with the
background itself shifting to terrain-level view. It is one of the more
exciting changes in MIUI 12.
There’s finally
an app drawer
A continued criticism of MIUI was that it
didn’t feature an app drawer. With more and more Chinese manufacturers
introducing an app drawer in their skins, Xiaomi was the holdout. That’s not
the case anymore, because MIUI 12 finally offers an app drawer. Just go to
Settings -> Home screen -> Home screen to set up the app drawer.
The drawer has a lot of similarities
to the POCO Launcher, including app categories that automatically sort apps
into various categories. You also get app suggestions at the top, a search bar
at the bottom, and you can set up custom categories. There’s also the option to
change the background transparency.
You’ll love all
the new animations
On the subject of animations, there are lots
of clever little animations throughout the interface. The icon packs bundled with
the default MIUI themes feature a cleaner design, there are new system
animations, and transitions when you close an app to go to the home screen are
also new. All the animations are clean and modern, and they make the interface
much more interactive and playful.
The storage section in the phone
settings shows up as a cylinder with multi-colored discs highlighting various
categories, and the cylinder fills up to show the amount of storage remaining.
Similarly, there’s a battery bar that dynamically shows the remaining charge
level once you go to the battery section, and the battery usage charts are also
animated.
New navigation
gestures based on Android 10
With MIUI 12, Xiaomi is embracing Google’s
prescribed navigation gestures for Android 10. There’s a back gesture when you
swipe in from either the left or right edges of the screen, you have to swipe
up from the bottom of the screen to go to the home screen, and swipe up and
hold from the bottom to pull up the overview pane.
You also get the option to quickly
switch between apps with a swipe left or right gesture across the bottom of the
screen. The gestures should be immediately familiar if you’ve used another
device with Android 10, and it’s clear that Google is setting the groundwork
for unified gesture navigation across manufacturers. That’s a good thing,
because regardless of whatever phone you pick up, you’ll get the same set of
navigation gestures.
Do more with
floating windows
A new feature in MIUI 12 is floating windows,
similar to what you get on Samsung phones. You can scale an app to fit on a
portion of the screen, and the best part about this is that the floating window
shows up over other apps. This is particularly great for things like
calculations, and the fact that you can resize the windows to your needs makes
it that much more useful.
You can launch a floating window from the
Floating windows button on the overview pane. You’ll see a list of eligible
apps, and you get to scale the app to your needs and put it wherever you want
on the screen. To exit a floating window, you’ll just have to clear the app
from the overview pane.
Dark mode gets
overhauled, and there’s a new font
The settings page doesn’t look as cluttered,
and that’s thanks to a new system font and larger text labels for the menus.
You can see the difference from MIUI 11 (the phone on the left) to MIUI 12. The
font is better for readability, and the rounded design looks more modern as
well.
Dark mode is also getting an update,
and you can now whitelist individual apps that may not work well with dark
mode. The scheduling option is back, and there’s also a toggle to adjust
contrast automatically based on brightness levels.
Mi Share is the
only file transfer service you need
Xiaomi joined hands with OPPO and Vivo
to create a unified file sharing service, and the results of that collaboration
are evident in Mi Share.
Mi Share is baked into the settings,
and you’ll be able to access it by going to Settings -> Connection &
sharing -> Mi Share. There’s also a Mi Share tile in the notification bar
for easy access to the feature. Mi Share now shows that you can share files
across Xiaomi phones and notebooks — including the Mi Notebook series and the
RedmiBook — and you can also do so for OPPO, Vivo, and Realme phones.
Sharing is as straightforward as it can get.
Just select the photo, document, or any other file you’d like to send, and
you’ll see a Mi Share indent that will automatically search for other devices
in your vicinity. As soon as it finds an eligible device, you’ll see it
highlighted on the page, and you can easily share files.
It is a seamless way to transfer files
across devices, and the fact that it works across all OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, and
Realme phones is a huge deal.
A great File
Manager gets even better
The built-in File Manager in MIUI is one of
the best around, and it is getting a few new features in MIUI 12. There’s a new
interface that makes it easier to see recent files, and the grid layout has
modern icons for folders. But the key change here is a sort option that lets
you arrange folders by name, size, or creation date.
Like the app drawer, the file manager
automatically sorts files into various categories. There’s Docs, Videos,
Images, Music, and More. The search feature lets you easily find files, and
there’s even a built-in FTP server for transferring files.
Use your phone
less with Focus Mode
Like every other manufacturer, Xiaomi is
adding controls to curb smartphone addiction. MIUI 11 had Google’s default
Digital Wellbeing dashboard, but in MIUI 12 Xiaomi is offering its own take on
the feature. As with everything else in the interface, there are polished
animations and usage charts that give you an overview of the amount of time
you’ve used the phone — broken down in daily and weekly increments.
There’s also the option to set a daily
screen time limit, and you get to see the number of times you’ve unlocked your
phone, and set up notifications for uninterrupted usage.
But the main highlight here is Focus Mode,
which lets you take a break from using the phone. The feature is identical to
Zen Mode on Oxygen OS, and when enabled you won’t be able to use any features
on your phone other than the camera and dialer. Default time limits are 30, 60,
and 90 minutes, and you also have the ability to set a custom time.
Activity tracking
made easy with Xiaomi Health
MIUI 12 already had a built-in activity
counter, and it is now getting automatic tracking for stairs, cycling, running,
and other forms of activity. More interestingly, it is also getting a sleep
quality tracker that measures the time and quality of your sleep. It does so by
recording the sounds you make at night (the feature records audio in the
background). Now, if that makes you uncomfortable (because it should), you can
always disable the feature.
For Chinese
users: Let Xiaomi’s AI take your calls
Xiaomi’s XiaoAI is limited to China, and in
MIUI 12 it is getting the ability to make calls on your behalf. The feature
also automatically transcribes calls — similar to Live Caption on other Android
phones — and lets you choose suggested responses during a conversation.
Much more to come
That was just an early look at all the new
features in MIUI 12. The beta build will go live for global users starting May
19, and Xiaomi has mentioned that it will start rolling out the stable update
to users in China from June. Obviously, the stable build for the global MIUI 12
ROM will only be available a few months down the line.
For now, here’s the full list of
devices that are confirmed to get the update. Once again, this list is for
Xiaomi phones in China, and the global MIUI 12 rollout will include more
models, including POCO and additional Redmi devices.
MIUI 12 has a lot to offer, particularly around privacy and data security. The visual changes make the interface feel that much more modern, and the UI finally feels cohesive. The beta build is still very buggy, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone installing it on their daily drivers just yet. But with the global build slated to arrive shortly, you won’t have to wait too long to get your hands on MIUI 12.
It is
well worth the wait...
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