At an event in Beijing today, Xiaomi launched MIUI 8 – the latest version of its operating system. The latest version of the company’s fork of Android features a new user friendly interface that makes gracious use of colors to make the UI attractive.
Xiaomi has redesigned almost every system app to give it a cleaner look, and since they now make use of bold colors, they look very appealing. Additionally, the company has also improved the functionality of all its apps by adding new features and enhancements to them.
The notification bar has also been completely revamped by Xiaomi, and it now provides direct access to certain quick toggles. The notification bar has always been one of the sore spots of MIUI, so it will be interesting to see how the redesigned notification bar does in comparison.
Some of the new features in MIUI 8 have been highlighted below:
Custom Chinese font
Perhaps one of the most impressive part of MIUI 8 is that Xiaomi has developed a custom Chinese font for it, which the company claims provides better mobile reading experience. The Mi Lanting font consists of an impressive 27533 characters.
Gallery
The new Gallery app in MIUI is 90% more space efficient than its predecessor, and it comes with features like the ability to doodle on photos, add stickers, easily select multiple photos, quick sharing to your favorite contacts, and more. The video editing suite have also been enhanced and now allow one to add filters, captions, and music to their videos.
Notes
The new Notes app in MIUI 8 features pre-defined templates for easier sharing. It also features a grid view for easier navigation and comes with fingerprint and passcode lock for enhanced security. Lastly, one can now make advanced calculations and conversions directly in the Notes app.
Wallpaper Carousel
The new wallpaper carousel feature in MIUI 8 will automatically change your lock screen wallpaper every 24 hours. It will provide users with option to select from 12 different categories that comprises of thousands of beautiful wallpapers. This feature was also present in MIUI 7, but only on certain variants of the ROM.
Improved power efficiency and multi-tasking
Like with almost every version of MIUI, Xiaomi has also improved the power efficiency and multi-tasking capabilities in MIUI 8. The company states that the new power saving mode in MIUI 8 freezes the background activity and suspends updates and sync to extend battery life. It is unclear how this new power saving mode is different from the already existing power saving mode in MIUI 7. Other features related to improving power efficiency and multi-tasking include limiting of chain start-ups of unneeded apps and improved multi-window management.
Availability & Support
The China ROM of MIUI 8 will go in beta testing from June 1, with registrations for the beta program opening from May 16. The Developer ROM will be released by Xiaomi on June 16.
MIUI 8 is supported by all Xiaomi devices, including the Mi 2, Mi 2S, Mi 3, Mi 4, and all other Redmi and Mi Note series handsets from the company.
Xiaomi did not provide the release dates of the international ROM of MIUI 8, but it promised to provide more information about it later.
