While the Public Beta version of the MIUI 8 will start rolling out on July 11, the stable version will arrive by August 16.
Along with the Mi Max smartphone, Xiaomi today unveiled the global version of its MIUI 8 ROM. The latest iteration aims to make user experience better on the Xiaomi devices. Xiaomi will start rolling out public beta of MIUI 8 from July 11 (OTA) and the stable version will be available from August 16. The OTA update for the beta version will be available on both Mi Community and the MIUI Forum.
The company has also revealed the devices that will be eligible of receiving the MIUI 8 global ROM. The devices are Xiaomi Mi Max, Mi 5, Mi Note, Mi 4, Mi 4i, Mi 3 and Mi 2. The Redmi series will also be getting the update. These devices are the Redmi Note 3, Note 2, Note Prime, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 1s and Redmi 2.
The MIUI 8 looks much cleaner and very close to Google’s material design. It comes with a slew of new features such as new color palette and animations. Let’s take a look at the top 10 features of MIUI 8.
Gallery: A lot of smartphones nowadays can capture panaroma shots but very few have a systematic way of storing and viewing panorama. With MIUI 8, panoramas will be displayed horizontally across the screen, instead of showing cropped up in a tiny square. Along with the easy browsing, the new Gallery also enable quick sharing, where users can just swipe up on a picture and choose the recipient and mode of sending the picture.
Additionally, the new feature also caters to the problem of hundreds of media files taking half the space on your smartphone, and fortunately Xiaomi has catered to it. With the MiCloud Photo Sync, the original full size files will be stored on the cloud, while the high-resolution previews of these pictures will be stored locally on the phone.
The new Gallery also comes with some nifty video editing features. Users can trim videos, apply filters to them, add background music, all in real time. Or they can simply use the already prepared templates for videos.
Screenshots: Like the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Xiaomi MIUI 8 will also allow user to take long screen shots. Xiaomi calls the feature, Scrolling Screenshots. These screenshots can be cropped and edited right from the screen you are working on.
Taking a screenshot will never be the same again with #MIUI8 – Scrolling Screenshot! RT if you love this feature!https://t.co/bJuYh8wvEg
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 30, 2016
Quick Ball: Much like Apple’s Assistive Touch, Xiaomi has introduced a feature called Quick Ball. It is basically a combination of five gesture shortcuts that a user can customize according to their need. The Quick Ball can be placed anywhere on the screen, and is aimed at giving users quick and easy access to apps they use frequently. Xiaomi’s Quick Ball can be accessed directly from the lock screen.
Customise how you navigate your device with the Quick Ball feature! Love it?https://t.co/3cvpylk0lL
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 30, 2016
Dual App and Second Space: This is one of the best features announced at the Xiaomi event today. So with MIUI 8, users can create dual accounts for social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook on the device. This essentially means you can run two separate WhatsApp accounts on one smartphone. For example, with the Dual App feature, users can now own two separate WhatsApp Messenger on their smartphone, one of which, for instance, could be used for private contacts and the other for official and work purpose.
2 is better than 1! Operate your work or play accounts on your #MIUI8 device without having to log in and out! pic.twitter.com/Iqczbly31u
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 30, 2016
TWO WhatsApp account – one for the boss and one for the family, only on #MIUI8 pic.twitter.com/jtb6UHy56Z
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 30, 2016
The Second Space app just takes the Dual App feature to the next level. With Second Space users can have two different logins in the same smartphone. Which means, like a desktop, users can have two different system accounts, with different passwords and different user data. It’s like two phones in one.
MIUI Caller ID: Xiaomi user will soon no longer need Caller ID apps, as the MIUI 8 will come integrated with MIUI Caller ID, which would automatically detect the caller for a user.
Not sure who is calling you right now? We got you covered with #MIUI8 to identify Caller ID #MiLaunch #MiMax pic.twitter.com/yk9nI5yRpp
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 30, 2016
Dialer: The Dialer in the MIUI 8 will allow users to put in T9 Hindi inputs right from the dial pad instead of opening the Contact book. The dialer will also enable T9 Business Searches, which would show up contact details of popular business around, even when their numbers are not stored in the phone.
Also view: The 8 coolest features of Xiaomi MIUI 8
SMS: Most of us have like a hundreds of unread messages in our Messages inbox, because almost all of them are either promotional messages, or reminders and alerts. To make your inbox look less cluttered and a little pleasing to the eyes, the MIUI 8 will automatically detect the sender of the message, for example Amazon, and instead of showing TZ-Amazon, the sender name will just read ‘Amazon’ with its logo in the contact picture icon. This would all be automatically detected and implemented by the OS.
Along with that, the SMS app will also have action shortcuts integrated within them. For instance, a user receives a message from BookMyShow for a play you booked, the message will have an Add to Calendar shortcut to add a reminder. Similarly, in case of a message from the network carrier for low mobile data or balance, the message will be prompted by a direct link to recharge the balance. Xiaomi has partnered with Mobikwik (mobile wallet and online payment system) for the same.
Calculator: With MIUI 8, users will no longer need to Google for conversion of weight, currency or temperature. The Calculator app in the new OS iteration comes integrated with various conversion scales.
Ringtones: Xiaomi has tied up with Hungama to offer exclusive content to Mi users. There’s a dedicated theme store offers the latest songs and soundtracks for Indian audience, that can be used as ringtones. The songs will initially be offered free of cost.
Themes: In addition to the Ringtones, as part of the first ever Theme Contest held by Xiaomi in India, the MIUI 8 will feature a lot of new themes.