Xiaomi started to push updates to the latest and much anticipated MIUI 8 Stable version to over 200 million Xiaomi smartphone models around the globe. Models like the Mi Max standard 3GB, Mi 4S, Mi Note, Mi 4 China Unicom version as well as the Telecom 3G versions and many others have already received the update. Now, it’s time to check MIUI 8 vs MIUI 7 differences.

Most of the Xiaomi models, before the latest OTA update push, were running on MIUI 7.5 stable ROM. But the MIUI 8 brings in many new features when compared to the MIUI 7 and one of the very noticeable features is the user interface. MIUI 8 Stable version bring a more beautiful interface design in addition to having Xiaomi’s Lanting font and bringing in several features like mobile avatar, SMS fraud detection, and some other new features.

Xiaomi’s MIUI official website posted a comparison chart between MIUI 7 and MIUI 8’s graphics interface and the differences though mild but is noticeable. The difference in the interface design range from desktop settings, dial-up interface, notes, weather, notification bar, advanced Calculator app, tape recorders and system updates.

Read More: MIUI 8 Released: New Visuals, Features & Apps Detailed Here

Apart from the added features, the MIUI 8 vs MIUI 7 design differences in the interface may not look enticing enough to want to upgrade and there might be some out there who prefer holding on to their  MIUI 7. So, between MIUI 7 and MIUI 8 which do you prefer? Meanwhile, you can check out more photos of the MIUI 7 and MIUI 8 interface designs.

The post MIUI 8 vs MIUI 7 : Interface & Design Changes Compared (Pictures) appeared first on Gizmochina.

MIUI is one of the world’s popular ROMs, and it is found inside all the Xiaomi smartphones that are sold globally. The ROM has been praised for its simple design and features, however, it also gets a fair share of criticisms, especially about the advertising policy of the company inside MIUI. If you have ever used the UI, you would notice that there are advertisements displayed in the interface. In fact, the company’s UI has been often criticized in China for putting advertisements everywhere, and some even calling it the ADUI. Yesterday evening, when Xiaomi CEO’s Lei Jun was live, a couple of questions about MIUI’s advertising issues were raised. At that time, he revealed his views regarding this issue.

According to Lei Jun, users don’t usually hate advertising, rather, they hate the “annoying” kind of ads. This is similar to what some of the Xiaomi employees had to say about this topic earlier. Also, to be honest, we have to understand that Xiaomi makes little money from selling its smartphones, so it tries to make it up via other channels like ads in MIUI. However, Lei Jun further added that the new version of MIUI comes with a lot less ads, and if you think they are annoying, you can report it to the company.

We will have to wait and see whether the company has reduced the ads on the new MIUI 8 version. It comes with a lot of new features, most of which are listed in detail in this article. The ROM is currently in open beta and soon will be released to most Xiaomi smartphones.

Do you think the ads in MIUI are annoying?

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Late last month, we reported that Android 6.0 based MIUI 7 has entered closed beta for a bunch of Xiaomi models like the Mi Note, Mi 4, Mi 3 etc. Now, it looks like the ROM is finally getting to the next stage as a screenshot from a user reveals that the Mi Note is getting an updated developer ROM based on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow version.

The screenshot reveals that the build number of the new ROM will be MRA58K and the phone runs on the new MIUI 7 version based on Android Marshmallow. It is said that the ROM will be available to download this week and you can update your developer ROM to this version pretty soon.

It’s actually great to see Android 6.0 on the Mi Note within a few months of the new version’s release. However, if you are looking for a stable build, it may take some time. Especially since the development will be slow during early February when China celebrates its annual Spring Festival. So, you can expect a stable release of MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0 sometime after the festival.

The post Xiaomi Mi Note Getting Android 6.0 based MIUI 7 Developer ROM This Week appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi announced the new version of its OS, the MIUI 7 back in August. Immediately, the developer versions of the OS were available to download to the users. Now, after nearly two months of testing and optimization, the stable versions of MIUI 7 will start rolling out from October 27. This means, you will soon start getting notifications for an update to the latest MIUI 7 version.

The company is offering two options to its users to install the new UI update. You can either wait for the notification to hit your devices and update your phone to MIUI 7 via OTA update. Or else, you can go to the MIUI Downloads page and manually download the ROM package for your device. The ROM builds will be available to download on the same date as it starts rolling out to smartphones.
In case you are wondering which phones will get the MIUI 7 update, the company will release more information in the coming days.

The post MIUI 7 Global Stable Build To Start Rolling Out From October 27! appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few weeks back, a leading IHS analyst, Pan Juitang had said that the new generation Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 will most likely run on Windows 10 OS and will release sometime in the third quarter of 2015.

Since then, we have heard a couple of times about the new generation model supporting both Windows 10 and Android Operating systems. So, in such a scenario, users can use both Windows 10 as well as MIUI 7 on a single device.

Now, Xiaomi has officially released a new teaser on Weibo, with the words, Xiaomi Mi Pad x 2 = ????. Considering this teaser, it looks like Xiaomi will announce the new Mi Pad 2 tomorrow. Although the “x 2” in the teaser could mean second generation, but given the way its presented, it may also hint at the possibility of dual OS support.

We have seen small time manufacturers like Teclast, Vido and Ramos highlight dual OS support for their tablets, but major manufacturers still are reluctant to include two different OSes in a machine. So, it would really be exciting to see if Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 provides dual boot support.

However, we may not see the new Mi Pad 2 as early as tomorrow. If we consider the tradition, often the first teasers from Xiaomi are for the date of the launch event. So, tomorrow we may just see an announcement from the company about a new product launch event.

Anyways, this does confirm the existence of a new Mi Pad version. So, lets patiently wait for more information later tomorrow.

The post Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 May Feature Dual OS: Windows 10 + MIUI 7? appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi officially announced the MIUI 7 OS for its smartphones on August 19 worldwide. The new operating system comes with little changes in the design department, but when it comes to features, you can expect a lot of new things. The company promised that the MIUI 7 version for all Xiaomi smartphones will start to roll out from August 24. Given that today is 24th, you can expect an update soon.

Those who are yet to receive an official OTA update can speed things by flashing the ROMs manually. Remember that you need to be using MIUI Global Beta ROM to get updates as soon as possible. Its different from the MIUI Global Stable ROM in the sense that the updates are more frequent in the beta version which also means you get more bugs. However, given the frequency of updates are usually around 2 weeks, expect bug fixes to be pretty fast too.

In case you don’t want to full wipe while flashing the new MIUI 7 Global beta versions, you can wait for an official OTA update. The company has promised MIUI 7 Global Beta ROMs for Redmi 1S, Redmi 2, Mi4i, Mi3, Mi4, Redmi Note 3G and Redmi Note 4G via OTA update in the coming days.

Remember that MIUI has a huge fan following and you’ll probably have to try downloading it a couple of times to succeed. If you can’t download it right now, wait for a couple of hours.

You can check out the MIUI Global Beta ROMs from here [Also contains flashing instructions].

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However, time and again, Xiaomi has stressed that MIUI 7 is not based on a single Android version. In fact, there is no particular relation between MIUI 7 and the Android version on which it runs. As a result, its possible to get MIUI 7 even on phones based on Android 4.4.

Users who got the update and were stuck on Android 4.4 started criticizing Xiaomi’s MIUI team as they expected their phones to be upgraded to Android 5.0 with the new MIUI 7. Now, Sun Peng, MIUI development Engineer has come forward to clarify a few things about the MIUI 7 OTA update.

He says that Xiaomi or MIUI is not to be blamed for this. It’s actually the fault of the chip manufacturers who don’t update their chipsets. As a result, even though MIUI team is anxious to upgrade all Xiaomi smartphones to the latest MIUI 7 based on Android 5.0, its not really in their hands to do so. So, if you are one of those unfortunate users who have a slightly old device (like Redmi 1S), you’ll probably get the new update but based on the old Android 4.4 KitKat version.

MIUI 7 is definitely a great upgrade irrespective of the Android version that it is based on. The company has said that the system optimization of the UI has helped increase the speed by up to 30% which the user will will reflect in the phone’s everyday performance. So, even if you are stuck with Android 4.4, you should see some performance improvements and feature additions with the new MIUI 7.

Xiaomi will release MIUI 7 internationally later today.

So, what do you think about this? Will you be happy with performance improvements on MIUI that’s based on Android 4.4? Or are you disappointed to hear that some phones may not upgrade to Android 5.0?

The post If Your Xiaomi Phone Doesn’t Get Android 5.0, Blame Your Chipset Manufacturer appeared first on Gizmochina.

Although Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 was announced today, the main event was for the release of Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 7 version based on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS. The company has made some great changes in the design as well as performance aspects in the new MIUI 7 version. Xiaomi also adds that there are over 150 million MIUI users worldwide as of now.

First of all, the new OS comes with a lot of optimizations which the company claims improves battery life to up to 25%. What’s with the help of scenario based CPU scheduling, the MIUI 7 OS improves system response speed and application speeds as well.

There are a lot of changes in the design as well, with better and larger fonts, four different UI theme options including one exclusively made for women. The company has also released a new MIUI Theme creation too MUSE, which lets users create beautiful themes with customization. You don’t need to know programming to use this tool.

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As for the features, there’s a new facial recognition feature which searches for all the images in the gallery with a similar face. Also, you can now apply video ringtones, which means whenever someone calls you, a video wills start playing instead of a traditional ringtone. There’s also a special pet category in the gallery now, where all your pet photos can be stored. For parents, the new kid mode on the OS will also come in handy.

We still have to see the new MIUI 7 OS in action to determine whether its a worthy upgrade in terms of design. But when it comes to features, it looks like Xiaomi did a great job with the new OS.

MIUI 7 will start rolling out as OTA update to smartphones in China from tomorrow, i.e. Friday. Almost all Xiaomi models will be upgraded, including Xiaomi Mi 2, Xiaomi Mi 2S, Xiaomi Mi 2A, Xiaomi Mi 3, Xiaomi Mi 4, Xiaomi Mi Note, Xiaomi Redmi and Xiaomi Redmi Note series.
For international users, you can expect the update after the Global debut of MIUI 7 on Aug 19 in New Delhi.

The post Here’s What You Need To Know About The New MIUI 7 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Just hours after we got glimpse of the first leaked screenshot of the MIUI 7 Beta version, the official Weibo account of MIUI revealed that it was going to announce something today. And a few hours back, the company confirmed a special MIUI 7 conference that is going to be held on August 13.

Yes, it looks like Xiaomi is going to release the new version of the MIUI 7 ROM that day. Its been a tradition for the company to announce new versions of its ROM in August and this time too, its sticking with the same tradition.

The 7 on the image comes with a lot of colors, hinting at the new look of the Xiaomi OS. Unfortunately, the leaked screenshot that we saw yesterday was of little help, with the only major difference in the image as compared to the current versions being the battery icon. Hopefully, when the real version is released, it will be much more different than the MIUI 6 that’s running on most Xiaomi phones right now.

Well, given that the conference is less than 15 days away, we hope to see more leaks and information about the upcoming OS. So, stay tuned for more details.

The post Xiaomi Confirms MIUI 7 Conference On August 13 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in February, we reported that Xiaomi’s ROM, MIUI had crossed 100 million users worldwide. That number will have increased significantly in the past 6 months for sure. Despite its tremendous popularity, the company is yet to announce the new version of MIUI 7 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. However, it looks like the release date is coming near as new rumors state that Xiaomi is all set to announce MIUI 7 on August 16.

According to the leakster called Leaksfly, Xiaomi will announce the new MIUI 7 version on August 16. If you have been following Xiaomi for the past few years, you would know that the date is special. Almost every year on August 16, the company keeps a big conference with new discounts and promotions. It also happens to be the date when the company announces its new MIUI version annually. For example, the company released MIUI v6 last year on the same date. So, it makes sense for the company to continue with the tradition and release the new OS.

Most of Xiaomi’s smartphones are expected to be upgraded to the new OS. So, phones like Mi3, Mi4, Mi4i, Xiaomi Mi Note series and Redmi Note 4G could be upgraded to this Android 5.1 powered version after the release.

Unfortunately, the company is yet to confirm this news. So, stay tuned for more details.

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