Earlier this month, Samsung’s ‘Edge panel’-like feature made its way to MIUI. The Chinese tech giant called it ‘Smart toolbox’. The feature is still under testing but its name has already been changed within a few days.

Xiaomi recently introduced ‘Smart toolbox’ in the MIUI weekly beta channel. The feature is nothing but a clone of ‘Edge panel’ found in Samsung smartphones and tablets. It is also offered by other OEMs.

For some reason, Xiaomi took more time to implement this feature. Above all, the company gave it an unclear name. Thankfully, the firm has now fixed the name.

According to MIUI SYSTEM UPDATES Telegram channel, ‘Smart toolbox’ has been now renamed ‘Sidebar’. The new name comes via an update to the MIUI Security app, which bumps up the version to V5.8.1-211123.

The official changelog mentions the renaming of the said feature, fixing known bugs, and improving overall performance. Since there’s no indication of any addition, we don’t expect them either.

Like most MIUI options, we expect ‘Sidebar’ to get better with inputs from users in the coming days. Currently, it can be accessed always, while playing games, or while playing videos. It is only capable of showing pinned applications and some tools.

It could get smarter like ‘Smart Sidebar 2.0’ found in OPPO’s ColorOS 12 in the near future.

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Xiaomi is the only Android OEM to release weekly beta builds of its mobile operating system MIUI based on Android. The company is known for introducing new features first in this channel. Just a few days back, we learned about the addition of a feature called ‘Front Camera Assistant’. Now, the firm has introduced yet another feature called ‘Smart toolbox’.

With the introduction of curved displays, Samsung started offering a feature called ‘Edge panel’ on its flagship smartphones. This helps users to pin certain applications and functions for quick access.

The feature is now not only available on all Samsung phones but also on handsets from other companies like OPPO. The Chinese smartphone maker calls this ‘Smart Sidebar 2.0’ in ColorOS 12.

A similar feature has finally debuted in MIUI as ‘Smart toolbox’. Xiaomi’s implementation is similar to fellow Chinese OEMs.

Users get three options to choose from. They can either access this toolbox always, during gameplay or during video playback. 

If always is selected, users can quickly access pinned apps. While with the other two options, the toolbox will show tools related to gaming and videos, in addition to pinned applications.

The feature is currently in its initial stage but eventually, it may get ‘smarter’ like OPPO’s implementation. For instance, ColorOS 12’s Smart Sidebar 2.0 is capable of showing tools based on different usage scenarios.

Xiaomi is known for copying features faster than other companies. But for the first time, it is the last one to introduce a feature that’s available on almost all Android phones.

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