



New Features in MIUI 12

Key UI Changes

Xiaomi has been working hard to refine the UI for the past few software releases. A close look at MIUI 12 should be enough to tell you that it’s the most minimal and clean UI that the software has offered to date.

The company has also improved app opening and closing animations in MIUI 12 to reduce stutter and tearing. The company has integrated its own technologies and algorithms into its Android skin to get real-time blur in the background while closing an app, for example. Several other new animations can be found across the board – even within system apps.

Updated Dark Mode Version

Xiaomi rolled out system-wide dark mode with MIUI 11 and today, it has announced a improvements to it.

First, Xiaomi has worked to improve readability and reduce eye strain while using the dark mode. You will notice automatic font weight and contrast adjustments across the board. The text will appear brighter and sharper in the dark mode as compared to the light theme. This is coupled with a ‘Wallpaper Dimming’ feature that will dynamically adjust the color temperature of your wallpaper – be it a system or custom one.

Global Free Window

With MIUI 12, Xiaomi has expanded the capability of the small screen window that allows you to reply to texts or take calls while playing games or watching videos. This feature is now accessible for every app on your smartphone. If you receive a text in between your game, you can slide down on the notification to open a window overlay. But, you can now drag it to the top right corner to see a tiny version of it at all times.

Mi Health with MIUI12

The Mi Health app was first spotted in a MIUI developer beta ROM last year. And now, the Mi Health app has officially been introduced in MIUI 12 to make it simpler for users to track their steps, sleep, workouts, and more. You simply need to keep your phone on you to see all your walking, running, or exercise data being recorded by the app.

Privacy Enhancements

The company adopts a three-pronged approach to improve privacy in MIUI 12. This includes Flare, Barbed Wire, and the Mask System.

First up, Flare will keep track of the behavior of all apps on your phone and present you with a list of apps that may be out of line – violating your privacy or abusing permissions. MIUI 12 will offer you tips and suggestions to take back control in your hands.

Second, we have Barbed Wire and it builds on the privacy improvements in Android 10. You can currently choose to permanently allow or dole out a one-time permission to access the camera or location in an app in Android 10. But, MIUI 12 won’t show the ‘always allow’ button if the app does not specify what it requires the permission for.

Finally, the Mask System lets users create and share virtual IDs with apps on their MIUI 12 devices. We have already seen similar implementations in Apple’s iOS 13 and Oppo’s ColorOS 7. It gives you more control over what data you want to share with an app.



