Xiaomi Reveals MIUI 8, Adds Refinement & Sleeker Design

At the company’s ongoing event in China, Xiaomi has officially unveiled its new version of Android, MIUI 8. As the followup to MIUI 7, this new update isn’t exactly a big change, but it does bring with it a slew of refinement as well as a sleeker look and feel.

One of the most evident changes MIUI 8 has is a new Gallery app. Now, users can just swipe up on an image to share it; they can also change filters for said images with only a tap. Other than that, Xiaomi claims that the redesigned Gallery app is “90% more space efficient.” There are also a slew of new video editing options – users can crop, add filters, music, and even captions to videos. While these are not necessarily goundbreaking features, it does add more features to the app, which may be appreciated by users.

MIUI 8 now also has a form of multi-window management, although the company did not elaborate just how this new functionality differs from similar offerings. To add to that, MIUI 8 can apparently detect scam and fraudulent messages now; needless to say, such a feature will be very useful to protect users from being scammed, although it remains to be seen just how effective the feature is.

Aside from these new additions to the software, there are various other small changes with MIUI 8. These include the ability to solve complex mathematical problems as well as a new Power Saving Mode, which freezes background app activities and suspends any syncing.

According to Xiaomi, almost all of its devices will be updated to MIUI 8. These include the Mi Note,all of the Redmi devices, and of course, the Mi 5 as well. However, the company said some features may not be supported on certain models. While the release date of MIUI 8 has not been revealed yet, Xiaomi did mention that the developer ROM – the Chinese version, of course – will be available on 17 June.