What you need to know
- Xiaomi is already teasing the next iteration of its popular MIUI custom skin for Android.
- The company's social media today posted a MIUI 12 image, alongside the caption "officially set sail."
- The list of features it's supposed to bring with it are currently unknown.
Xiaomi's MIUI is among the most popular custom skins out there, thanks to the company's incredibly low pricing for its smartphones, which in turn have driven the usage of its custom skin to new heights. The company is currently 4th largest smartphone maker by worldwide market share and even holds the top position in India. Admittedly, its skin has its issues — the most prominent being the barrage of ads served to Indian users — but it is nonetheless among the most recognizable Android skins out there.
And, now, months ahead of its release, Xiaomi has already begun teasing the next version of MIUI. The custom OS' Weibo page this week sent out a promo for MIUI 12 with the caption "officially set sail." This could suggest the company's engineers have begun working on the OS full-time, though it goes without saying that work on the skin had probably commenced months in advance.
The post did little to reveal which features it'll come with, so we'll just have to wait for the teasers and promos that are certain to follow in the coming months. Some reports suggest that MIUI 12 will make the system-wide dark mode to all users. While MIUI 11 had already introduced the feature to Xiaomi phones, some users were left out.
It's also important to note that in Xiaomi's world, a major OS upgrade does not necessarily mean it'll come with the latest version of Android. The latest flagships from the company will likely feature MIUI 12 with Android 11, of course, but some of its other offerings may receive a variant of MIUI 12 that's powered by a last-gen Android experience. Case in point, the company's release of MIUI 11 for the Redmi K20/Xiaomi Mi 9T included a laundry list of significant feature upgrades. However, those builds were still based on Android 9. The company redeemed itself earlier this month, though, and finally launched an Android 10 variant of MIUI 11 for the phones.
Xiaomi Mi 9T
A little less powerful than the Mi 9T Pro, Xiaomi's all-screen midranger is still a force to be reckoned with. With the combination of a Snapdragon 730, a 4,000 mAh battery, a 48 MP main camera plus an ultra-wide lens, the Mi 9T already has a lot going for it. Add in the adorable pop-up camera and a striking design, and Xiaomi's got a winner on its hands
