Alongside the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro, Xiaomi India also announced the next version of its custom Android skin, MIUI 11. Here’s what’s new in it.
MIUI 11 features
The update brings a new “Ultimate full screen experience”, with a minimalist design which has limited use of colours. This design is also available in Dark Mode.
The Wallpaper Carousel has an option to change the lock screen wallpaper every time you light up the screen. This is customizable. Homescreen wallpapers get a new mode called Dynamic Wallpaper. This isn’t just a Live Wallpaper mode, but actually lets you set videos as wallpapers.
Xiaomi has upgraded the MIUI 11 File manager app to support thumbnail previews for documents. You can also preview any document without using any 3rd-party app. This feature is powered by WPS Office (Kingsoft).
The Notes app in MIUI 11 now supports To-Do task management and, syncs the data to the Calendar. You can quickly access the To-Do list universally by swiping right from the screen. Optionally you can use the Voice Task to record your To-Dos.
The calculator app has 8 modes, and now works in a Picture-in-Picture mode, i.e., it reduces to a floating calculator for multi-tasking.
One of the new MIUI 11 features is Quick Replies, which allows you to answer incoming calls, reply to messages while watching videos, playing games without switching away from the video/game. This uses PiP. A demo of it can be viewed on Twitter.
Other features that are new include new natural sounds, nature alarm, Wireless Print, Dual Clock, Panchang, New Game Turbo, Gallery Month View, Mi Share and Casting.
The new Mint Keyboard app which was co-developed by Bobble supports English and 25 Indic languages. It can also provide translations with transliterations. MIUI 11 has health related features like Step tracker, Women’s health.
Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro exclusive features
There are a few MIUI 11 features which are exclusive to the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro’s Always-on display mode. The Lock Screen in MIUI 11 now has a Dynamic Clock. The OS now lets you choose Blossom (Symmetric Patterns based on Kaleidoscopes) to be displayed on the lock screen. It also has an option to display custom messages that you select.
The notification light which was originally set to use the pop-up camera, has a different mode. The Redmi K20 Pro and K20 screen will use a breathing light to indicated a notification has arrived.
The new OS is set to roll out to users starting October 22nd. For more details, refer to our MIUI 11 update roadmap article. MIUI 11 is not based on Android 10, not yet.
