Wednesday, 12 August 2020

Everything you need to know about MIUI 12 (Update: India rollout)

MIUI 12 about page lead image

Update: August 12, 2020 (4AM ET): Xiaomi hosted a YouTube livestream in India today, once again reiterating the features of MIUI 12. The company also confirmed that many phones will get the MIUI 12 update in India this month. Check out the list of devices confirmed to be getting the update below.

  • Xiaomi Mi 10
  • Redmi Note 9/Redmi Note 9 Pro
  • Redmi Note 8/Redmi Note 8 Pro
  • Redmi Note 7/Redmi Note 7 Pro

Xiaomi says the rollout is starting this month, and some of these phones have already started getting the MIUI 12 update in India. Besides these, there are many other Xiaomi phones scheduled to receive the new software. You can read all about MIUI 12 and the devices slated to get it in the original article below.

Original article: April 27, 2020 (4:06AM ET): Xiaomi has announced a new version of its Android skin MIUI. Succeeding MIUI 11, the latest MIUI 12 software will bring a number of UI and visual improvements to eligible Xiaomi phones. It also gets new features such as a revamped dark mode, improved privacy and security tools, new animations, new wallpapers, and much more.

At its MIUI 12 reveal event, Xiaomi also noted that MIUI now has 310 million monthly active users and that the latest version is the first mobile operating system that has passed TÜV Rheinland’s “Android System Enhanced Privacy Protection Test.”

Let’s break down all the new features of MIUI 12 along with details about phones eligible to receive the update.

MIUI 12 features

Dark Mode 2.0

Xiaomi MIUI 12 dark mode 2.0 1 Xiaomi MIUI 12 dark mode 2.0 2 Xiaomi MIUI 12 dark mode 2.0 3

The new Dark Mode 2.0 on MIUI 12 will bring wallpaper dimming to Xiaomi phones. The feature will work in tandem with the time of day and will gradually dim the wallpaper as daylight changes to night time.

Xiaomi is also tweaking the way text is displayed as users switch between light and dark modes. In MIUI 12, the phone will automatically adjust the weight and boldness of the font to reduce glare when the dark mode is turned on. Font contrast will also be adjusted depending on the user’s ambient environment. This should vastly improve legibility of text in low-lit conditions.

Sensory Visual Design

MIUI 12 Sensory Visual Design 1 MIUI 12 Sensory Visual Design 2

In MIUI12, Xiaomi has visualized the core system information, allowing you to see the status of the system at a glance. Xiaomi is calling this the new “Sensory Visual Design.” What this basically means is that now when you visit the Settings page on your phone or check out things like storage availability, you will see the system information presented in the form of graphs and visual diagrams, making it easier to understand and consume. You can see examples of Xiaomi’s new design in the images above.

Super Wallpapers

MIUI 12 Super Wallpapers

Xiaomi has also introduced “Super Wallpapers” with MIUI 12. The company has created high-precision animated 3D models of Mars and Earth based on available space exploration data from NASA. You will be able to set these Super Wallpapers on both your locked and unlocked phone screens. When the dark mode is turned on, the planet chosen by you for the wallpaper will also enter night time, thereby enhancing your visual experience.

New animations

Xiaomi has focused a lot on a visual redesign when it comes to MIUI 12. The new skin will bring realistic weather animations and show real-time weather changes displayed in the form of a time-lapse movie on your screen.

The animation of app icons also gets a refresh. App icons will now generate real-time feedback based on your gestures. Xiaomi says changes in gesture direction and speed will cause application icons to react differently.

For instance, when you delete an application, the ripple animation will also affect the surrounding app icons.

In other areas, you’ll notice new animations for screen rotation, buttons, charging, opening and closing apps, and more.

New gestures

MIUI 12 also brings some new gestures to your phones. For instance, you will be able to swipe down on the notifications panel to interact with a notification without having to abandon what you’re doing. You can also slide out the notification panel to expand it into a small window, which you can drag to the side for a split-screen effect.

You also have different gestures for bringing up the control center and notifications shade. You can now swipe down from the top right side for the control center where you can quickly change some settings. Swiping down from the top left will bring up the notifications shade where you can see all your notifications.

Health tracking

MIUI 12 health sleep trackingXiaomi

With MIUI 12, Xiaomi users will also be able to record activities like walking, running, cycling, and climbing stairs, by just keeping their phones in their pockets. Xiaomi says it uses a self-developed “AI motion behavior perception algorithm” to record accurate health data and also save power at the same time.

Xiaomi also wants you to sleep with your phone on your pillow. MIUI 12 will bring sleep tracking that works by placing your phone on your pillow while you sleep. This, the company claims, can help track when you went to bed, how long you slept, how deep you slept, and whether you had dreams or snored.

AI calling

MIUI 12 AI CallingXiaomi

Xiaomi has been training its AI assistant — Xiao AI — to answer calls for users since last year. It’s similar to Google’s Call Screening feature which was introduced with the Pixel 3.

Xiaomi has now revealed that after half a year of testing, the AI ​​phone assistant has answered 4 million calls for closed beta users. With MIUI 12, Xiaomi has officially upgraded the AI phone assistant to a feature called “AI Calling.” With it, users will be able to customize the language in which they want their calls to be answered. They will also be able to switch between automatic or manual call answering. However, it’s unclear right now if the feature will roll out to users outside of China.

Enhanced privacy

MIUI 12 also brings enhanced privacy features to Xiaomi phones. For instance, you can now choose to grant permissions to apps only once or only while you’re using them. Permissions will be revoked once you’re done using an app. For apps that don’t clarify the use of permissions on your phone, the “Always Allow” option will not be provided.

MIUI 12 will also help users keep track of app behavior. You will be able to view a record of how an app behaves on your phone, the information it collects, the other applications it uses, etc, all in one place. You’ll also get a clear reminder on the top of your phone screens when a sensitive permission, such as your location, is being used by an app.

Another feature Xiaomi refers to as the “Mask System” provides rogue apps with blank information and a virtual identity to protect user data for five permissions including contact lists, calendar, and call records.

Photo sharing will also be safer. Xiaomi says sensitive information such as device details will be removed from image files before you share them with anyone.

More features

Other MIUI 12 features announced by Xiaomi include improved casting capabilities (such as screen-off casting and hiding private content), and an ultra power-saving mode that only offers basic functions (SMS, calls, network). Xiaomi says the latter feature is able to make a phone on 5% last up to five hours rather than one hour by default.

MIUI 12 release date and availability

Xiaomi has already started rolling out the stable version of MIUI 12 to some phones, including the Mi 10 series, Mi 9 series, Redmi Note 9 series, Redmi Note 8 series, and many more. The availability will vary by region so you might have to wait a bit longer than others to get the MIUI 12 update on your devices.

Eligible MIUI 12 update phones

The Xiaomi and Redmi phones eligible to receive the stable MIUI 12 update starting June include the following devices:

First batch

Second batch

Third batch

  • Mi Mix 2
  • Xiaomi Mi Note 3
  • Xiaomi Mi Max 3
  • Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  • Xiaomi Mi 8 Youth Edition
  • Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
  • Redmi Note 8
  • Redmi 6, 6A, 6 Pro
  • Redmi 8, 8A
  • Redmi 7, 7A
  • Redmi Note 5
  • Mi CC9e

We’ll update this article regularly as more MIUI 12 update details are revealed.

More posts about Xiaomi



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LGUs approve over 1,000 telco permits after Duterte hits slow process

After President Rodrigo Duterte's mandate to speed up the permitting process, local government units (LGUs) acted quickly on his order, approving more than 1,000 applications from telco firms. 
File photo: Cell tower in PH

Faster permitting process for tower deployment seen

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said earlier this week out of 1,930 applications submitted by telco carriers to 80 LGUs this 2020, 1,502 of them have been given the go signal. 

Its chief Eduardo Año vowed more pending applications would be approved in the coming months.
We will monitor the pending applications and we will make sure these will be approved. If they're rejected, we will know why, Año said.

Deploying cell sites has been haunting dominant players PLDT and Globe Telecom, both groups were at the receiving end of Filipinos' uproar against poor telco services. 

The two companies have long explained red tape continues to delay their rollout as processing time took months, 241 days at most, to build a single tower. 

Currently, the government was able to trim the processing time to an average of 16 days. 

Duterte last month warned Globe and PLDT to improve their services or face a shutdown. Both companies said they have been boosting their network to support the demand amid the pandemic. 



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Oppo could be working on phones with radical Li-Fi tech

Oppo Reno 4 Oppo Logo

Credit: Ryan-Thomas Shaw/ Android Authority
  • New Oppo patents reveal that the firm is working on a phone with Li-Fi technology.
  • This tech uses light to transmit and receive data rather than radio waves used by Wi-Fi.
  • There’s no guarantee that this will be a commercial phone though.

Wi-Fi has been the standard on smartphones for well over a decade now, stepping in where high data usage and a more stable connection are needed compared to 3G and 4G. However, it looks like Oppo is thinking about an even faster standard thanks to its latest patent filings.

LetsGoDigital has uncovered a patent published in China that details an Oppo phone design with Li-Fi connectivity. More specifically, we see a tiny sensor placed at the top of the phone and/or on the back to facilitate Li-Fi functionality. Check out the image below for a better idea of the design.

Oppo LiFi phone patent LetsGoDigital

Credit: LetsGoDigital

Li-Fi is a form of connectivity that uses visible light to transmit and receive data as opposed to Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves to do so. An official Li-Fi website notes that existing LED bulbs can be equipped with Li-Fi via a microchip, with these lights flickering rapidly in order to transmit data to a target device. The transmitting light flickers so quickly that it appears to be on all the time. Although the light needs to stay on to send data over Li-Fi, it can be dimmed to appear off to the human eye.

So how would this system work on a smartphone then? Well, the outlet also uncovered an Oppo patent filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) that details how Li-Fi would work on its device. More specifically, the patent notes that the transmitting light will send a Li-Fi signal to the phone, with the aforementioned rectangular sensors capturing this light as you’d expect.

One problem is ambient light though, but the Oppo patent describes an “isolation component” within the receiving device’s sensor that filters out all ambient light except for the preset Li-Fi frequency. Furthermore, the patent filing notes that the desired frequency is set when the transmitting and receiving devices first conduct a “handshake,” so other devices can’t read the data transmissions.

Li-Fi vs Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi and Li-Fi can co-exist given that one uses radio waves while the other uses light. But there are a few advantages to using Li-Fi versus traditional Wi-Fi connectivity, with speed being one of the touted benefits. Commercial Li-Fi providers tout speeds of up to 250Mbps, but other tests have also delivered speeds of 8Gbps to 10Gbps.

Another major benefit is the lack of congestion, as it doesn’t suffer from limited spectrum as much as Wi-Fi nor does it suffer from electromagnetic interference. Li-Fi can be more versatile too thanks to the use of existing LED lighting, allowing for its use in areas where Wi-Fi isn’t allowed or encouraged. The new standard is also said to offer better security as light can’t penetrate walls. But that fact brings us to a few disadvantages.

Read: What is Wi-Fi 6E and unlicensed 6GHz spectrum?

You can’t experience blanket Li-Fi coverage in your home via one transmitting device as is the case with Wi-Fi, owing to the fact that it indeed can’t penetrate walls. The connectivity standard also has a shorter range than Wi-Fi even without walls being present, capped at 10 meters (33 feet). Meanwhile, typical 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi has a quoted range of 30 to 46 meters (100 to 151 feet).  So Wi-Fi is still more suitable for the likes of malls and huge, open-plan offices.

There’s no guarantee these Oppo patents will result in a commercially available product though. Furthermore, we’ve seen newer Wi-Fi standards tackle some issues like congestion and speed. Still, it’s rather cool to see manufacturers exploring radical new technology like this.

Next: Motorola Edge review — Numbers don’t mean anything



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Google Lens can now help students with difficult math homework

Google I/O 2019 Lens Logo

  • Google Lens can now decipher difficult math problems and equations.
  • Google Search is also adding a number of AR models of STEM concepts to Search.

Google Lens has now become a lot more useful to students struggling with math homework.

Announced in a blog post, the tool can now help users decipher difficult equations and problems on the fly. After snapping a photo of the problem through Lens, users can scroll through guides and explainers that’ll simplify and outline the process. The system is powered by math service Socratic.

Lens isn’t the first math homework tool we’ve seen in recent years, but it does add a convenience factor for owners of Android devices. If you don’t particularly want to use Lens, there are a number of math apps available to teach users integral skills.

The best: Education apps for Android | Learning apps to increase your knowledge

Beyond numbers, Google’s also adding AR models of “nearly 100 STEM concepts” for biology, chemistry, and students of other sciences.

Those with compatible devices can use Google Search to access the models. “If students search for ‘Quantum mechanical model,’ they can view a 3D atom up close and use augmented reality (AR) to bring it into their space,” says Google.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, education remains a heavily disrupted segment of daily life. With students in many parts of the world unable to attend places of learning, that learning needs to be done at home. These digital tools will likely make students’ lives a lot easier.

Download Google Lens


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Vivaldi 3.2 makes its bottom bar more consistent and improves privacy

And the Tab Strip is now called Tab Bar

Vivaldi went stable on Android this year, but the developers behind the Chromium-based browser aren't resting on their laurels. Following the introduction of a forced dark mode for all websites in June, the team is now turning its attention to making the bottom bar more consistent. It's also going more private by giving users enhanced control over tracker and ad blocking via access to additional blocklists.

The bottom bar now features a consistently placed tab switcher/new tab/new item button in all of the browser sections, including the new tab page, the tab switcher, and the Panels overview.

Read More

Vivaldi 3.2 makes its bottom bar more consistent and improves privacy was written by the awesome team at Android Police.



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