Barely months after rolling out MIUI 11 to a whole host of its smartphones and tablets, Xiaomi is seemingly getting ready to debut the next iteration of its custom Android skin, MIUI 12.
According to a developer who claims they were able to install an early version of a MIUI 12 ROM on their device, the software will come with several changes over its predecessor, some more noticeable than others.
One of the most notable changes is the new navigation bar that resembles the stock Android 10 look. A swipe on the bar takes you to the home screen, while a swipe and hold opens up the recent apps page. Users will also be able to quickly switch between apps by swiping on the bar left and right. All in all, the new gestures will hopefully make multi-tasking more intuitive and fluid than it is in MIUI 11.
Another major change in MIUI 12 will apparently be the notification system. The company is seemingly readying a whole new way to deal with push notifications. The new system will be a major departure from what we’re accustomed to in Android devices irrespective of whether they’re running stock software, OEM skins or custom ROMs. The new notification panel looks much like the ‘recent apps’ page in MIUI 11, thanks to the grid-like design, as seen below. It will likely be a controversial design choice should Xiaomi decide to go with it in the release candidate, so it will be interesting to see how the company deals with it.
Other changes include the revamped camera UI and an optimized Dark Mode experience, but it isn’t immediately clear as to what that would entail.
Either way, a recent leak suggested that Xiaomi might start to roll out MIUI 12 beta from September before releasing the first stable version in December. However, we suggest that you take these leaks with a pinch of salt, given that the company is yet to announce anything officially on the subject.
