Be careful, we are navigating in troubled waters filled with speculation: Xiaomi is concocting a successor for MIUI. The signs and indications about it are starting to pile up.
August was a landmark month, with Xiaomi unveiling many new products during its keynote, from the folding smartphone to the tablets, but also the robot dog, and many more. But, Xiaomi is also preparing something totally new. Far from its already stated ambitions in the field of electric cars, a rumor is circulating about the secret preparation of a brand new tool that could reshape the brand’s identity.
It all started last March with a screenshot that went viral. This image showed the logo and lettering of what appeared to be an early alpha version of MiOS. But what is MiOS? The answer becomes a little more specific in August 2023, when Xiaomi quietly registered the domain name mios.cnadding one more piece to the puzzle.
Ambient speculation suggests that MiOS could be the replacement for the MIUI interface, which has greatly contributed to the international rise of Xiaomi. As a reminder, before the brand distributed its smartphones globally, MIUI allowed many Android users to taste the Xiaomi experience. How ? Simply by installing this interface on their smartphones via a ROM change. A strategy that has allowed Xiaomi to make itself known without investing heavily in international distribution.
MiOS: beyond the interface
While MIUI was “only” an interface, MiOS promises to be much more than that. Corridor noises suggest that it would be a fork of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), a modified version of Android. Which implies that Xiaomi aims to go far beyond the simple development of an interface: we are talking here about a full-fledged operating system.
It’s also worth noting that the name “MiOS” isn’t entirely new. We were already talking about MiOS as a potential system for Xiaomi televisions in 2014. This suggests that Xiaomi could consider a strategy comparable to that of Huawei and its HarmonyOS, that is to say the development of a multi- devices. The long term goal? Perhaps replacing MIUI across the entire Xiaomi product line, although the transition to MiOS for Xiaomi smartphones would surely take some time. However, it should be noted that at this stage, this is still largely speculation.
Do you use Google News (News in France)? You can follow your favorite media. Follow Frandroid on Google News (and Numerama).