Xiaomi’s MIUI 8 is finally here and it looks pretty colourful

Launching alongside the Xiaomi Mi Max today is their latest iteration of MIUI. Their custom ROM not only looks more colourful than its predecessor but it gets a bunch of new features on top of performance fixes and brand new looks. Read on to find out what’s new with MIUI 8.

Refreshed looks

The entirety of the interface has been updated to look more colourful, with an attractive array of colours The interface will even change colour according to the weather forecast.

Better power efficiency

If you happened to forget your powerbank, the new Power Saving mode will keep your battery alive for that little bit longer by freezing background app activity and other background tasks and updates to keep the phone’s primary functions running. Not a new feature for a lot of devices, but having a dedicated function will make a difference for battery life.

The OS will also limit chain start-ups automatically, to help keep your battery frosty and reduce lag.

Updated gallery capabilities

The gallery has received quite an update, letting you draw on images and add fun stickers to your creations. They’ve also made the gallery more space efficient, and its also now possible to select multiple images, edit them with filters and then share them with your friends. MIUI 8 also supports video editing capabilities, letting you put in captions, music, crop and even add filters to your videos before posting them online.

Prettier and more secure Notes

The new Notes allows you to view items in a grid format, and allows you the use of templates to snazz it up. It also includes some added security, letting you secure your private notes with either a password or with fingerprint.

Multi-window management

For the avid multi-tasker, MIUI 8 now features multi-window management so you can go about your tasks without having to close any apps you currently need open just to navigate to another.

Wallpaper Carousel

Their selection of lock screens have been updated as well, with over 12 categories of high quality images to choose from for the Wallpaper Carousel to cycle though. If you already liked their previous selection on MIUI 7, you’ll like this one even more.

MIUI 8 will roll out for all Redmi and Mi Note devices and will also be supported on the Mi2/2S/3/4/4C/4S/5 and Max. Beta registration begins 16 May, with beta testing to begin 1 June and the developer ROM to be released 17 June.