Xiaomi to Launch MiOS as Replacement for 13-Year-Old MIUI Android Skin, Tipster Claims

Xiaomi is tipped to replace its MIUI Android skin with a new interface. Thirteen years after the Chinese smartphone maker launched the first version of MIUI for its smartphones, a tipster has claimed that the company will announce a successor called MiOS. The latest version of the skin available for eligible smartphones is MIUI 14. It is currently unclear whether MiOS will be a new Android-based operating system like Huawei’s HarmonyOS, or whether it will be an Android skin like MIUI, OxygenOS, ColorOS and Funtouch OS.

Tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese) claims in a Weibo post that Xiaomi has decided that MIUI 14 will be the “last official major version” of MIUI. The tipster goes on to state that the only shortcoming of the smartphone maker’s popular Android skin were the animation effects. Xiaomi first introduced MIUI in August 2010 and the company has released 14 major versions of the operating system so far.

Photo Credit: Weibo/ Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese)

The Chinese smartphone maker has not announced any plans for a new operating system so far, but back in August, tipster Ice Universe (X: @UniverseIce) posted a screenshot stating that the “mios.cn” domain and MiOS trademark was issued to Xiaomi. At the time, Ice Universe has speculated that Xiaomi’s “highly customized self-developed operating system” could be on the way.

However, it is currently unclear whether Xiaomi plans to launch its own “standalone” operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) — just like Huawei did with the release of HarmonyOS — or whether the purported MiOS will be released as a software layer on top of Google’s Android that is offered to manufacturers along with Google’s services.

Photo Credit: X/ @UniverseIce

Even if MiOS is a redesigned version of Xiaomi’s Android skin for its smartphones, the refreshed branding could help the company shed the perception that its MIUI skin features advertisements — Xiaomi’s skin has not displayed advertisements or promotions for several years, but some customers still associate the software with ads.  

Xiaomi released MIUI 14 in December last year and the company also supports previously launched devices that are running on the older MIUI 13 version but still receiving security updates. MIUI 14 dropped support for smartphones running on Android 11, while introducing small refinements to the interface and a Photon Engine that was claimed to offer improved performance compared to previous versions of MIUI.