Database Users

Gingerbread... What Is In Store For Us?

I'm interested in hearing peoples opinions on this.
1. Do you think Gingerbread will bring a complete interface overhaul? I'm talking animations, images, layouts, multi tasking, notifications, launcher & more
2. Do you think it'll be like sense, improving social network integration, tidying up a lot of images images and adding a bit more functionality to widgets etc?
3. Do you think it'll be like a skin, simply taking image files that exist throughout Android and making them look more modern?
If they do infact do (1), do you think we'll lose functionality of some applications? Will apps have to be designed or positioned differently on Gingerbread?
I'm very excited for this, especially after seeing a video of MeeGo OS running on a smart phone, it looked so fly. In my opinion Google is going to need big changes to compete with MeeGo's interface (Not saying MeeGo is gonna take out Android, just saying it looked really nice & polished compared to Android's current state).
Google did good work in 2.1 with the launcher, app draw, animated backgrounds etc. but the stock images, buttons etc look so old. I think it needs an overhaul!

Well apparently 3.0 is gonna give the whole UI and device a revamp of looks so i cant wait to see what they do, I hope they make android become as polished as ios and bring smoother scrolling in.
LevitateJay said:
I'm interested in hearing peoples opinions on this.
1. Do you think Gingerbread will bring a complete interface overhaul? I'm talking animations, images, layouts, multi tasking, notifications, launcher & more
2. Do you think it'll be like sense, improving social network integration, tidying up a lot of images images and adding a bit more functionality to widgets etc?
3. Do you think it'll be like a skin, simply taking image files that exist throughout Android and making them look more modern?
If they do infact do (1), do you think we'll lose functionality of some applications? Will apps have to be designed or positioned differently on Gingerbread?
I'm very excited for this, especially after seeing a video of MeeGo OS running on a smart phone, it looked so fly. In my opinion Google is going to need big changes to compete with MeeGo's interface (Not saying MeeGo is gonna take out Android, just saying it looked really nice & polished compared to Android's current state).
Google did good work in 2.1 with the launcher, app draw, animated backgrounds etc. but the stock images, buttons etc look so old. I think it needs an overhaul!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

msavic6 said:
...and bring smoother scrolling in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This... very much, this.
It's amazing to me that third-party launcher replacements offer perfectly smooth scrolling and the stock OS doesn't. I don't get it.

I also want a whole new camera interface with more control, and a built in note pad,to-do list, the basic functionality of a regular cell phone, better market support like the ability to block certain developers apps from appearing and higher quality apps as well as maybe a ui revamp in the market app. Also make more use of the gpu for graphcs. One last thing add a stock widget that displays time and weather and make it AMAZING.
Thats all i really want
OH and a better stock keyboard.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

My predictions.
- Hopefully a new Multitasking UI
- Improved or customizable notification bar( hasn't changed since 1.0)
- General graphic UI revamp.
A Google employee said of you look at the Nexus One gallery app,expect a similar vibe for the whole UI in Gingerbread.

Oh god, we're just two days into august, the speculation can't start now. Gingerbread was mentioned to be released at the end of the year, which probably means Q1 of 2011. That's quite a ways away!
Once you get this gingerbread speculation rolling, we'll never see the end of it, considering it's only august!

Forge94 said:
A Google employee said of you look at the Nexus One gallery app,expect a similar vibe for the whole UI in Gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really like the sound of this although I can't think of how they would do this? I really wanna see a web os like multi tasking too

erikikaz said:
Oh god, we're just two days into august, the speculation can't start now. Gingerbread was mentioned to be released at the end of the year, which probably means Q1 of 2011. That's quite a ways away!
Once you get this gingerbread speculation rolling, we'll never see the end of it, considering it's only august!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speculation can never begin too early!
If anything, we're late.

I think they are gonna allow us to customize the UI as we see fit. All those Themes and UI's in the Nexus Forum will be able to be added to stock Android's without rooting.

Blueman101 said:
I think they are gonna allow us to customize the UI as we see fit. All those Themes and UI's in the Nexus Forum will be able to be added to stock Android's without rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neat idea, although I think they'll still need a very nice & tidy stock version/overhaul to go with this as a lot of people will review the stock interface, rather than how you can customise it & many will never bother changing it too I imagine! (I don't understand those sort of people )

I think most of this UI overhaul is pure speculation based on the fact that google hired Palm webOS Designer Matias Duarte. He cannot possibly bring so much change in the few months he has been at google. But I will keep my hopes high that they can give a more smoother UI experience (where android phones/netbooks with additional graphics chip can take advantage of its hardware).
A strong and capable google official Theme Maker app (like metamorph) can bring alot of enthusiasm behind it. Would be tough though with so many unique android devices out there, how can they accommodate them all? :S

mythamp said:
I think most of this UI overhaul is pure speculation based on the fact that google hired Palm webOS Designer Matias Duarte. He cannot possibly bring so much change in the few months he has been at google. But I will keep my hopes high that they can give a more smoother UI experience (where android phones/netbooks with additional graphics chip can take advantage of its hardware).
A strong and capable google official Theme Maker app (like metamorph) can bring alot of enthusiasm behind it. Would be tough though with so many unique android devices out there, how can they accommodate them all? :S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree. i also believe that many people speculate that Duarte will bring in many UI changes, but as you said we are talking about 3 months which isn't enough time for a person manage to change the whole look of an OS.
i would be happy if google could at least get their act together with the homescreen which is still laggy as hell and the app drawer which has laggy zoom animations on froyo.
Having all those great benchmarks is cool and sometimes froyo is really fast, but especially the homescreen is a huge letdown.
And the homescreen is the place which you will see most of the time...

Shahpur.Azizpour said:
i agree. i also believe that many people speculate that Duarte will bring in many UI changes, but as you said we are talking about 3 months which isn't enough time for a person manage to change the whole look of an OS.
i would be happy if google could at least get their act together with the homescreen which is still laggy as hell and the app drawer which has laggy zoom animations on froyo.
Having all those great benchmarks is cool and sometimes froyo is really fast, but especially the homescreen is a huge letdown.
And the homescreen is the place which you will see most of the time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's laggy with you i suggest you return your device and get a new one... because this problem doesn't exist on the 3 nexus ones i've used.

I didn't realise he only had 3 months to work with it... :/
Although I imagine he has quite a team working with him to get a lot done in whatever time they have!

I'm running stock Froyo and I don't notice any lag in the homescreen and the app drawer. I installed Launcherpro before and I didn't notice any difference in scrolling. Both stock homescreen and Launcherpro homescreen have smooth scrolling.
Maybe someone can direct me with a video that can show me what a laggy scrolling is like.

yeah i dont get the laggy scrolling either, but then again i use launcher pro for so long now. i'm getting really sick of people comparing choppy scrolling, i want to make a video showing otherwise!! i'll admit certain UI lists do get choppy. but most are not so.

oh and doesnt anybody listen to android podcasts? last week android guys podcast leaked a little rumor that gingerbread was all about tablets, heard from someone directly involved. make of that what you will.

im personally against making the UI look more like iOS... i like the direction that windows 7 mobile is headed with the simplistic 2 tone menus and choice of text over icons.. things like pretty scrolling and fancy animated icons add more bloat

nobody said anything about making the UI look like an iphone, it was said to make the UI be AS POLISHED as the ios is.
norazi said:
im personally against making the UI look more like iOS... i like the direction that windows 7 mobile is headed with the simplistic 2 tone menus and choice of text over icons.. things like pretty scrolling and fancy animated icons add more bloat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Gingerbread will make Android look like the Gallery app. If you watch the Google I/O videos on YouTube you see that a new music app is being used which has the UI of the current Gallery app.
So when they were showing off FroYo back at the conference, they already had some work done for Gingerbread.

[Q] GingerBread predictions ? ((just for fun))

What do you guys think will be some features of Ginger bread ?
Take 3 guesses...be specific not something like "UI tweak" and lets avoid the known ones (tv like shutdown,web2phone app install,market enhancement).
btw not a wish list..but things you actually think may happen.
1. Google Talk. Along with video calling I think theyll be making this a more prominent app and possibly allowing MMS style media sharing or integration with other com services (yahoo/skype).Perhaps using it as a portal to there GoogleMe service coming soon.
2. Browser. I think copy/paste will be refined skipping the menu buttons and having it initiated by long presses.
3. Browser. I also think theyll be 3Ding it up a bit. Giving tabs very Gallery like look.

i think there will be a very large focus on auto synchronization of music, videos, and images through the cloud (as hinted, goes along with the redesigned media player).
also im pretty sure they will add a competing "find my phone" feature since apple has gone ahead and integrated that into iOS 4.2.
bascially i think the new market web site will let your control every aspect of your phone from the web: images, music, contacts, wipe, applications, and phone finder.
also the browser will probably have a nicer tabbed browsing experience(managing multiple tabs right now sucks).

EErez said:
i think there will be a very large focus on auto synchronization of music, videos, and images through the cloud (as hinted, goes along with the redesigned media player).
also im pretty sure they will add a competing "find my phone" feature since apple has gone ahead and integrated that into iOS 4.2.
bascially i think the new market web site will let your control every aspect of your phone from the web: images, music, contacts, wipe, applications, and phone finder.
also the browser will probably have a nicer tabbed browsing experience(managing multiple tabs right now sucks).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats two for tabs.
That actually would be fantastic. Does that integrate current functions or do you think it will be new methods.
((i.e for pictures will it just incorporate my current Picasa or will it be a seperate image section))

1. I believe that a lot of the core apps (phone, music, message, browser) will have a very 3D gallery like look. Most of the UI revamp rumors probably stem from this.
2. Most of the UI revamp will come from core app redesigns but as we've seen already, Android 2.3 now has a darker look. Expect a Google TV, Voice Command/Actions, Youtube App-like look. Lots of black/grey with bright, light-ish highlights. Also add in a lot of new transition and visual cue effects (Orientation flipping, end of lists, that CRT screen off effect, etc.).
3. Better multi-tasking / app switching, maybe WebOS good but differnet.

I'm sure Andy Rubin said something about Gingerbread having a focus on social communication and gaming. So expect there to be much better social integration in Gingerbread.
Didn't Schmidt say that Google Me won't be a standalone product but more of a social layer on existing Google products.

Award Tour said:
1. I believe that a lot of the core apps (phone, music, message, browser) will have a very 3D gallery like look. Most of the UI revamp rumors probably stem from this.
2. Most of the UI revamp will come from core app redesigns but as we've seen already, Android 2.3 now has a darker look. Expect a Google TV, Voice Command/Actions, Youtube App-like look. Lots of black/grey with bright, light-ish highlights. Also add in a lot of new transition and visual cue effects (Orientation flipping, end of lists, that CRT screen off effect, etc.).
3. Better multi-tasking / app switching, maybe WebOS good but differnet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldnt be surprised at #2. But 1/3 really seem like Honeycomb options to me. I dont think there was enough time IMO. That 3 second clip of 2.3 left me thinking there really wouldnt be anything truly new or cool until 3.0.
btw what do you mean "end of lists" ?
Sarg92 said:
I'm sure Andy Rubin said something about Gingerbread having a focus on social communication and gaming. So expect there to be much better social integration in Gingerbread.
Didn't Schmidt say that Google Me won't be a standalone product but more of a social layer on existing Google products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rarely ever play mobile games so maybe it already exists. But does any Game dev, or Apple have an XBLive aspect to it ?
As in you can log in see your "Friends" and see there scores,games played , message each other etc ??
I thought that would be a great thing for Google to add that would integrate with the other things but perhaps its been done.

xManMythLegend said:
I wouldnt be surprised at #2. But 1/3 really seem like Honeycomb options to me. I dont think there was enough time IMO. That 3 second clip of 2.3 left me thinking there really wouldnt be anything truly new or cool until 3.0.
btw what do you mean "end of lists" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't be so surprised at #1. Remember the IO developer conference? They already had a new 3D gallery like music app up and running on 2.2. You don't think they could have finished a couple of more between now and then? And that's if they hadn't already been partially done back then. I'm almost certain that #1 is a done deal for 2.3.
By end of list, I mean the bounce effect that other OS's like iOS have when you reach the end of a list. I just envision 2.3 having more superficial OS wide effects.

I thing there will be:
1. app to remove scraches
2. Hack iphone users
3. Nexus one front facing camera hack.

Award Tour said:
I wouldn't be so surprised at #1. Remember the IO developer conference? They already had a new 3D gallery like music app up and running on 2.2. You don't think they could have finished a couple of more between now and then? And that's if they hadn't already been partially done back then. I'm almost certain that #1 is a done deal for 2.3.
By end of list, I mean the bounce effect that other OS's like iOS have when you reach the end of a list. I just envision 2.3 having more superficial OS wide effects.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant recall...I just remember it being red. But if they were that far along then you may be right.
The Palm guy coming over and the purchase of that 3d desktop company came well after no ? Thats my reasoning for thinking not enough time.
Gotcha about the bounce effect.

xManMythLegend said:
That actually would be fantastic. Does that integrate current functions or do you think it will be new methods.
((i.e for pictures will it just incorporate my current Picasa or will it be a seperate image section))
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would imagine it would be more of a one way sync of photos from the gallery to the desktop (doesn't picasa autosync already?), while music and video wold mostly go to the phone, maybe from a designated folder (drop box style) or some online interface (letting you access your things from a backed up storage of your phone from google's servers) pretty much doig iTunes job without the ****ty program or cables.
either way i got the feeling that they really wanted to create a simple way to connect your computer and phone through their cloud.

EErez said:
i would imagine it would be more of a one way sync of photos from the gallery to the desktop (doesn't picasa autosync already?), while music and video wold mostly go to the phone, maybe from a designated folder (drop box style) or some online interface (letting you access your things from a backed up storage of your phone from google's servers) pretty much doig iTunes job without the ****ty program or cables.
either way i got the feeling that they really wanted to create a simple way to connect your computer and phone through their cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Yeah Picasa does for web albums you still have to upload your pics.
Clicking sync via web for all of it would be cool.

"gauravh1: One announcement... Get ready for next google experience phone... Gingerbread development is almost finished for market release. Excited!"
--http://twitter.com/gauravh1/status/4961718455242752
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

onesavior said:
"gauravh1: One announcement... Get ready for next google experience phone... Gingerbread development is almost finished for market release. Excited!"
--http://twitter.com/gauravh1/status/4961718455242752
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vagueness...always with the vagueness.

The developer of Dolphin Browser seems to have access to betas of Gingerbread, and he mentioned improvements to Navigation here.

I think gingerbread will have the ability to stop people creating duplicate threads of a single topic 100 times

charnsingh_online said:
I think gingerbread will have the ability to stop people creating duplicate threads of a single topic 100 times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROFL
10char

charnsingh_online said:
I think gingerbread will have the ability to stop people creating duplicate threads of a single topic 100 times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Show me 99 other prediction threads ill buy you a. 99c app.

Is predicting different than discussing gingerbread

Needs native .GIF support. Ive read various threads about how to get .GIF files to work. Nothing works. Really surprised google doesnt implement this. If theres something i didnt find that gets it to work feel free to post a solution .

Native gif support is in CM, go try it

ICS Change logs

This is for people who in multiple threads keep asking:
"whats new in ICS"....
"whats the difference between gingerbread and icecream sandwich"....
etc etc etc etc etc etc
This is a basic, copy & paste job from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history#4.0.1
THESE ARE FOR STOCK ICS - SOME CHANGES WILL BE MADE IN THE RELEASES FROM SAMSUNG FOR THE SGS2
Android 4.0 – codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich – was previewed at the May 2011 Google I/O event, and officially launched at the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich release event on 19 October 2011.
ICS version - 4.0.1
The Galaxy Nexus introduced Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The SDK for Android 4.0.1 was publicly released on 19 October 2011. Google's Gabe Cohen stated that ICS was "theoretically compatible" with any Android 2.3.x device in production at that time. The source code for ICS became available on 14 November 2011, three days before the Galaxy Nexus was released. New features included:
Enhanced speed and performance
Virtual buttons in the UI, in place of capacitive or physical buttons
Separation of widgets in a new tab, listed in a similar manner to apps
Easier-to-create folders, with a drag-and-drop style
A customizable launcher
Improved visual voicemail with the ability to speed up or slow down voicemail messages
Pinch-to-zoom functionality in the calendar
Offline search, a two-line preview, and new action bar at the bottom of the Gmail app
Ability to swipe left or right to switch between Gmail conversations
Integrated screenshot capture (accomplished by holding down the Power and Volume-Down buttons)
Improved error correction on the keyboard
Ability to access apps directly from lock screen (similar to HTC Sense 3.x)
Improved copy and paste functionality
Better voice integration and continuous, real-time speech to text dictation
Face Unlock, a feature that allows users to unlock handsets using facial recognition software
New tabbed web browser, allowing up to 16 tabs
Automatic syncing of browser with users' Chrome bookmarks
Modern Roboto font
Data Usage section in settings that lets users set warnings when they approach a certain usage limit, and disable data use when the limit is exceeded
Ability to shut down apps that are using data in the background
Improved camera app with zero shutter lag, time lapse settings, panorama mode, and the ability to zoom while recording
Built-in photo editor
New gallery layout, organized by location and person
Refreshed "People" app with social network integration, status updates and hi-res images
Android Beam, a near-field communication feature allowing the rapid short-range exchange of web bookmarks, contact info, directions, YouTube videos and other data
Hardware acceleration of the UI
Resizeable widgets – already part of Android 3.1 for tablets, but new for cellphones
Wi-Fi Direct
1080p video recording for stock Android devices
ICS version - 4.0.2
The Android 4.0.2 update was released on 28 November 2011, and fixed minor bugs on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, the launch of which was later delayed.
ICS version - 4.0.3
The Android 4.0.3 update was first released on 16 December 2011. It included a number of bug fixes and optimizations, and offered improvements to graphics, databases, spell-checking and Bluetooth functionality, along with new APIs for developers, including a social stream API in the Contacts provider. Other features included Calendar provider enhancements, new camera apps enhancing video stabilization and QVGA resolution, and accessibility refinements such as improved content access for screen readers.

really good to know exactly what changed.
thanks

Thanks
Now we just have to wait for Samsung to release official ICS.
Do anybody know what version we will get 4.0.1, 4.0.2 or 4.0.3 ?

Mittaa said:
Thanks
Now we just have to wait for Samsung to release official ICS.
Do anybody know what version we will get 4.0.1, 4.0.2 or 4.0.3 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4.0.3 or newer (unlikely). The newest leak KP8 is already on 4.0.3

You forgot it's blue
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

aceofclubs said:
You forgot it's blue
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but Samsung official ROM wouldn't be blue most likely.

A good reference. Thanks!

Yeah,
I just figured that theres alot of people who wanted to know what is in the newest ICS over Gingerbread (GB).
Overall its not a massive update, but does offer some very nice little tweaks.
For those who use an alternate launcher app, a good portion of these updates wont be visible to the human eye. I for one use GO Launcher, so ICS update for me wont be a huge one.

A similar thread for noticeable differences between leaks would be nice as well, the relevant info usually gets buried in 100+ page threads.

Hollow.Droid said:
A similar thread for noticeable differences between leaks would be nice as well, the relevant info usually gets buried in 100+ page threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh,
Thats where the problem arises with the leaked samsung firmwares. They dont come with change logs. Can only go by the visually observable changes, and post them. Anything behind the scenes (which i assume is a good portion of what differs from update-to-update) is basically never discovered.

I don't think we'll see the virtual buttons.
Sent from my GT-I9100

sxi200 said:
I don't think we'll see the virtual buttons.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you want that anyway? Whats the point of having two sets of buttons that can do the same?

So you can get to do two things at the same time!

mljjlm said:
Would you want that anyway? Whats the point of having two sets of buttons that can do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not! I just mentioned it because it was in the OP change log.
Sent from my GT-I9100

i highly doubt the SGS2 will have the second set of buttons in their ICS full-builds

[Q] Should we adhere holo design or material design for app in Android below 5

Previously, I had an Android app, which built on the top of ActionBarSherlock. The app runs well on Android 2.3 till Android 5.0
Currently, I'm in the process, of migrating my app, from ActionBarSherlock to Google AppCompat.
For the app running on Android 5.0, I'm targeting to use Material design.
However, if the app is running on Android 2.3 till Android 4, should I make the app having Holo look, or Material look? Does Google provide any official guideline on this?

yccheok said:
Previously, I had an Android app, which built on the top of ActionBarSherlock. The app runs well on Android 2.3 till Android 5.0
Currently, I'm in the process, of migrating my app, from ActionBarSherlock to Google AppCompat.
For the app running on Android 5.0, I'm targeting to use Material design.
However, if the app is running on Android 2.3 till Android 4, should I make the app having Holo look, or Material look? Does Google provide any official guideline on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting question, and one I think there is more to it then it first seems. I don't think there is an official, clear statement from Google that you explicitely hav to use ABC with Material in Android 4.x, but the material design webpage says they wanted to "Develop a single underlying system that allows for a unified experience across platforms and device sizes". I would consider across platforms meaning across Android, iOS, etc., as well as different and old versions of the OS. But on the other hand, if we take a look at the design principles they want us to follow, all the screenshots are from 4.x and there is no mention of MD (there is one on the landing page though). Feels all a bit clumsy and unfinsished to me, as if they didn't really know what to do with the old guidelines...
And as hard as Material tries to promote consistency, doesn't it break consistency inside older versions of Android where all system apps are still using holo? Well yeah, they certainly do, but we've had the same problem with holo on 2.x devices... And as far as Google themselves, they are in the process of bringing all their apps to material on all devices and all versions of Android. I guess we can gladly follow them and use the Material theme everywhere, since it is more important that your app stays (almost) consistent with itself between Android versions than supporting outdated design languages and devices (which should have been updated to Lollipop anyway). Imagine someone having a KitKat Sony phone and a Nexus 7. You really want them to see two different apps everytime they switch from phone to tablet?
tl;dr use MD whenever possible, but if it's too much work fall back to holo

Why I switched to MIUI

This is a post I did on my blog, I didn't want to link it because I'm not sure if it's against the forum rules. So mods, if at any time you feel this review is unfit, I have no problem with you closing the thread or removing it entirely. Just let me know if you do. (Also, readers, if I got any information wrong do not hesitate to point it out to me. I'm as open to feedback and corrections as I can be)
After getting my second Android phone, the HTC T-Mobile G2, or Desire Z known internationally, there was one custom Android Rom that stood out to me. That rom was called MIUI. For those who don’t know or have ever heard of MIUI (pronounced me-you-I), it is a custom Android-based Rom developed by a Chinese team called Xiaomi that received a lot of english ports to now close to 300 or more phones, who later went on to form their own company that features phones, smart appliances, and more. At the time, the current version was MIUI Version 3, and I figured why not give it a try? I liked the concept of it, having all the icons on the homescreen similar to how iOS has their homescreen layout, but with the ability to place icons anywhere and also have widgets on any page wherever you want. The only thing about it was that it wasn’t really visually appealing to me, as it wasn’t as refined in my opinion as iOS. Keep in mind throughout reading this that I have used an iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, and the iPhone 4 up until I broke it before I switched to an Android phone. I ended up flashing back to a custom HTC Sense based Rom. Later on a port of MIUI Version 4 arrived for the Desire Z. I went ahead and installed that, but it was still kind of lacking something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, so back to Sense again it was. My next Android phone was the Google Nexus 4, although that lasted about 2 weeks until I shattered the screen rendering it useless. I picked up the Moto G 1st gen a few months later, which I found had a port of MIUI v5. I really liked how Xiaomi had updated the looks of the icons, how the system got a mild visual improvement including the lockscreen which I really did not care for on versions 3 and 4. I would’ve used it and explored it further if it wasn’t for the particular model of the Moto G I had, which was the Boost Mobile CDMA variant so it did not have cellular signal support. Fast forward to my current phone, the HTC One M7. I’ve always been a fan of HTC’s products and I really enjoyed their Sense 6 and 7 interface. About 2 months into owning it I found there was a port of MIUI 7 beta. I decided to install it to see the change of 2 revisions. I instantly fell in love. It is so much more refined than any previous version that I have tried. Sure the flat icons and flat design are somewhat reminiscent of iOS 7 and onwards, but they are unique and different at the same time. The overall design language that is prevalent throughout all of the system applications is visually appealing, and the built in theme application brings a very nice addition to find a theme that suits very well. In the screenshots at the end of this post I have the High Life theme selected, one of the four stock included themes. The lockscreen is very minimalistic, with swiping up to unlock the device, swiping left to access the camera, and swiping right to access what is called Mi Home. I have no use for Mi Home, as I do not have any other Xiaomi home products, and almost all of it is in Chinese. Xiaomi has built in a security app which I do find very useful. You can scan for viruses, see how many files and cache files are taking up space by apps and choose to clean it all up to free up space, allow root access for apps, it tells you the battery level, and allows you to block certain callers such as telemarketers, exes, and unwanted spam/con artists. My favorite aspect and feature of the security app is the ability to set individual permissions for every app you have on your phone. You can pick what apps have the ability to read your text messages, contacts, call history, location information, calendar events, camera, and quite a few more. One thing I have done is for almost every application, and Facebook and their Messenger app being a big one, is block access to almost every permission that they had no use to read, locate me or edit system functionality for added privacy. The only setting is having Facebook, Messenger and a few other social apps set to pop up a notify prompt to access my camera and camera roll only because of the occasional picture I wish to send to a friend or relative. They do not have the ability to access it freely at will. If you have gotten this far in this review, I applaud you for myself not boring you. The reason I love MIUI 7 so much is the familiarity of iOS, what I used for 5-6 years prior to switching to an Android phone, and the functionality of Android which is my favorite mobile OS. My next phone might very well be an international Xiaomi Mi 4i or Mi 5 model. In conclusion, the performance, the features, and the aesthetics of MIUI is what keeps drawing me back to making that Rom my daily driver. I no longer find myself flashing a new AOSP, CyanogenMod or Sense-based rom almost every other day (I was a flashaholic, which is the addiction of flashing a new/different rom quite often. I also stopped because redownloading 40-60+ apps every time got tiresome). In fact, it’s been about 3 months since the last time I flashed a rom other than MIUI updates. There are also still numerous features that I have not covered. I highly recommend people look into seeing if this Rom, or even MIUI 6, is available for their phone. Watch some YouTube reviews, give it a try for a few days. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was. I also highly recommend this for people such as myself who came from iOS over to Android. Thank you for reading, screenshots are below. Have a great day!

I've decided to try out MIUI after reading this. Sounds nice.

firedroidx said:
I've decided to try out MIUI after reading this. Sounds nice.
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It might take some time to grow on you, it did with me at first. Definitely delve deep into the settings and check out the themes app for different fonts, themes, I think it might have ringtones as well. Some parts are still in Chinese but it's nothing that gets in the way at all.

Although it isn't quite perfect for me, I LOVE the design. I'm going to test it out for another week and see how I feel then :good: