MIUI 12.5 with new privacy features & lighter UI announced: Supported devices, & Rollout details

Updated on: July 9, 2024

At the launch event, the Mi 11 Smartphone Xiaomi also announced the MIUI 12.5, which was the first big update after the MIUI 12 which was announced back in April this year. MIUI 12.5 is lighter faster and more efficient than MIUI 12. Xiaomi also brings new privacy features and less bloatware in MIUI 12.5.

MIUI 12.5- Design and Performance

Just like the earlier versions (like MIUI 11.5, and 10.5), it brings aesthetic changes but Xiaomi says MIUI 12.5 is lighter faster more efficient than MIUI 12. The company said it uses 20% fewer cores so that background memory is reduced by an average of 35%, and power consumption is reduced by 25 %. MIUI AI computing rendering power is also upgraded up to 20 times than earlier MIUI versions and UI animation has also improved. The new version has improved “MIUI Light Cone Motion Effect Architecture” which brings a dedicated thread for gestures, and priority scheduling with an improved response time.

More and new Super Wallpapers

xiaomi_miui-12.5_-live_wallpaper_techbyte — live super wallpaper of the Qionglai Mountains

Super Wallpaper of MARS and Earth was introduced first time in MIUI 12, now it gets new snow mountain super wallpaper from Mount Siguniang the highest peak of the Qionglai Mountains chain in Western China, that offers real-time rendering of the light and shadow and cloud changes for 24 hours. Other locations for Super Wallpaper Earth include Shipwreck Bay in Greece and Blade’s Edge Mountain in Italy. Xiaomi also says that more wallpapers are coming to the UI before the first quarter of 2021.

Notification sounds, Haptics

MIUI 12.5 also brings revamped notification sounds from natural animals up to 120 creatures from four major habitats- The South American Rainforest, Australia, East African grassland, and the Arctic Circle. Xiaomi also adds Natural system sounds like Wood, Sand, Water, and foam press for a Clock countdown. All these sounds are made with stereo and dual speakers in mind.

In addition to sounds, Haptics feedback has also been improved significantly. Xiaomi says it has refined the feedback vibrations of options like the lock, Tap, Gestures, etc. The haptics further extends to visually impaired persons too.

Privacy

Xiaomi has tightened its Privacy protection on the MIUI 12.5. Now the Clipboard protection keeps a log of all apps and lets users know which application reads clipboard content and has recording access. It also enables the Sandbox Mechanism on the File Storage application in which users divide photos, and data stored in a separate restricted environment to prevent sensitive information leakage.

Other privacy features include fuzzy position, improved browser privacy protection capabilities, Xiaomi App Store privacy protection, and more. Xiaomi has reduced the overall preinstalled system apps that can be uninstalled to 9 compared to other major mobile OS like iOS, EMUI, and ColorOS i.e., less bloatware.

MIUI+

Xiaomi has introduced a first-time cross-border connecting feature between mobile phones and laptop/pc in the MIUI 12.5 with MIUI+ so that users can do the following actions on the computer:

View Mobile notifications, Open Apps
Copy/Paste Text
Open Screenshots
View Web pages from Mobile

In addition to this, Xiaomi says the Mi File Manager and MIUI Notes will have a full-fledged PC-like interface with this feature. These not only support keyboard and mouse operations but allow users to edit documents on the go.

MIUI 12.5 will be available for all those devices which are running MIUI 12, but the features might vary. The internal beta update is already rolling out in China.

List of devices that will get MIUI 12.5 internal beta from December 28, and public beta in batches from mid-January 2021.