MIUI 8 Release Date, Devices, Download Details Announced

Xiaomi India at its New Delhi launch event on Thursday announced availability details of the Global ROM of MIUI 8, apart from launching the Xiaomi Mi Max in India

Hugo Barra, Xiaomi Global Vice President, unveiled the MIUI 8 Global ROM at the New Delhi event, and revealed the MIUI ecosystem currently has 200 million users. He revealed that public beta of the MIUI 8 Global ROM will be available from July 11 in the form of OTA updates, which can be found at the Mi Community, and MIUI Forum.

Devices eligible for the public beta of the MIUI 8 Global ROM are the Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi Note, Mi 4i, Mi 4, Mi 3, and Mi 2. In the Redmi series, the eligible phones are Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note Prime, Redmi Note, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 2, and Redmi 1s.

Barra also revealed that the public launch of the stable version of the MIUI 8 Global ROM will be on August 16. Barra said the company has partnered with Mobikwik for one tap mobile and DTH recharge via MIUI 8 in India, and users will get 10 percent cash back once a month - 50 percent for new users.

New features in MIUI 8 include Mi Cloud Photo Sync, which keeps low resolution images locally, and uploads the original to the cloud; new video editing option where users can trim videos easily and add video effects; scrolling screenshots, as well as Quick ball - a hovering button that stays on screen at all times and can have shortcuts.

Other new features include Dual apps - the ability to have two instances of any app running on the smartphone - such as two instances of WhatsApp. Users in India will also get ringtones from Hungama (that are free for now). Hindi T9 prediction will be available, as well as T9 business search, apart from smart Caller ID features in both the dialler and messaging app.