10 Features of MIUI 12 on Xiaomi You Should Try

Today, Xiaomi is known as one of the most recognized smartphone manufacturers, and its value-for-money offerings have made huge inroads in a number of markets around the world. But a little-known fact about the Chinese company is that its first product wasn’t a smartphone, but MIUI: the software that runs on most of Xiaomi’s phones today.

So, in case you have a Xiaomi phone running MIUI 12 or are just curious about what this software has to offer, here are 10 features you should definitely know about.

Turbo Game

MIUI’s Game Turbo can really improve your gaming experience. Not only does it let you optimize settings for each game beforehand, it also offers a ton of features that can be accessed while you’re playing. Some of the notable features include access to a browser, voice changer, screen recording, and casting. It also lets you free up resources by killing background processes with just one tap.

Image blur tool

This is a more useful feature than you might think. We take a lot of screenshots every day, and not all of the information inside them is suitable for sharing. MIUI has a built-in blur tool that can be accessed when taking a screenshot. Not only can you choose a blur pattern, but you can also change the brush size.

Audio Assistant

Android isn't particularly accommodating when it comes to media volume, in that it doesn't automatically adjust based on the app you're using. Thankfully, MIUI's audio assistant does this. For example, you can lower the volume on Facebook while still allowing music to play at a louder volume in the background. It's a really handy feature, and it's surprising more OEMs haven't thought of it.

Second Space Feature

Many of us don't use our phones exclusively for work, and this can make it easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to spend quality time with family or friends. With Second Space, MIUI 12 lets you create a completely separate area — literally a "second space" — on your phone to block out some of the noise. While you can import apps and data from your first space, Second Space is a blank slate that can be set up just for work apps. The best part about this feature is that you can set a passcode/fingerprint for each section and move to the desired tile, right from the lock screen.

Integrate Google Home in control center

Controlling smart devices with Google Assistant is convenient, but sometimes it's even harder to quickly access them on your screen. And that's what MIUI offers - Google Home integration right in the control center. You can even customize the order of compatible devices and choose which ones to display.

Reading mode

While Reading Mode doesn’t dramatically improve the experience, it does make reading a little easier by reducing blue light, using warmer colors, and adding a paper-like texture. You can even set it to switch automatically.

Dual application

While there are plenty of third-party tools that let you run two instances of the same app, MIUI 12’s implementation is simple and works well. You can use this feature to create a clone of an app like WhatsApp that doesn’t support multiple accounts. Since the duplicate app is sandboxed, it doesn’t affect the original app in any way.

Video Toolbox

The Video Toolbox isn’t new in MIUI 12, but it’s one of the most underrated features in Xiaomi’s interface. While using apps like YouTube, you can use the toolbox to adjust the video and audio output. More importantly, it also lets you play audio from these apps when the screen is off. This feature is useful if you want to listen to YouTube videos without having to unlock the screen (mimicking the YouTube Premium feature).

Floating windows

Android comes with unique multitasking features, but MIUI 12 takes it a step further with floating windows. You can quickly open apps in floating windows by pressing and holding the banner notification and swiping down. These floating windows can be minimized, expanded, and closed with simple gestures. There is no need to exit the app you are currently using to access another app.

Share images without metadata

Technology moves so fast that we can all fall victim to a data breach. Most of us are not aware of this and provide a lot of information (like location) with the photos we share on social media. Luckily, MIUI 12 has a feature that allows you to share your photos without location and metadata. Really neat!