It has been a considerable span of time since the initial hints surfaced about MIOS, the prospective operating system that Xiaomi has been covertly (or not-so-covertly) developing. The intention behind this endeavor is to employ it not only in the company’s upcoming smartphones but more notably in their interconnected electric vehicles.
Towards the culmination of the prior year, revelations unveiled Xiaomi’s strategic efforts toward crafting its own operating system, distinct from the realm of Google’s system and diverging from the familiar MIUI and Android. This newly forged software had already advanced to an alpha version, signifying its readiness for imminent deployment in a beta iteration, poised for early adoption on the first wave of devices.
At last, the moment that was anticipated has seemingly dawned. A prominent leaker by the handle of @That_Kartikey recently disclosed on Twitter (yes, that’s still what it’s referred to) that Xiaomi has freshly secured the domain name ‘mios.cn’ within China. This disclosure effectively substantiates the fact that the Chinese conglomerate is indeed primed to introduce an operating system under this very moniker. As per insights from this leaker, the forthcoming operating system is expected to make its debut in the brand’s electric vehicles prior to being extended to Xiaomi’s smartphones in the foreseeable future.
What’s Unveiled About MIOS?
As a quick recap, Xiaomi has been diligently preparing its entry into the electric car arena over the past few years, with sightings of prototypes becoming increasingly common in China. Speculation and insider leaks have even offered glimpses of the vehicle’s anticipated appearance. The crux of MIOS’s purpose lies in serving as the operating system for the electric vehicle’s infotainment system. Xiaomi seems to be following a strategy akin to Huawei‘s HarmonyOS, aiming to establish cross-device compatibility, including integration with Huawei smartphones.
In this trajectory, MIUI would gradually give way to MIOS in the forthcoming years. This transition doesn’t entail a mere branching off, but rather a complete shift to an Android-based operating system. However, this transformation doesn’t imply incompatibility with the multitude of apps that currently adorn our smartphones. A recent revelation by another reputable leaker, Digital Chat Station, indicated that MIOS will maintain ‘compatibility’ with AOSP (Android Open Source Project), signifying that it will continue to support Android applications.
Presently, the distinction between whether MIOS will persist as an iteration of the open-source Android framework, similar to HarmonyOS until recently, or if it will truly manifest as an entirely novel operating system, akin to the freshly introduced HarmonyOS NEXT that no longer relies on Google’s AOSP, remains unclear.
Given the stature of both Xiaomi and Huawei as two major players within China, it’s plausible that Xiaomi could chart a path akin to Huawei by initially upholding AOSP compatibility within the early versions of MIOS. This strategy could facilitate a smoother transition between the existing Android ecosystem and the uncharted territory of a new operating system. The trajectory beyond this juncture would hinge on the response from users to this innovative software. A complete departure from dependence on the Google-operated system might lie ahead, contingent on how MIOS is received.
Nonetheless, at present, these insights remain within the realm of conjecture. The imminent focus for the brand remains the impending launch of MIUI 15.