I was looking forward to doing this post back while I was reviewing the Mi4, but I was not sure which features were device specific. But the fog of doubt cleared out with the Redmi 2 review unit. Like for example, the real-time object focus in the camera of Mi4 was only device specific and was restricted by the chipset. But the beautify self-shot was a MIUI global feature that I will be covering in the post. So let’s look at some of these amazing MIUI 6 features that you will not find in other Android ROMs.
Beautify
The very first thing we’ll talk about is the Beautify feature for the front-facing cameras. In the generation where people love to take selfies anywhere and everywhere, Beautify is indeed one of the most important additions. The feature intelligently applies around 36 smart filters to selfies based upon the gender and age. Now we all know why MIUI front camera is always eager to guess your age and sex. So when you launch the front camera, the option is available on the top left corner of the screen. You can tap the option repeatedly to turn off and set the intensity of beautification. You can also set a timer if you swipe to the left. The timer is just for 2 seconds, but the developers have intelligently placed the timer clock next to the front camera so that every person in the groupie looks into the camera. So next time you are taking a groupie, make sure you turn on the beautify option with the self-timer.
Priority Notifications
With priority notifications, the MIUI 6 automatically detects the apps that you have on a priority and shows the notification icon in the status bar and hides all the unimportant ones with simple dots. So for example, the notifications from your email and messages would come up on priority while the ones coming from games and shopping apps about promotions would be hidden. All these notifications settings can be controlled from the Notification Center in the system settings. Here you can select Manage notifications to hide some from the lock screen and notification shade. You can also choose to hide the notification icons all together to keep your status bar clean. Cool Tip: Using the Toggle Position in the Notification Settings, you can change the position of the toggle button that appears in the notification shade.
Record in Call Audio
This is one feature that users are going to love when they wish to keep a record of the conversation. While there are many apps available on the Play Store for recording call audio, none of them work to give the best call recording from the persons we are talking to. The MIUI 6 can record any phone call from a single tap and save the conversation as an MP3 file. The feature works even when you are not taking the call on speaker and the quality of recording is way better than any of the apps can provide on the Play Store.
Amazing UI and Animations
MIUI has always been inclined towards smooth UI and better user interface and we have already seen many cool things with the MIUI 5. What changed about the MIUI 6 is the design. Everything in the latest version is minimalistic and looks clean and elegant. From the lock screen to the notification toggle button, things have slimmed down. The graphics and animations on the other hand have been polished a bit. For example, when you uninstall the app from the home screen, it shreds the icon into pieces, which not only follows physics but also shreds in the exact same colors the icon was built of. Another place you can see these animations at work is the power menu.
Mail Conversation View
If you use the MIUI built-in mail app, one thing cool you will like about it is the mail conversation view. So for the emails where you have multiple chains, you can view all of them as a threaded SMS conversation. The threaded view makes it easier to navigate if you have a long list of conversations. In addition, if your default action is to reply to all in the mail, you can send the reply as you would do for an SMS and send it. The app will automatically append your signature and send. The three dotted menu gives you advanced options.
Per App Data Restriction
Last but not least, MIUI 6 lets you restrict internet usage of individual apps on mobile data and Wi-Fi. So if you are one of those users who keeps their entire 3G data off just so that apps like Facebook and Instagram don’t use it all, MIUI comes in as a smarter OS. In the Security –> Data Usage, you can restrict Wi-Fi and data use of apps including the system applications. You can choose to enable just the Wi-Fi for some apps or disable internet access altogether.
Conclusion
So these were some of the top reasons I prefer MIUI 6 over any other Android ROMs including Cyanogen. If you don’t have a Xioami phone, but a MIUI ROM is available for your Android, do try it out. I am sure you will love it. For users who are already experiencing the awesomeness of MIUI 6, don’t forget to share your experience in the comments. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
