3 ms·

Xiaomi's phones run Android, so what sets them apart? Just the price?

by r3m6 14y ago

happywolf 14y ago
Yes, UI-customized Android. You can install the XiaoMi ROM on other Android phones as well
yareally 14y ago
They run a version of Android called Miui (http://en.miui.com/ http://en.miui.com/). It's based off of AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and also some off of Cyanogenmod (http://www.cyanogenmod.org/ http://www.cyanogenmod.org/), another custom ROM for those unfamiliar. However, it's diverged to have little in common with either AOSP or Cyanogenmod in the past few years. They more or less try mimic an iphone-like experience on Android, only with more customization and features. I'm not a fan of it really due to the fact it's closed source and I won't touch any Android ROM that doesn't post its source. Quite a number of people like it, but there's many other options out there.
- acchow 14y ago
  Presumably the parts of AOSP they modify are open sourced? Or do Chinese companies ignore licenses?
  - yareally 14y ago
    They ignore them, sadly. They did a PR stunt claiming to be open source a while ago, but all they did was release some patches to apply Miui to AOSP if one wanted to do so, but they infrequently update it as Miui updates itself every week (https://github.com/MiCode https://github.com/MiCode). They don't have to really give any of that out since it's all Apache Licensed. However the ironic part is the areas of the Android source they must disclose under GPL, they avoid sharing. They don't release the kernel for any of their devices as well and that's a huge GPL violation. I would presume if they did release it for their own phones, it would be on here with the rest of their stuff. The rest of their official sites (there's a lot of non-affiliated English and other language sites that label themselves as Miui) are in Mandarin and much harder to navigate if you're an English speaker. Doing a google search for Xiaomi MI2 kernel source, turns up nothing positive about their kernel or about them and GPL though.
KaoruAoiShiho 14y ago
Miui is really good. Better than stock or TouchWiz from what I've heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hICCWO8vaXU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hICCWO8vaXU

Xiaomi's phones run Android, so what sets them apart? Just the price?

by r3m6 14y ago

Xiaomi's phones run Android, so what sets them apart? Just the price?

happywolf 14y ago

Yes, UI-customized Android. You can install the XiaoMi ROM on other Android phones as well

yareally 14y ago

They run a version of Android called Miui (http://en.miui.com/ http://en.miui.com/). It's based off of AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and also some off of Cyanogenmod (http://www.cyanogenmod.org/ http://www.cyanogenmod.org/), another custom ROM for those unfamiliar. However, it's diverged to have little in common with either AOSP or Cyanogenmod in the past few years. They more or less try mimic an iphone-like experience on Android, only with more customization and features. I'm not a fan of it really due to the fact it's closed source and I won't touch any Android ROM that doesn't post its source. Quite a number of people like it, but there's many other options out there.

acchow 14y ago
Presumably the parts of AOSP they modify are open sourced? Or do Chinese companies ignore licenses?
- yareally 14y ago
  They ignore them, sadly. They did a PR stunt claiming to be open source a while ago, but all they did was release some patches to apply Miui to AOSP if one wanted to do so, but they infrequently update it as Miui updates itself every week (https://github.com/MiCode https://github.com/MiCode). They don't have to really give any of that out since it's all Apache Licensed. However the ironic part is the areas of the Android source they must disclose under GPL, they avoid sharing. They don't release the kernel for any of their devices as well and that's a huge GPL violation. I would presume if they did release it for their own phones, it would be on here with the rest of their stuff. The rest of their official sites (there's a lot of non-affiliated English and other language sites that label themselves as Miui) are in Mandarin and much harder to navigate if you're an English speaker. Doing a google search for Xiaomi MI2 kernel source, turns up nothing positive about their kernel or about them and GPL though.

KaoruAoiShiho 14y ago

Miui is really good. Better than stock or TouchWiz from what I've heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hICCWO8vaXU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hICCWO8vaXU