Xiaomi Unveils HyperOS, the Anticipated Successor to Iconic MIUI

In a significant announcement, Xiaomi has introduced HyperOS, a next-generation Android-based operating system designed to succeed MIUI. Since its inception in 2010, MIUI, which started as a simple software overlay for Android, has garnered a devoted following among tech enthusiasts. This was even before Xiaomi had made its foray into the smartphone market. HyperOS is set to premiere with the upcoming Xiaomi 14 series and will systematically phase out MIUI, beginning with availability on Xiaomi's flagship models.

Notably, HyperOS is not just another ROM aimed solely at Xiaomi's China-market devices, which are traditionally stripped of Google Play Store access. Instead, HyperOS will be a global ROM, reaching beyond Xiaomi's comprehensive smartphone portfolio to envelop its sprawling ecosystem of over 200 different product categories. This ambit includes smart home devices and could potentially extend to electric cars in the foreseeable future.

"In 2014, when the IoT business began to take shape, we initiated exploratory development and verification. By 2017, research and development of a new system were officially underway, aimed at supporting all ecosystem devices and applications with an integrated system framework. This is our pursuit," Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun stated in a post on Weibo.

Expanding on the technological foundation of HyperOS, Lei Jun pointed out that the operating system leverages a mature Android base, tightly integrated with Xiaomi's in-house Vela framework. This is a quantum leap from the MIUI era when Android was still a fledgeling platform, missing many native features. Those gaps were often filled by third-party and OEM-enabled Android skins. With HyperOS, Xiaomi has fundamentally re-engineered the OS architecture by integrating it with the Vela framework, thereby making it compatible with a wide array of devices, from smartphones to potentially electric cars.

As yet, Xiaomi has kept the visual elements of HyperOS under wraps. There had been rumours that the company was working on a system dubbed MiOS as a replacement for MIUI. Despite its popularity, MIUI has come under criticism in recent years for becoming increasingly cumbersome, laden with advertisements, duplicate apps, and other forms of bloatware. HyperOS is positioned to address these issues while introducing a refreshing visual design language that is keenly awaited by the user community.