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Wow, Xiaomi’s new Android UI is almost indistinguishable from iOS 7

Malarie Gokey
By

xiaomi miui 6 ios 7 android skin
Image used with permission by copyright holder
No, that’s not an iPhone and it’s not running iOS 7. It’s the Xiaomi Mi4 Android smartphone — it’s just running the company’s new MIUI 6 skin. Xiaomi is one of the most prolific smartphone makers in China, but it is also one of the most audacious and brilliant iOS copy cats around.

Although Xiaomi has been accused of copying Apple’s smartphone and OS design in the past, tech pundits everywhere are expressing astonishment at just how closely MIUI 6 resembles iOS 7. Here are just a few examples:

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Lock and home screens

Right from the get go, it’s pretty obvious where Xiaomi drew its inspiration from for MIUI 6. Unlike most stock Android smartphones, Xiaomi’s lock screen asks users to swipe to unlock in the bottom center of the screen just like on iOS 7. It even has the same white text inviting you to do so.

MIUI 6
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Related: Move over Apple, Xiaomi is now the second largest smartphone vendor in China

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Then, once you’ve unlocked the phone, you’re confronted with a home screen that’s populated with brightly colored flat UI app icons, as seen on iOS 7. There’s noticeably no app drawer in the bottom row of app icons and all your apps range across the various home screens. Xiaomi also added the same ellipsis, showing you how many screens you have to swipe through.

Notifications shade, pop ups, and superscript

As soon as you get your first notification, you’ll see a familiar black notification box pop up along the top of your Xiaomi Mi4. Just like on iOS 7, you can then tap the notification to access the app and respond. If you ignore it, the notification will appear as a number in a little red bubble above the app icon. Sound familiar, iOS users?

MIUI 6
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To manage your notifications, you pull down the notification shade, which unsurprisingly, features the same translucent gray tone as seen on iOS 7. The layered look of MIUI 6 continues in other aspects of the skin, mimicking iOS 7 is the dialer, calculator, and several other apps.

Calendar and calculator app

Several of Xiaomi’s standard apps that come preinstalled on the Mi4 happen to look an awful lot like those Apple embeds in iOS 7, too. The calendar and calculator app look almost identical to those found on the iPhone. Even the color palette is the same: orange and white for the calculator and gray and brick red for the calendar app.

MIUI
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The compass app looks pretty similar, too, as does the dialer and settings menu. Really, there’s very little in MIUI 6 that doesn’t borrow from Apple’s design aesthetic. However, underneath it all, Xiaomi’s smartphones are still Android and offer some customizability, such as different themes, color schemes, and so on.

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Malarie Gokey
Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
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