Miui Alpha Launcher
Leon Marcellus
It looks as if the change has been inspired by the Poco launcher, which has the app drawer enabled by default and since users adopted the change so fast, Xiaomi decided to give the option to its Chinese and global users of MIUI. Additionally, you can change the icon size and customize the Home screen layout.
The MIUI Launcher is one of the applications available on the Internet that offers free downloads. This application is not the same as the paid versions available on the internet and that is good for those who do not want to pay for what they need. The MIUI Launcher allows you to see all the different launchers in one place, allowing you to quickly scan through them and choose the right one for your specific needs. This software will be easy to use and install and is a very user friendly program.
There are many other applications that are available through the app store and you will find it difficult to find out the right ones for you. The MIUI Launcher is one of the most popular ones, with many people not really understanding why it is so popular, however once they get to use the application, they will be impressed by the features and the way it works. This software will give you the chance to download the application and you will be able to see the different launcher applications and start to compare the different options available.
Xiaomi's MIUI comes with a tonne of features, but one major grievance that Xiaomi phone users have is the lack of an app drawer. And even though its absence is not of much significance from a functional point of view, it certainly has a lot of fans. Xiaomi appears to have finally paid heed and has been spotted testing a new build of MIUI launcher that brings the app drawer via a dedicated button on the home page. Moreover, the currently-under-development version of MIUI launcher also introduces support for app shortcuts.
It must be noted that the MIUI launcher build being talked about here is still in the alpha development stage, which means it will undergo further refinement during the beta testing before making its way to the stable version. However, it is not known when Xiaomi phone users can expect an updated version of MIUI launcher with an app drawer and app shortcuts to roll out via the stable channel.
MIUI's app drawer button is plain grey in colour without any design or marks, and on being tapped, opens an interface with a row of recent apps at the top, while the entire catalogue of apps sits below arranged in alphabetical order. A small down arrow button can also be seen at the top, which can be tapped to collapse the app drawer interface and go back to the home screen.
Aside from the app drawer, another change brought by the alpha build of MIUI launcher is support for app shortcuts. You can long-press an app icon to open a dialogue box with quick actions for performing certain tasks.
Keep in mind though that these fixes have only been rolled out to the MIUI Launcher alpha branch. FYI, an alpha build is an early release for testing purposes and is meant to introduce new features and bug fixes.
One of the many reasons I don't like iOS is its lack of an app drawer. Indeed, I want things to be very organized, and dumping all icons on my homescreen just doesn't work for me. Xiaomi, however, preferred to mimic Apple and decided to go against Android standards by removing the app drawer in its MIUI launcher, which essentially meant all icons had to be on the home screen. However, the company appears to be opening up by letting users enable the drawer in MIUI.
The launcher's latest alpha build (v 4.10.6.1025-06141703), finally brings a built-in app launcher without having to rely on third-party ones. The manufacturer is working on offering the same approach as its rival Huawei, who doesn't enable the drawer by default but gives people the option to turn it on. When activated, the apps are neatly organized by alphabetical order under a middle button at the bottom of the home screen. However, Xiaomi has decided to display recently used apps at the top, which isn't the most user-friendly layout, in my opinion. Also, there are no swiping gestures to open or close the drawer for now, but these could be implemented before the final release is published. In addition, MIUI also gains support for app shortcuts, which let you long-press on an icon to display a list of common things you can do, without having to go through the app's main screen.
It's surprising these features weren't implemented before, but at least Xiaomi is listening to feedback and working on improving its launcher. If you have a device running MIUI and want to give it a try, you can download the alpha build from APK Mirror. However, since this is an early version, keep in mind it's not stable yet and may malfunction. To turn the app drawer on, you'll have to long-press on the home screen, click on Settings -> More -> 桌面模式 -> 抽屉模式. Yes, these options are in Mandarin, regardless of your system's language, but they'll hopefully be translated when the final release comes out.
While the previous version didn't support gestures, the latest alpha build (v4.10.6.1038-06251834) lets users swipe up anywhere on the home screen to bring up the app drawer, as shown in the video below. Even though this confirms the company's commitment to offering an app drawer, it's still an early version, as the menu options to activate the feature aren't translated yet.
The off-white circle in the center of the home screen is the app drawer icon. A tap on that brings up a familiar-looking app drawer, with recent apps at the top and an alphabetical list of apps below it. The down-facing arrow at the top of the app drawer closes it, as does the back button as well.
What do you think? Are you happy you might no longer need to install a third-party launcher to get an app drawer on MIUI devices, or will you likely stick with third-party launchers regardless? Let us know in the comments!
Xiaomi's MIUI has been criticized for being an iOS-lookalike in the past, as this was one of the earliest Android UX skins around that had an app launcher without a dedicated app drawer. MIUI's default launcher had a home screen with a fixed dock on the bottom, and swiping right on the home screen revealed several pages of apps that were installed on your device. The lack of a dedicated app drawer forced many users to switch to third-party alternatives, and Xiaomi even released its own POCO Launcher with a dedicated app drawer to appease users who preferred it this way.
To try out the new launcher with the dedicated app drawer and swipe up gesture, simply sideload the APK on a Xiaomi device running MIUI. Once installed, long press on the homescreen and then choose the option that appears in Chinese (with no corresponding translated string yet), and select the second option.
This feature has been a long time coming for Xiaomi, and we're glad it is finally here. However, this does put into question the existence of the POCO Launcher and the purpose it serves in Xiaomi's ecosystem if the default launcher changes like this.
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