At PiunikaWeb, we praise Xiaomi for maintaining a clean-n-clear beta chanel for their phones and tablets. Interested users can try out fixes and new features much earlier than regular builds via this beta initiative. Moreover, their valuable feedback would be useful for the company to patch the bugs.

poco_f1_echo_issue_fix_beta_alvin_tweet
Example: Xiaomi initially tested the in-call echo fix for Poco F1 via their beta channel before wider rollout

In a sudden turn of events, the company decided to shut down the beta update channel for global users. Xiaomi, however, continues the internal (example) as well as public beta testing in China.

The primary reason behind this stance is to fortify the update experience for the ever growing number of phones (and tablets) made by the Chinese OEM. In fact, they have just announced the newest weekly update of MIUI China beta for a handful of devices.

redmi_6a_black_front_back
Redmi 6A: The phone already got Android Pie via MIUI China Beta

The changelog of the MIUI 9.7.18 (compiled on July 18) build is as follows (translated from Chinese using Google Translate):

System

– Optimized to open the anti-flicker mode when the user experience of automatic brightness (Mi 9)

– Update Google security patch (2019#7 ), improve system security (Redmi K20 Pro/Redmi S2/Redmi 7)

Lock screen, status bar, notification bar

– New adjustment notification bar visual style

– Optimized to modify the screen switch and the screen switch long press the jump page to

– Optimize the battery charging icon display (Mi 8/Redmi S2/Mi 8 SE/Mi 8 Youth Edition/Mi 8 Screen Fingerprint Edition)

– Repair sporadic cross-screen notification bar Clear button flashes of Mi 8

– Repair sporadic Bluetooth is not connected, but display problems Bluetooth electricity (Mi 8)

to fix the problem under native style notification, the notification icon changes to gray box
will open the lock screen camera mode optimized to hold the camera icon to the left lateral slip

Camera

– New camera to shoot sprouting new mode (Redmi K20)

Harassment intercept

– New number to call blocking feature multiple decks No.

– Optimize call blocking list supports all deleted (millet 8 )

Xiao Ai

– New support for bright-screen voice wake-up, you need to go to the small love class APP-Setup – Xiaoai Lab – voice wake-up (Mi MIX 2/Redmi K20/Redmi 7A)

– Added support for query contacts, long press number To copy, try to say “Query Mom’s Phone” and
try to say “Open the chattering hot search” “Open the vibrato attention”, Xiao Ai takes you to a good life

One of the major improvements in this update is the arrival of July security patches on Several phones, such as Redmi K20 Pro, Redmi S2 (sold as Redmi Y2 in India) and Redmi 7.

The Chinese OEM also tweaked the app switching page and introduced symmetrical app windows for easy transitioning. Of course the design is not finalized yet, but these kind of changes are giving us the glimpses of upcoming MIUI 11.

miui_9.7.18_beta_app_switching
New app-switcher in MIUI 9.7.18 beta

Redmi K20 series also gets new camera mode in this build. Apart from the subtle changes like new charging animation and improved spam call blocking, Xiaomi brings a number of innovative features for their Xiao Ai virtual assistant via MIUI 9.7.18.

Users can now search their contacts or wake up their devices using the smart assistant. However, there is no ETA about the global release of the assistant itself or its new functionalities.

Download links of the beta update packages for some Mi and Redmi phones are listed below. For other devices, please refer to Xiaomi China’s download portal which should be updated with these new builds soon.

  • Device: Redmi Note 5 / Note 5 Pro
  • Codename: whyred
  • Channel: China Beta
  • Version: 9.7.18
  • Android: 9.0
    • Type: Recovery
      • Download: Link
      • MD5: 9c82c9fd693b56b34ea822194b472e27
redmi_note_5_pro_red_front_back
Redmi Note 5 Pro
  • Device: Mi 6
  • Codename: sagit
  • Channel: China Beta
  • Version: 9.7.18
  • Android: 9.0
    • Type: Recovery
      • Download: Link
      • MD5: 46bc405cdd09e947df92b3db4ff0a9a6

Credit goes to yshalsager and the Xiaomi Firmware Updater project for tracking the OTA update URLs.

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Kingshuk De
896 Posts

I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.

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