I have been sporting the MIUI (9.30) rom on my Nexus One for the past few weeks. Without a doubt, it has been one of the most intriguing custom roms to hit the wild. MIUI comes from the Chinese rooted community. Part of what makes it so incredible is its design goes outside the Android box.
There is an obvious influence from Apple’s iOS. Icons are rendered with rounded corner squares, often designed from the ground up for a specific app. Even if the app is not native to the MIUI rom, it provides a rounded corner background behind an apps icon, creating a uniform look throughout the whole OS.
MIUI might have borrowed from iOS to gain some of its look and feel, but there are plenty of custom elements added to make the whole rom feel unique. The launcher, for instance, has a small bar on top, making it possible to scroll through any number of desktop screens. Making a pinching motion on any desktop will show every desktop in miniature.There is also home icon on the bottom of every screen, making it possible to set a new home desktop in a pinch. A plus sign is also available to add more desktops if needed, and an extra empty desktop can quickly be closed by touching the little x on the right hand corner. Quickly touching anyone of them will zoom in on the desired screen.
Soft, bounce, elements are also evident in the rom. Whether scrolling through a menu or through desktops, there are no abrupt stops.
Holding down on the desktop brings up a unique way of accessing wallpapers and widgets. The desktop itself becomes a grid, making it easy to see how much space is available for any additions wanting to be made. All the desktops on the phone are also available in this mode. The idea is to drag a widget directly to the desktop a user wishes to modify. It is actually a very cool feature that goes a long way towards keeping the OS focused.
Personally, my favorite feature is inside the notifications drop down. Here you can access a ton of settings with simple to use icons. Think of the power bar widget on steroids, but also eloquently refined and unobtrusively in place.
Maybe what has made MIUI so popular has been the addition of an FM Radio. Nexus One owners have long known their handsets had the ability, but it was locked away and never made active on the phone. The FM radio requires Bluetooth to be enabled and users must insert their headphones to act as an antenna. Its an absolutely cool feature that has been a big part of why the rooted community has worked so hard making language packs available in other languages.
And before I forget, there is one other really neat feature on this phone. The ability to take screen shots. Holding down menu button /volume down generates a satisfying click, creating a jpeg image.
With all that makes this rom great, there are a few drawbacks. First, it doesn’t seem to have a great ability to store apps on a SD card. I am certain, like a lot of custom roms, this is an issue that will correct itself over time. Second, the launcher bar takes up a bit more room than normal. Using a widget like Pure Messenger Widget in a full 4×4 size ends up having its bottom portion tucked beneath the launcher. Third, Facebook contact syncing does not work. There is a work around using an app called SyncMyPix, but its not the same.
A lot of folks have gone crazy over the MIUI lockscreen. Personally it is not my favorite feature. But like everything else in this rom, it really is its own entity. I know I will be going back to Cyanogen soon, or even wait to see what Gingerbread offers, but there is a lot this rom offers for anyone looking for a unique experience on their phone. The FM Radio has already been ported over to Cyanogen nightlies, maybe the notification bar will be too.
MIUI Rom
I have been sporting the MIUI (9.30) rom on my Nexus One for the past few weeks. Without a doubt, it has been one of the most intriguing custom roms to hit the wild. MIUI comes from the Chinese rooted community. Part of what makes it so incredible is its design goes outside the Android box.
There is an obvious influence from Apple’s iOS. Icons are rendered with rounded corner squares, often designed from the ground up for a specific app. Even if the app is not native to the MIUI rom, it provides a rounded corner background behind an apps icon, creating a uniform look throughout the whole OS.
MIUI might have borrowed from iOS to gain some of its look and feel, but there are plenty of custom elements added to make the whole rom feel unique. The launcher, for instance, has a small bar on top, making it possible to scroll through any number of desktop screens. Making a pinching motion on any desktop will show every desktop in miniature.There is also home icon on the bottom of every screen, making it possible to set a new home desktop in a pinch. A plus sign is also available to add more desktops if needed, and an extra empty desktop can quickly be closed by touching the little x on the right hand corner. Quickly touching anyone of them will zoom in on the desired screen.
Soft, bounce, elements are also evident in the rom. Whether scrolling through a menu or through desktops, there are no abrupt stops.
Holding down on the desktop brings up a unique way of accessing wallpapers and widgets. The desktop itself becomes a grid, making it easy to see how much space is available for any additions wanting to be made. All the desktops on the phone are also available in this mode. The idea is to drag a widget directly to the desktop a user wishes to modify. It is actually a very cool feature that goes a long way towards keeping the OS focused.
Personally, my favorite feature is inside the notifications drop down. Here you can access a ton of settings with simple to use icons. Think of the power bar widget on steroids, but also eloquently refined and unobtrusively in place.
Maybe what has made MIUI so popular has been the addition of an FM Radio. Nexus One owners have long known their handsets had the ability, but it was locked away and never made active on the phone. The FM radio requires Bluetooth to be enabled and users must insert their headphones to act as an antenna. Its an absolutely cool feature that has been a big part of why the rooted community has worked so hard making language packs available in other languages.
And before I forget, there is one other really neat feature on this phone. The ability to take screen shots. Holding down menu button /volume down generates a satisfying click, creating a jpeg image.
With all that makes this rom great, there are a few drawbacks. First, it doesn’t seem to have a great ability to store apps on a SD card. I am certain, like a lot of custom roms, this is an issue that will correct itself over time. Second, the launcher bar takes up a bit more room than normal. Using a widget like Pure Messenger Widget in a full 4×4 size ends up having its bottom portion tucked beneath the launcher. Third, Facebook contact syncing does not work. There is a work around using an app called SyncMyPix, but its not the same.
A lot of folks have gone crazy over the MIUI lockscreen. Personally it is not my favorite feature. But like everything else in this rom, it really is its own entity. I know I will be going back to Cyanogen soon, or even wait to see what Gingerbread offers, but there is a lot this rom offers for anyone looking for a unique experience on their phone. The FM Radio has already been ported over to Cyanogen nightlies, maybe the notification bar will be too.