Xiaomi released its new Android-based OS, or as some of you’d call it Android skin, back in October 2023. Its name is HyperOS, and it succeeded MIUI. In all honesty, HyperOS ended up looking very similar to MIUI, and even though it did bring some positive changes, it also introduced some negative ones. There is no question that HyperOS is a very capable piece of software, however, there is room for improvement, quite a bit. Xiaomi’s HyperOS has huge potential, but some things really need to change in order for it to grow.
I’ve been using HyperOS across a number of Xiaomi and Redmi devices thus far. During my time with it, I’ve noticed quite a few things I’d change. Just to be clear, some of these things, or maybe all of them, may not be a problem for you. However, I do believe that HyperOS has great potential, and with only a couple of right moves by Xiaomi, it can get there. As per usual with such articles/editorials, personal opinion does shine, so keep that in mind. Opinions differ. With that being said, let’s unpack HyperOS’ flaws, shall we? I’ll do it in no particular order.
Blocked third-party launchers
This is one of my biggest gripes with HyperOS. It is the only major Android skin that completely blocks third-party launchers. Other OEMs allow you to set them, even though chances are you’ll stumble upon issues with gesture navigation. That is thanks to Google, actually, as it does not allow third-party developers access to some APIs. It has been an ongoing issue. They even petitioned Google to change that.
Xiaomi, on the flip side, opted to completely block third-party launchers for whatever reason. That was not the case with MIUI, actually, back in the day. In fact, Xiaomi smartphones were amongst the ones that third-party launchers worked best on in terms of animations and everything. When Xiaomi blocked them, it was a huge change. Many enthusiasts use Xiaomi phones, so enabling third-party launchers and allowing them to shine properly should be a thing.
Push notifications
Yes, believe it or not, push notifications are still an issue on HyperOS. Well, at least the way it’s set up out of the box. I’ve been having an issue with most apps. Apps are set to ‘Battery Saver’ by default, which is the recommended setting. But if you release them from their restrictions via the settings (every app separately), you won’t have such issues. Notifications will be able to arrive on time, as they should.
The thing is, regular users won’t know that, of course. They won’t think to delve into the settings and change that feature. That creates a problem, of course. They won’t be getting notifications straight away, which will annoy quite a few of them. That only makes them annoyed with the company, in this case Xiaomi, which brings negative feelings towards their products. This should be a top priority for Xiaomi to change, in all honesty. Push notifications should work normally out of the box.
Lock screen notifications
Push notifications are not the only notifications-related issue that I wanted to point out there. Lock screen notifications present another issue, well, at least for some. The way they’re set up now, they function similarly to what you’re getting on iOS. Needless to say, that won’t sit well with a lot of people. What’s the issue? Well, when you reach the lock screen, you’ll see your new notifications. Even if you don’t read/open them, however, and lock the display, the next time you reach the lock screen, they won’t be there.
Yes, they’ll still sit in the notification shade, but if you’re using your lock screen frequently, this is an issue. The vast majority of other Android OEMs don’t do that. Notifications will sit on your lock screen until you either dismiss them or open them, same as they will in the notification shade. This differentiation between the notification shade and lock screen is utterly unnecessary, and I do hope Xiaomi will get rid of it in the near future.
Status bar icons
Xiaomi can also improve the status bar on HyperOS. There are several different annoyances when it comes to it. The first one has to do with notification icons. By default, Xiaomi limits you to a single app notification icon in the top-left corner. You can change that, though, and enable up to 3 app notification icons to appear. If you have more than 3 notifications from different apps, only the three most recent will appear.
Basically every other Android OEM allows for as many app notification icons as can fit up there. It doesn’t limit you in that way, which is the way to do things. Not only is the problem the fact that Xiaomi limits this to one icon by default, but the fact that you cannot enable more than three icons. It’s just a completely unnecessary change that HyperOS brought to the table, which was not an issue on MIUI.
On top of that, it would be nice if HyperOS would allow users to ditch some of the status bar icons. For example, the Bluetooth icon is up there all the time, which is unnecessary. Many people keep Bluetooth on all the time, for their smart watches, earbuds, or any other accessories. If it’s on all the time, there’s really no need for that icon to be up there all the time. It would be nice if we could remove it and just forget about it.
Home screen customization
HyperOS does offer plenty of customization, it does. However, there’s still room for improvement. I decided to focus on the home screen in particular. Why? Well, there are several upgrades that Xiaomi can make here that would benefit users. First and foremost, it would be nice if we could use icon packs from the Google Play Store. We’re unable to use third-party launchers, so there’s really no way to set up icon packs. Many other Android OEMs allow for such a move in their stock launchers, so there’s no reason for Xiaomi not to.
On top of that, allowing users to choose between more grid size options would be great. The options now are extremely limited. That is an issue with almost every other Android OEM, though. Then there’s the app dock row on the home screen. Some users opt not to use it at all, so it would be nice if we could remove it altogether and have one uniform canvas on the home screen.
Quick toggles
Xiaomi could also improve the Quick Toggles screen. It does remind us of iOS, but that’s not a problem here. Unlike on most other Android skins, there is no separate Settings toggle here. There is a toggle, but it’s a part of all the other toggles. You can move it around and set it where you want, but it’s not separate, it’s not intuitive enough. Many people are used to launching Settings from there, so it would be nice if it were separate.
On top of that, there are only two large toggles there, and you can’t change that, unfortunately. The only large toggles you get are the ones for WiFi and Mobile data. You cannot set the screen rotation toggle to be large, or the one for Bluetooth, for example. It would be nice if Xiaomi enabled this and allowed users to properly customize the Quick Toggles screen.
An annoying 10-second countdown
Another notable annoyance when it comes to HyperOS has to do with the timeout Xiaomi is forcing on its users. So, basically every time you go ahead and change a more advanced setting, like an accessibility setting, for example, you’ll get a warning pop-up. That’s normal, right? Yes, it is, every OEM does it. What is not normal, however, is a 10-second countdown. Xiaomi does not allow you to allow or deny anything until 10 seconds have passed. This is probably implemented to give you enough time to read through the warning. However, after the first time you’ve seen it, you really don’t need to read through it again. You know exactly what you want to do, so that countdown becomes really annoying. If Xiaomi did it only once after you set up your device, fine, that’s understandable. But no, in HyperOS, you get it every time a more advanced setting is changed.
