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Ddyracer

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2009
1,786
31
rather just get an ios device than that thing. I tried miui v5 back in march or april and it was rather buggy. This thing looks even more like ios than the older version.
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
Xiaomi has been guilty of copying Apple. Yet, it is still very popular the way Kobe Bryant tried emulating Michael Jordan in the "Identical Plays" videos. Lei Jun has been highly influenced by Steve Jobs everything from black turtleneck and "One More Thing" announcement for the iPhone 4-inspired Mi 4. Look at all the products across all the ranges. The Mi 3 and prior smartphones are the only ones without too much resemblance of Apple products. The Apple of China.

But everyone steals ideas from everyone. Personally, I find the flat look rather boring. The best icon pack is from HTC Sense 5 or perhaps Android L's Material Design scheme. I also liked the look of webOS and their icons. Flat design was done better on Tiles with Windows Phone. I believe iOS7 grew on me but I still don't find it as attractive as Forstall's style. I use a MIUI v5 icons pack on my Mi 3 which was used on my Nexus One for years. Apple is also guilty of taking ideas. QuickType is a ripoff of SwiftKey but I believe people will say it's predictive system is so revolutionary. App extensions (communicating with each other) and choosing your default keyboard has been done on Android for years now. Replying a text from anywhere can be done on the LG G3. Yet, those are a few of the most interesting new features from iOS8.
 

cebseb

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2011
247
1
have you tried the Xiaomi yet?

look nice to use, a cheaper option to iphone although some versions are buggy as hell
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I feel grateful getting a Xiaomi just because how difficult it is to getting one. I see in the Indian market, they sell out 10k-20k batches within seconds. The degree of getting a Xiaomi or OnePlus One is quite difficult at that base price.

Read the Redmi Note will be arriving in India while the Redmi 1S will arrive in Indonesia and the Philippines on the same time. Redmi 1S is one of those handsets that doesn't try to ape Apple like they did with the Mi 4. The specs is near similar to a 2012/early 2013 flagship. Basically better specs of a Moto G or Nexus 4 with a Moto E price tag. I might go order one for the girl to replace her Lenovo.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Lei Jun has been highly influenced by Steve Jobs everything from black turtleneck and "One More Thing" announcement for the iPhone 4-inspired Mi 4.

I think he's sorry he ever did the turtleneck thing, which was more of a tribute than an attempt to be like Jobs.

He doesn't want Xiaomi to be known as the Apple of the East, but as the Amazon of the East.

He also believes in using methods that are polar opposite from Apple's:

- Apple likes high profit margins on hardware, and including only the features they decide upon.

- Xiaomi is all about extremely low profit margins on hardware, and they have a much more open user relationship. They are famous for including owner suggestions in their frequent OS updates.

They're the people's phone. That is why they're so popular.
 

Sensamic

macrumors 68040
Mar 26, 2010
3,072
689
Why do people even bother if a company copies another??

I just don't get it...
 

pedromcm.pm

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2014
483
0
Porto, Portugal
I think he's sorry he ever did the turtleneck thing, which was more of a tribute than an attempt to be like Jobs.

He doesn't want Xiaomi to be known as the Apple of the East, but as the Amazon of the East.

He also believes in using methods that are polar opposite from Apple's:

- Apple likes high profit margins on hardware, and including only the features they decide upon.

- Xiaomi is all about extremely low profit margins on hardware, and they have a much more open user relationship. They are famous for including owner suggestions in their frequent OS updates.

They're the people's phone. That is why they're so popular.

After recent news of what they are doing with their "mi" services and how they manage their data, you should feel embarrassed to throw your anti-Apple flag to us in this subject.

The nerve...
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
After recent news of what they are doing with their "mi" services and how they manage their data, you should feel embarrassed to throw your anti-Apple flag to us in this subject.

There's nothing anti-Apple in my post, and I was only talking about user feedback. It's just a fact:

Xiaomi asks for online user suggestions and implements them in their frequent OS updates.

Apple does not.

Heck, many Apple fans think it's good that Apple doesn't ask them what they want.
 

BrettApple

macrumors 65816
Apr 3, 2010
1,145
488
Heart of the midwest
Still around eh.

I'm actually still running MIUI version 1.12 from 2011 on my old HTC Droid Incredible. Got that thing in April of 2010 and it's still kicking as a secondary media device and backup phone.

This was back when it was based on Android 2.3 though. Still had an iOS like feel to Android, but nothing like it is now.

content_line1.jpg
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,080
19,080
US
There's nothing anti-Apple in my post, and I was only talking about user feedback. It's just a fact:

Xiaomi asks for online user suggestions and implements them in their frequent OS updates.

Apple does not.

Heck, many Apple fans think it's good that Apple doesn't ask them what they want.

And some wish Apple would ask them what they wanted and implement those changes.....

I did not see anything anti Apple in your first post.....
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
After recent news of what they are doing with their "mi" services and how they manage their data, ...

Oh, and I read up on the brouhaha about their data management.

Are you talking about when someone freaked out because the Xiaomi code connects to their servers daily to check for wallpaper and theme updates? (Just like the Apple App Store program checks for app updates.)

Or did you mean the other overblown "discovery", where it was found that their instant messaging app sends phone numbers to their messaging server, so it can tell who is available via data and who needs to be sent a text. (Similar to the way iMessage works.)

Such tin foil hat wearing reminds me of when people went into a tizzy after it was found that Apple programmers forgot to truncate the iOS location cache. Another case of much ado about nothing.
 

maxwelltech

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2011
423
104
Irvine, CA, USA
Good artists copy. Great artists steal. And stealing does make their products more appealing to the majority of the masses in China who couldn't possibly afford an iPhone. Good business move :cool:
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
A good read below -

Xiaomi's Phones Have Conquered China. Now It's Aiming for the Rest of the World

mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-04/chinas-xiaomi-the-worlds-fastest-growing-phone-maker

Xiaomi's innovation is really turning the business model upside down. Stuff like flat icons can easily be replaced with another icons pack. Theming is very common on Android with icon packs and launchers. It's not like Apple invented flat icons, translucency effects, transitional animations, and they did some copying of their own with iOS7. Closing apps is a riff from webOS but SLOWER. No close all apps button. Android even has launchers that can mimic Windows Phone. Once Material Design hits, skeumorphic or flat design won't matter anymore. Everybody copies, including the mighty Apple.

The iOS progression is very slow. Two of the top 5 best features on iOS8 has been on Android for years. I read the next iPhone 6 will have a bigger screen like 4.7/5.5 inches and maybe NFC! Wow! Revolutionary to like 12% of smartphone owners globally. A big deal. Apps can even communicate with other apps and you can now pick your default keyboard. And QuickType predicts your next words too! Maybe in a few years, iPhones will finally have TWO speakers, water/dust resistant, ability to delete photos in a synced album, delete songs, Bluetooth file transfer, pick your toggle switches, IR blaster, OTG, get read as mass storage, gesture swipes, add a back button, double tap wakeup, etc.

Maybe it is Apple's turn to do more copying instead of relying on yearly updates, app developers, and accessory makers to fill in the gaps. Not just focus on a UI flat design that can easily be mimicked by launchers and themes. It's not like ONE company can have ALL the ideas first. Baby steps, first. That's the pace Apple likes though.
 

grahamperrin

macrumors 601
Jun 8, 2007
4,942
648
Innovation in China

… Xiaomi's innovation is really turning the business model upside down. …

Thanks, I have bookmarked the article to read later.

I know nothing of the resemblance between Xiaomi devices and Apple devices, but a while back I attended a seminar with some focus on what was, at a glance, a 'fake' Nokia.

The seminar was very pleasantly enlightening. It highlighted some of the innovations, in China, around products that some people view as fakes.
 

Dontazemebro

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2010
2,173
0
I dunno, somewhere in West Texas
Still around eh.

I'm actually still running MIUI version 1.12 from 2011 on my old HTC Droid Incredible. Got that thing in April of 2010 and it's still kicking as a secondary media device and backup phone.

This was back when it was based on Android 2.3 though. Still had an iOS like feel to Android, but nothing like it is now.

Image

I remember running an MIUI rom like that years ago too on my HTC inspire 4G. MIUI has always been the iOS themed version (well as close as possible) of Android. It was based off of CyanogenMod. I wonder if it still is.
 

Ddyracer

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2009
1,786
31
Good artists copy. Great artists steal. And stealing does make their products more appealing to the majority of the masses in China who couldn't possibly afford an iPhone. Good business move :cool:

The thing about that Pablo Picasso quote that SJ made popular is there's a difference between copying pretty much how something is, that Xiaomi is doing vs stealing which is what Android grew into today ;)
 

pedromcm.pm

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2014
483
0
Porto, Portugal
A good read below -

Xiaomi's Phones Have Conquered China. Now It's Aiming for the Rest of the World

mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-04/chinas-xiaomi-the-worlds-fastest-growing-phone-maker

Xiaomi's innovation is really turning the business model upside down. Stuff like flat icons can easily be replaced with another icons pack. Theming is very common on Android with icon packs and launchers. It's not like Apple invented flat icons, translucency effects, transitional animations, and they did some copying of their own with iOS7. Closing apps is a riff from webOS but SLOWER. No close all apps button. Android even has launchers that can mimic Windows Phone. Once Material Design hits, skeumorphic or flat design won't matter anymore. Everybody copies, including the mighty Apple.

The iOS progression is very slow. Two of the top 5 best features on iOS8 has been on Android for years. I read the next iPhone 6 will have a bigger screen like 4.7/5.5 inches and maybe NFC! Wow! Revolutionary to like 12% of smartphone owners globally. A big deal. Apps can even communicate with other apps and you can now pick your default keyboard. And QuickType predicts your next words too! Maybe in a few years, iPhones will finally have TWO speakers, water/dust resistant, ability to delete photos in a synced album, delete songs, Bluetooth file transfer, pick your toggle switches, IR blaster, OTG, get read as mass storage, gesture swipes, add a back button, double tap wakeup, etc.

Maybe it is Apple's turn to do more copying instead of relying on yearly updates, app developers, and accessory makers to fill in the gaps. Not just focus on a UI flat design that can easily be mimicked by launchers and themes. It's not like ONE company can have ALL the ideas first. Baby steps, first. That's the pace Apple likes though.

What innovation? XIaomi never, ever, ever was responsible for something innovative.
 

flameproof

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2011
615
18
For Chinese phone brands the hard and software usually doesn't cooperate very well. Expect lots of bugs. For cheap and working I rather go Nexus....
 
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