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Add to SafariWhen comparing SF Launcher 2 vs Mi Launcher (MIUI), the Slant community recommends Mi Launcher (MIUI) for most people. In the question“What are the best launchers for Android?” Mi Launcher (MIUI) is ranked 40th while SF Launcher 2 is ranked 51st. The most important reason people chose Mi Launcher (MIUI) is:
Almost all Google services are removed from this Android-based UI in favor of creating a competing ecosystem of apps, games, themes and services. China government prohibit the Google services
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to use, card-based interface
The home screen is organized into cards that can be scrolled vertically. Cards can contain widgets or collections of apps. Swiping from the left gives access to all apps and swiping from the right gives access to all widgets. These can then be added to the homescreen. It's possible to customize the order, color, transparency, size and what how much information or apps a card displays.
Pro Clean, material design inspired aesthetic
The look of the launcher is inspired by Android 5.0 Lollipop and material design. It follows material design color scheme, has a card-based layout and a Google Now-like, header with a stylized image of a city at the top of the homescreen that changes throughout the day.
Pro Independent of Google services
Almost all Google services are removed from this Android-based UI in favor of creating a competing ecosystem of apps, games, themes and services.
China government prohibit the Google services
Pro Combines best of iOS and Android launchers
MIUI has visual similarities to iOS and TouchWiz and combines functionality from both iOS and Android OS and its variants. For example, MIUI has no apps drawer and instead puts all app on homescreen pages the same way iOS does.
Pro Runs faster than stock Android
MIUI includes performance tweaks that give it a edge in speed compared to stock Android.
Pro Detailed installation instructions for supported devices
Step by step instructions (with screenshots) for flashing MIUI ROM can be found for each of the supported devices on the companies website. For example, here is the flashing guide for Nexus 5.
Pro Fast development cycle
New features and updates are released regularly.
Cons
Con Interface is not optimized for widgets that can be scrolled
Since the interface is based on vertical scrolling cards, widgets that can be scrolled (like a calendar widget) can get in the way of easily scrolling through the list of cards. It is possible to turn off widget scrolling in the settings to avoid these issues, but limits functionality of widgets.
Con Some bundled services are available only in Chinese
Xiaomi, the developers of MIUI are Chinese and their primary maket is China. As such primary language for most apps and services is Chinese and not all of them have yet been translated to English or any other language.
Con A Mi account is required for using bundled services
Various services and apps require a Mi account. For example, buying new themes requires spending Mi currency that can only be obtained if a Mi account is available.
