Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Xiaomi's Next OS Looks Strikingly Similar To iOS

Posted by samzenpus on from the imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery dept.

stephendavion writes Looks like Chinese device maker, Xiaomi, is taking its "Apple of the East" tag too literally. First, their CEO brazenly copies Steve Jobs' signature look, sitting cross-legged on the floor. And now, Xiaomi's latest version of Android shamelessly rips off iOS 7. MIUI 6, which is Xiaomi's upcoming edition of Android for its latest phones and tablets, looks almost exactly like Apple's operating system for iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch. It features the same bright color palette and a flat design. Heck, it even does away with Google's "app drawer" and puts all apps on your home screen. It's like the CEO handed iPhones to the design team and barked: "Here, copy this!"

31 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Sitting on the floor? by timeOday · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Darn those people from the east, always copying western practices.

    1. Re:Sitting on the floor? by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does he also park in the handicap space?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    2. Re:Sitting on the floor? by Nosretep1 · · Score: 2

      And how much does Xiaomi pay you?

    3. Re:Sitting on the floor? by slew · · Score: 2

      Next thing you know they'll start practicing buddhism...

  2. They licensed it from Xerox by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Funny

    They figured turnabout was fair play.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:They licensed it from Xerox by FRAKK2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      They paid Xerox to use it, so what s the problem ??. The fact that xeroz did not realise how big it would become is there problem. What is happening now is just blatant copying.

    2. Re:They licensed it from Xerox by exomondo · · Score: 2

      What is happening now is just blatant copying.

      And what is the problem? They are pretty clear about it not being an iPhone. Exactly what elements did Apple invent and how long do you suggest they have exclusivity on those elements for?

  3. vs Material Design by brunes69 · · Score: 2

    It is going to look pretty jarring when you launch any of Google's apps from that launcher. Material Design looks nothing like iOS.

    1. Re:vs Material Design by Horn · · Score: 2

      They can't ship the playstore but there's nothing stopping someone from installing gapps separately, much like you can do on the fire.

  4. I don't see it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As someone who has used both iOS and Android devices I thought all the screenshots looked like an Android device. I wouldn't of been confused at all. Is someone *trying* to manufacture a controversy?

    1. Re:I don't see it.... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      As someone who has used both iOS and Android devices I thought all the screenshots looked like an Android device.

      Exactly. Arguably Microsoft was the first to introduce a really flat look with Windows Phone and Windows 8. Google had been moving that way for years too on the web and with 4.x gave Android a bit of a make-over to look similar. iOS seems to have been last to join the flat look crowd.

      This whole article is just a fanboy whining that a ching-chong-Chinese OS looks a bit like his beloved iPhone. It's borderline racist. If it looks like iOS that's only because iOS looks like Android and Windows Phone now.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:I don't see it.... by vakuona · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which Android device did you think all the screenshots looked like? If you were referring to any Android maker besides Xiaomi, then I may have agreed. But we are talking about the one company that has copied Apple right down to the "One More Thing" slide, in a presentation that was all in Chinese no less.

      These guys could not be more shameless about copying if they tried. But in case you haven't been able to pick up how they aped Apple. I will give you a few examples.

      The Calender App is quite blatantly a copy of the iOS one in look (I couldn't say anything about the feel and how it works). Right down to the colour scheme.

      The icons are all straight out of the Apple playbook. Borderless rounded-corner squares with a symbol in the middle. Android icons tend not to have any border around the "symbol". Not even Samsung ones, which have been fairly blatant in the past.

      They even have the row of fixed icons at the bottom a la Apple. No, not the usual Back, Home and Menu soft keys on Android. Just a fixed set of four,just like Apple. It looks like they have ditched the standard soft keys altogether.

      The music icon app has the same colour as the Apple one. I can accept that a green icon for a phone is kind of obvious, but to have the same colour for the music player app is more than a coincidence.

      Check the colour scheme of the calculator app. Again, quite a blatant copy of Apple's.

      The camera app has a round soft button as well. Just like, wait for it, the iOS 7 camera app.

      Of course, it is not an exact replica, but at first glance, it could easily fool anyone.

      In fact, I challenge anyone to put stock Android (KitKat), iOS and MIUI side by side, and it would be quite clear which two are most alike.

    3. Re:I don't see it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Because "ching-chong-Chinese" is not racist?

    4. Re:I don't see it.... by exomondo · · Score: 2

      So customize an existing device to do that. Obviously the market for such a thing is probably just you so no company is ever going to make such a thing but instead of whining about it you could quite easily just do it.

  5. It's like a thousand apple fanbois... by Rigel47 · · Score: 4, Funny

    cried out at once in terror that their over-priced Apple "innovation" was merely rounded corners and off-white color.

  6. Okay, then... by Shoten · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...who's going to make the obligatory, in-poor-taste cancer joke?

    --

    For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
  7. I do not like by yezhan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I do not like xiaomi,even if i am from China.

  8. Apple owns curvy corners by Saint+Gerbil · · Score: 4, Informative

    The home screen is a list of 4x5 apps with 4 apps on the hotbar.
    The compass seems to have ripped off the look of a compass.
    The settings menu has been taken more from the samsung S5 than the iphone
    The camera has a take picture button.

    Does apple own having a reasonable number of apps on a grid ?

    Of course its proven at least once that its "invented" things other people made first.
    http://apple.slashdot.org/stor...
    http://www.patentlyapple.com/p...

  9. I am Jack's utter lack of surprise... by Assmasher · · Score: 2

    ...seriously, why wouldn't they?

    It is charmingly naive to think that morality/ethics would prevent a CEO (in ANY country) from doing whatever they thought would generate them the most money with the smallest risk...

    --
    Loading...
  10. Here, copy this! by james_van · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's like the CEO handed iPhones to the design team and barked: "Here, copy this!"

    there's a pretty good chance that's exactly what happened

  11. MIU5 was released before IOS7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    MIU5 was released before IOS7, so apple is copying miui, this update doesn't change that much to skin/theme.

  12. It doesn't look anything like iOS by gunner_von_diamond · · Score: 3, Funny

    Look at the screenshots! The text is in chinese! It's clearly different!


    It just looks like an Android phone with a makeshift iOS theme on it. If that's what the demand is for, why not supply it?

  13. Look at the Calendar - Red Circles by glennrrr · · Score: 2

    Did you see the calendar app? It's got the red theming and elements such as today's date being circled.

  14. Re:The predator strikes again. by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh right, those sneaky socialist capitalists must stolen Apple's iOS linux source code, where else could they have gotten it?

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  15. Not so much by MoronGames · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here are some comparison screenshots between MIUI 5 and 6: http://www.gadgetsofworld.com/...

    --
    hey!
    1. Re:Not so much by hnjjz · · Score: 2

      IMHO, these screenshots confirm that both MIUI 5 and 6 "features the same bright color palette and a flat design", which is what Xiaomi is being accused of copying from iOS 7, even though MIUI 5 actually significantly predates iOS 7.

  16. Not Steve Jobs by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

    Jobs might have picked up the posture on account of being a buddhist. I associate "sitting cross-legged on the floor" with the band Chicago from their song "25 or 6 to 4."

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  17. Re:I like... by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

    I have to agree. I found Miui significantly more straight forward to use than stock android, and infinitely better than those half-assed UIs that various android manufacturers feel compelled to slap on top.

    Is it a rip off of iOS? Maybe. Do I care? Not in the slightest.

    Under the hood, a phone may be a full fledged computer with linux, but that doesn't mean I want to use it like one.

  18. *sigh* by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

    Why is it that whenever Apple comes up with something, every else has to copy it (although Microsoft may have started this fad of flatness, I can't remember the timeline anymore)?

    Apple is not the be all and end all of industrial design. This fad of flatness is really annoying, and IMO counter intuitive. It's no longer clear what widget is a button, for example. The user now has to guess, based on proximity of a given thingy to the other thingies on the screen.

    When the gumdrop iMacs came out, I was eeing transluscent plastic micro waves, clothes irons, you name it.

    Thank Dog that companies haven't en masse copied Apple mouse designs. Half the continent would have RSI by the end of the month.

  19. So what? by erp_consultant · · Score: 2

    I mean, how many ways are there to present a touch interface on a small screen anyhow? When one company copies another it's the closest thing we can get to a standard. Android and iOS copy each other all the time. All that really matters is how well it all works together, not which icon someone is using for the Calendar app.

  20. Re:Will Apple sue ? by dowens81625 · · Score: 2

    Android ever behaves like ios's walled garden - I'll dump my devices for a Windows phone and tablet.