Xiaomi is now recruiting testers for its Android Q beta program, with anyone packing one of Xiaomi’s Mi 9 smartphones able to sign up for the beta, although it’s only open in China right now.
Xiaomi won’t be offering regular Android Q, but instead a version of the smartphone outfits own MIUI software, overlaid on Google’s own mobile OS, with some tips and tweaks unique to Xiaomi.
This early beta release may not be for you, of course, if you’re not particularly techy or even if the Mi 9 is your only current smartphone. This isn’t a stable release, and beta releases for Android software and manufacturer specific spin-offs can often have their own bizarre quirks and issues which could impact how you use the phone.
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However, with the rollout of a full beta phase, it seems like Xiaomi users could be getting access to Android Q sooner rather than later. The vanilla Android Q launched its first beta on March 13, 2019 for Pixel phones. Now, that beta is extending to several partners, and Beta 4 released on June 5.
The full release of the software is planned for sometime in the third quarter of this year, so excitement is starting to build for the new phone OS.
With this in mind, providing the early betas go well and there aren’t any large bugs uncovered, it seems like Xiaomi users could expect to have their own version of Android Q on their phones as a stable release by the end of the year. It’s unclear how many different models will get access to Android Q from Xiaomi, but this will likely come to light when a full release is planned.
As said above, right now the beta testing is only open to those living in China, although there will likely be a global MIUI test coming at some stage soon.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
