HyperOS (), officially named Xiaomi HyperOS (), is an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

developed by

Xiaomi Corporation (; ), commonly known as Xiaomi and registered as Xiaomi Inc., is a Chinese designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and related software, home appliances, and household items. Behind Samsung, it is the second largest m ...

. It unifies

MIUI MIUI (pronunciation: ''Me You I'') is an Android -based mobile operating system developed and maintained by Xiaomi independently of Google exclusively for its smartphones. MIUI includes various features such as theme support. It is the basis fo ...

, Vela OS, Mina OS and car-focused operating system's software architecture for

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

IoT The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

devices and other Xiaomi hardware including automobiles. It was announced on October 17, 2023, and debuted alongside Xiaomi 14 Series on October 26, 2023. It is gradually replacing MIUI as of 2024. In 2017, Xiaomi was developing Xiaomi Vela OS to use with its own IoT devices. It is based on NuttX and was announced in 2020. In 2019, Xiaomi pre-developed Xiaomi Mina OS, a

microkernel In computer science, a microkernel (often abbreviated as μ-kernel) is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system (OS). These mechanisms include low-level address space management, ...

security system. In 2021, following its decision to make automobiles, Xiaomi was developing its own car-focused operating system. In 2022, Xiaomi decided to unify the aforementioned operating systems' software architecture, and HyperOS has finished its

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

. The new operating system was announced on X and Weibo on October 17, 2023, and debuted alongside Xiaomi 14 Series on October 26, 2023. HyperOS was then officially launched in Beijing, with the first batch of compatible models announced. HyperOS was launched globally at MWC 2024 in Spain.

Controversies

Alleged name change before release

In August 2023, during the promotional phase of the Redmi K60 Extreme Edition after its release, Xiaomi stated that this phone would be among the first to upgrade to MIUI 15, promising five years of OTA updates. However, Xiaomi ultimately did not release MIUI 15 but instead officially announced Xiaomi HyperOS. Some netizens believe that Xiaomi HyperOS was a temporary rebranding of MIUI 15 for promotional convenience. Additionally, on November 4, 2023, during a Bilibili live stream by the Chinese digital media Geekerwan, the host Yunfei revealed that the system version sent for media testing in September for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was MIUI 15, not HyperOS. Xiaomi has not explained the cancellation of MIUI 15, and the promotional material regarding the five-year system OTA updates for the Redmi K60 Extreme Edition has not been retracted. On December 1, 2023, the first official version of Xiaomi HyperOS was pushed to this model.

Alleged "Android shell"

Similar to the Harmony OS, Xiaomi HyperOS faced widespread netizen controversy over whether it was entirely self-developed and accusations of being an "Android shell" upon its unveiling. Addressing this controversy, Jin Fan, Vice President of Xiaomi Group's Mobile Department and head of the System Software Department, stated in an interview with Flypig that Xiaomi has the capability to use its own kernel or the Linux kernel to launch an operating system functionally and UI-wise identical to the released HyperOS. He suggested that the reason Xiaomi uses the Android kernel for phones and tablets is due to considerations of the existing software ecosystem.

Restrictions on unlocking the bootloader

To prevent users from

cheating in video games Cheating in video games involves a video game player using various methods to create an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually in order to make the game easier. Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by ...

, engaging in illegal activities, or other violations after obtaining root access to their phones, and to avoid some users attributing to Xiaomi bugs that, due to modifying the system, Xiaomi has gradually restricted the ability to unlock the

bootloader A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called boot manager and bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer. When a computer is turned off, its softwareincluding operating systems, application code, an ...

on phones sold in mainland China since the release of HyperOS. Also, HyperOS updates, or upgrades from MIUI, are not available for unlocked phones. Additionally, users must now complete a quiz successfully to apply for bootloader unlocking. The time required for binding the phone has been shortened from 168 hours to 72 hours. Xiaomi also imposes some restrictions on unlocking the bootloader for regions outside mainland China.

XDA Developers XDA Developers (also known simply as XDA; often stylized as xda-developers) is a mobile software development community launched on 20 December 2002. Although discussion primarily revolves around Android, members also talk about many other operat ...

has a forum on unlocking the Xiaomi bootloader without going through the company's procedure.

Technical white paper errors

On December 7, 2023,

held a HyperOS experience communication meeting, explaining some details, underlying technical architecture, functions, and designs of HyperOS, and simultaneously released the HyperOS technical white paper. However, netizens discovered numerous typos and formatting errors due to document conversion in the publicly released white paper, sparking heated discussions online. Xiaomi has since corrected and re-uploaded the white paper to address these errors.

External links

English official website

References

{{Linux distributions Custom Android firmware Embedded Linux Mobile Linux Cloud clients Mobile operating systems Free mobile software Xiaomi Chinese brands Linux distributions