Although the stable MIUI 12.5 update is now rolling out, the closed beta testing is still active. Xiaomi pushes updates to these groups with new features, bug fixes, and optimization on a daily. The latest MIUI closed beta update comes as MIUI 12.5 V21.5.22, meaning the update was released on 22nd May 2021. As expected, the new update comes with some changes and features, and among them is the addition of Repair / Maintenance Mode in Settings.
Xiaomi keeps improving its MIUI Android skin with new features and improvements in every closed beta release. These are then pushed to Stable ROM users after the preview phase. However, most times, they remain in China until the next iteration of MIUI. We won’t be surprised if the Repair / Maintenance Mode doesn’t come to global users with MIUI 12.5, as that has been the approach of Xiaomi.
Nevertheless, the Repair / Maintenance Mode will come in handy during after-sales maintenance. The features let you protect important data such as “photos, videos, contact, call logs, and text messages.” It’s also recommended that you backup your data before sending the device for repair. However, what the Repair / Maintenance Mode does is to open a new account for technicians. That means the person fixing your device won’t access your data as he’s confined in the “technician space.”
Another changes that arrived with the update is the new date format and reduced animation. After the recent update, the 12-hours time zone format has been changed to morning / Emevening from AM / PM. For me, I don’t think that’s cool as it leaves more texts on your screen, but it might be useful for some people. Also, the update reduced animation on budget phones like Redmi Note 8, Redmi 9T, and others with the new weather update. It’s unclear how that’ll improve the device performance, but there’s a short video on Xiaomiui shows the weather app. You can check it out.
Among all the changes, the Repair / Maintenance mode is the best. Unfortunately, there’s no time frame to when it will be available for stable ROM users, but that should be soon. If everything goes smoothly, it won’t be long till the features become available for everyone.
