Now with swiping gestures] Xiaomi MIUI launcher finally gets a proper drawer and app shortcuts [APK Download]

One of the many reasons I don’t like iOS is its lack of an app drawer. Indeed, I want things to be very organized, and dumping all icons on my homescreen just doesn’t work for me. Xiaomi, however, preferred to mimic Apple and decided to go against Android standards by removing the app drawer in its MIUI launcher, which essentially meant all icons had to be on the home screen. However, the company appears to be opening up by letting users enable the drawer in MIUI.

The launcher’s latest alpha build (v 4.10.6.1025-06141703), finally brings a built-in app launcher without having to rely on third-party ones. The manufacturer is working on offering the same approach as its rival Huawei, who doesn’t enable the drawer by default but gives people the option to turn it on. When activated, the apps are neatly organized by alphabetical order under a middle button at the bottom of the home screen. However, Xiaomi has decided to display recently used apps at the top, which isn’t the most user-friendly layout, in my opinion. Also, there are no swiping gestures to open or close the drawer for now, but these could be implemented before the final release is published.  In addition,…