All Mi fans are waiting for Jin Fan's return.

"Jin Fan's resignation" is probably the topic that concerns all Mi fans the most recently. Some people have been spreading the news, muttering, "Xiaomi's system is saved," while others laugh and mock, "It doesn't matter who replaces him."

What's more interesting is that the news of "Jin Fan's resignation" did not come from Xiaomi officials or other insiders, but from the fact that some netizens discovered that Jin Fan's Weibo account had cleared all its content, appearing as if he had fled and cleared his social media accounts to avoid suspicion.

Source: Weibo

This news quickly attracted the attention of numerous tech bloggers and media outlets, including authoritative media such as iFeng, making it the latest and hottest topic in the tech circle. Although Wang Hua, the head of Xiaomi's PR department, later came forward to refute the rumors, stating that Jin Fan had not resigned but was in seclusion, setting his Weibo account to "visible only in the last six months" to avoid distractions, and would emerge to talk to everyone after the seclusion ended.

Source: Weibo

While debunking the rumors, Wang Hua also mentioned that the rumors were so convincing that even Wang Teng (Head of Redmi) and members of Xiaomi's international department came to inquire about the situation, demonstrating the significant impact it had.

Why has there been such a high level of discussion about a suspected resignation of a Xiaomi employee? Perhaps everything started in 2019.

The "most hated person" among Mi fans?

In 2019, Hong Feng, the former head of Xiaomi's Internet Business Unit, was transferred to Tianxing Digital Technology as Chairman and CEO, taking full responsibility for the development of Xiaomi's financial business. Jin Fan succeeded him as the head of the Internet Business Unit. This unit has always been considered the core department of Xiaomi Group, primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of smart systems such as MIUI and Mijia.

After Jin Fan took over this department, the subsequent release of MIUI 12 became the system with the lowest approval rating in MIUI's history. Numerous bugs severely damaged MIUI's reputation, even prompting some Mi fans to collectively denounce Jin Fan in the community, demanding his resignation and calling for someone who understands MIUI better to manage its development.

I believe many Mi fans still vividly remember the heated discussions during the era of MIUI 12. It was also around this time that Jin Fan, as the overall head of MIUI, became well-known to most Mi fans. Although Jin Fan's team finally optimized the system to a "usable" level in the subsequent MIUI 12.5 update, there were still no significant improvements in issues such as battery life and heat control.

Virtually every version after MIUI 12 has been widely criticized by Mi fans, and the classic "Xiaomi Bible" incident even sparked widespread attention in the tech circle. After this incident, Jin Fan officially gained wider recognition, expanding from the Mi fan community to a broader group of smartphone enthusiasts and becoming synonymous with "poor system development."

For example, if a smartphone brand known for its user-friendly system performs poorly, their fans might jokingly ask, "Did Jin Fan jump ship here?"

Here's a brief explanation for some readers about what the "Xiaomi Bible" is. Simply put, it's a video on Bilibili where a long-time Mi fan emotionally laments the significant changes to community rules, the revocation of his MIUI beta testing privileges, and enumerates numerous MIUI bugs and issues. The video went viral due to the UP's genuine emotions and memorable quotes, earning it the nickname "Xiaomi Bible" among Mi fans.

This video put considerable pressure on Xiaomi, prompting relevant personnel to respond, stating that they had contacted the video creator, would record all bugs for fixing, and optimize community rules. In a subsequent interview, Jin Fan also admitted that the "Xiaomi Bible" had brought significant pressure to him and his team but had also motivated them to devote more effort to optimizing MIUI and subsequent systems.

Source: Bilibili

However, Mi fans were not entirely convinced. From MIUI 12 to the new Pengpai OS, every version has drawn numerous criticisms, often centered on fundamental issues such as system unresponsiveness and lag. Over time, Jin Fan, as the overall head, became the "most hated person" among Mi fans.

Simultaneously, the rapid spread of rumors about Jin Fan's resignation highlights Xiaomi users' dissatisfaction with the current state of Xiaomi's smartphone system and concerns about its future, undoubtedly sounding an alarm bell for Xiaomi.

System: The final obstacle to Xiaomi's premiumization?

In the past few years, many Mi fans blamed Jin Fan for the decline in MIUI's user experience. However, strictly speaking, Jin Fan can only be partly blamed. Many people might have only become aware of Jin Fan after the "Xiaomi Bible" went viral. In fact, Jin Fan joined Xiaomi Group as one of its earliest core employees in 2011 and has been responsible for several important projects.

For example, Jin Fan built Xiaomi's cloud services team from scratch before being transferred to the MIUI team, where he led and took full responsibility for the release of MIUI 9 and MIUI 10. Older Mi fans will likely agree that MIUI 9 and 10 were not difficult to use. However, at that time, the overall head was Hong Feng, the "father of MIUI," who still controlled the overall direction of MIUI as the one who built the system from scratch.

Therefore, some believe that Jin Fan is not incompetent. As the head of MIUI 9, 10, and the subsequent Internet Business Unit, Jin Fan obviously possesses outstanding capabilities. However, it is also challenging to manage the vast system optimization demands of Xiaomi's ecosystem.

Source: Xiaomi

As the number of Xiaomi's connected smart devices increases, the content the system development team needs to handle also grows. Xiaomi has expanded from its initial focus on mobile phones to various fields, including smartphones, tablets, smart bracelets, smartwatches, Mijia products, Xiaomi TVs, and smart screens, all requiring personnel for updates and maintenance, leading to a shortage of MIUI system developers.

Moreover, there's a crucial issue: MIUI itself is becoming increasingly bloated. As the smartphone system with the highest level of community collaboration, MIUI continuously incorporates user suggestions and adds numerous new features.

While some of these features have received overwhelming praise, many remain unknown to users. For example, the sidebar function needs to be enabled in "More Settings" – "Free Window" – "Global Sidebar," leading many to believe Xiaomi lacks a sidebar function (or has already removed it).

Source: Lei Jike (Tech Blog)

A bloated system became a nightmare for the MIUI optimization team at the time, as many lags and minor issues stemmed from optimizing these small features. However, users are not obligated to understand the underlying causes of these issues; lags significantly impact the user experience regardless of the reasons.

In fact, some MIUI community users have long believed that Jin Fan's team placed too much emphasis on user suggestions, incorporating too many opinions, resulting in an overly bloated and difficult-to-optimize MIUI. With already limited human resources, they had to individually adjust numerous small features. Even with three Jin Fans, it would be a daunting task.

Taking UI animations as an example, lags in animations became a persistent nightmare for MIUI starting with MIUI 12, only marginally satisfying Mi fans with MIUI 14. Regarding other issues, MIUI 13 no longer killed background processes haphazardly like MIUI 12, but lag issues persisted on flagship models, even drawing criticism on forums today when compared to similarly priced flagship products.

From MIUI 12 to MIUI 13, spanning two major updates, Jin Fan's primary task was to patch up MIUI to ensure it remained functional. Additionally, he had to balance system compatibility for older device models. Judging by the update speed of older device models over the past few years, Jin Fan has strived to maintain a frequent update schedule.

Source: Kuai Keji (Fast Technology)

In MIUI 14, while improvements were noticeable overall, it marked the final iteration of MIUI. The subsequent Pengpai OS initially regained much of Xiaomi's reputation, making Xiaomi 14 one of its best-selling flagship series. As one of the first users of Xiaomi 14, I was quite impressed with Pengpai OS, but after using it for half a year, I noticed it still suffered from the old MIUI issues – lags.

Moreover, as the system updated, battery life also decreased to some extent. From its release last year to around March or April this year, Pengpai OS enjoyed its best reputation. However, tech enthusiast communities like Coolapk and Xiaomi Community began to see more discussions about issues.

At a crucial juncture for Xiaomi's push into the premium market, hardware and brand influence are in place, leaving only the "system" as the final piece of the puzzle. At this moment, just as before, the pressure returns to Jin Fan's shoulders, heavier than ever.

Perhaps this is why Jin Fan chose seclusion. As a veteran of Xiaomi, his love for Xiaomi and Mi fans is no less than anyone else's and makes him the most eager to showcase the new Pengpai OS to everyone.

Pengpai OS: Embracing AI Challenges

As Xiaomi's high-hopes new operating system, Pengpai OS is not just a smartphone system; Xiaomi aims to integrate it into a vast smart ecosystem comprising cars, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, and more, forming a comprehensive "human-vehicle-home" ecosystem.

Source: Xiaomi

Pengpai OS extensively rewrites and reconstructs the Android foundation, enabling deployment across various device types and serving as Xiaomi's key to the next generation of smart connectivity. As Xiaomi's layouts in AIoT, smart AI, and even automotive fields gradually materialize, the success of Pengpai OS is crucial.

Currently, global smart operating systems are entering the AI and omnichannel stages. Taking iOS as an example, Apple is integrating AI and smart systems to enhance iOS's interaction with other Apple devices and bridge the gap between them, creating a more integrated user experience.

On the domestic front, omnichannel connectivity and AI applications have long been implemented. For instance, Huawei's previously released HarmonyOS NEXT, centered on AI and omnichannel connectivity, constructs a futuristic new system.

Source: Huawei

In terms of omnichannel connectivity, HarmonyOS NEXT supports all smart devices, large and small. Based on its unique file system and communication protocol, it enables seamless transitions between devices, such as powerful collaboration features like accessing a phone's camera or gallery from a PC.

Simultaneously, HarmonyOS NEXT's Harmony Intelligence, powered by the Pangu large model, XiaoE Assistant, Yuan Service, and Intent Framework, equips devices with robust AI capabilities. This allows OSs, system apps, and third-party apps to tap into AI potential at the system level, lowering the barrier for AI application development and innovatively serving users.

Through in-depth analysis of user experience and needs, Huawei has taken solid steps toward a unified system, intensifying pressure on other domestic systems. As Huawei returns to the mobile phone market, noticeable changes in brand sales shares can be observed. Facing the strong comeback of a former giant, no manufacturer remains unscathed by a sense of crisis.

OPPO, vivo, Honor, and many other brands are exploring the prospects of the next-generation operating system and creating AI-centric new systems. As one of the hottest domestic Android phone brands in recent years, Xiaomi faces immense pressure from users, markets, and ecosystems, compelling it to go all in to climb new heights.

Indeed, from Pengpai OS's blueprint, it's evident that Jin Fan's vision for the system shares similarities with HarmonyOS NEXT, both aiming to serve as bridges connecting Xiaomi's various smart ecosystems. Ultimately, users can effortlessly navigate new devices without learning curves, and based on Xiaomi's robust IoT ecosystem, a genuine smart matrix will be constructed for Xiaomi users.

Source: Xiaomi

However, optimizing the smartphone end remains paramount. No one can deny that Xiaomi's smartphones are its core business and the foundation of its entire smart ecosystem. The upcoming Pengpai OS will be crucial for Xiaomi to realize its vision of a new smart connectivity ecosystem.

I hope that after Jin Fan returns from his retreat, he can bring us a good answer sheet.

Source: Leifeng Tech