Xiaomi’s MiMoji application can now be obtained and used on other, non-Xiaomi smartphones, courtesy of XDA Developers member linuxct. The ported application is compatible with devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher as long as they are equipped with ARM-based processors, meaning that it should be able to run on nearly every handset released over the past three years, with the exception of a very few x86-based smartphones equipped with Intel Atom SoCs. The application features twelve cartoonish MiMojis and offers the ability to change the audio pitch between three different settings including Women, Men, and Cartoon.
MiMoji is an application developed and released by the Chinese OEM along with the Xiaomi Mi 8, which allows users to create short animated emoji clips using facial recognition and the front camera, similar to Apple’s Animoji solution. The unofficial port works the same way as the official counterpart, although there are a few minor changes including a translation from Chinese to English by the third-party developer, and the ability to create MiMoji videos of up to thirty seconds instead of ten. The Cartoon voice effect was also unlocked by the XDA Developers member, although the source notes that this particular voice pack sounds very similar or identical to the default one. It should also be noted that the app is not perfect, and hasn’t been since it was released by the Chinese OEM, with face tracking being somewhat inaccurate and with the same issues still being present in the unofficial port. This isn’t something that the third-party developer might be able to tackle, but assuming that Xiaomi will eventually improve the official application then the unofficial port should continue to improve as well, at least in theory. The ported app has already been updated once over a two-day period, so it seems to be in good hands.
Android smartphone users interested in acquiring the app for compatible devices should also consider that animation quality will likely differ to an extent from one phone to another, depending on the capabilities of each front-facing camera. The unofficial MiMoji APK can be downloaded from the XDA Developers forum by hitting the source link below and can be sideloaded like any other third-party APK after enabling the option to install apps from unofficial sources from the phone’s Settings menu.