QUOTE(Hazam @ Apr 25 2016, 07:54 PM)
I already install almost 5gb apps, more to come, still have 18gb+- left to install, all pictures to google cloud & still didn't use micro sd & will use micro sd for other purpose, save videos & other stuff
what i mean is, in miui you only can use the main storage for apps. Cannot move them to REAL sdcard like plain android. Even the camera pics/videos/music and so on will be stored in main storage by default. You need to manually move them to sdcard once a while to free up space. Eventhough you set to store them in sdcard, they never work properly.
By sdcard I could mean 2 things. In different version of android (cynogenmod, AOKP, pure android and so on), sometimes they split the storage into main and sdcard. The sdcard in this case is actually part of the main storage splited out for better management. When you plug in your real sdcard it will be called sdcard1 or ext or something. But the point is, you can manage them with flexibility.
However, in MIUI, all these are badly done and cannot be managed unless you root the phone. So for some apps that uses lots of storage (like musical.ly) everything will be stored in main storage and fill up the spaces in no time on an 8gb/16gb phone. You cannot move the data to be stored in somewhere else and so on.
I am sorry if I didn't explain in more detailed cause the phone is used by my daughter. Sometimes she complain about things like this and I try to fix for her. MIUI cannot manage storage properly for a normal user. At least in pure android I can manage all these without needing to root the phone (like nexus).
Sure, MIUI have a few good features but what it is lacking compared to pure android. People get android for it's flexilbility. But it is limiting that and try to make it like IOS ecosystem which they fail, IMHO.
Personally, if not because of the cheap price of xiaomi phones, I would have got other phones. Now with the stupid stock shortage issue of RN3, I am already looking at other brands like huawei, vivo or oppo.