With the population of mobile apps (especially social and games), more and more smartphone users want to login their multiple accounts on one device. So both the manufacturers and third-party developers are working on the “app clone” feature to meet consumers’ need.
Generally, there are 2 major ways to open multiple accounts on an Android device. One is the operation system “app clone” feature support, like Samsung Knox, Huawei EMUI App Twin and Xiaomi MIUI Dual Apps. The other one is third-party apps like Parallel Space, which is the very first app for “app clone” feature and can be installed on any Android devices.
So, there is a question for common users: which is the best way to use multiple accounts? In the following, let’s make an integrated review between Samsung Knox, Huawei EMUI, Xiaomi MIUI and Parallel Space based on platform compatibility, cost for cloned apps, range of accessibility, cloned apps compatibility and efficiency.
Brief Info of Samsung Knox, Huawei EMUI, Xiaomi MIUI and Parallel Space
- Samsung Knox: An exclusive app which provides Samsung users to enable business and personal content to coexist on the same device.
- Huawei EMUI: The operation system which is pre-installed on most Huawei and Honor devices.
- Xiaomi MIUI: The operation system which is pre-installed on Xiaomi and Redmi devices.
- Parallel Space: A third-party application which allows users to clone other apps, which gets almost 100 million global installs on Google Play Store.
- Platform Compatibility
The major difference between operation-system-based clone and third-party clone is very clear. Knox, EMUI and MIUI can only support manufacturer’s own devices. What’s more, Knox only supports Android 4.4+ Samsung devices to create the 2nd system; Huawei devices need EMUI 5.0+ to get the App Twin feature; Xiaomi devices need to upgrade to MIUI 8.0+ to open the Dual Apps feature. While the third-party apps like Parallel Space supports all Android 4.0.3+ devices.
Compare the above platform compatibility, third-party apps can be more compatible than operation-system-based clone features. And it means third-party apps can meet most users multiple accounts needs.
- Cost for Cloned Apps
If you have 2 Facebook accounts to login on one Android device, let us take a look how much you will cost.
Operation-system-based app clone needs you to use manufacturer’s own devices, and this means you have to buy one Samsung, Huawei or Xiaomi device with Knox, EMUI 5.0 and MIUI 8.0 on it. But if you have any Android device in hand, that means you can just download Parallel Space for free on Google Play Store without a penny for app clone.
- Range of Accessibility
As for the accessibility, you need to buy one Samsung, Huawei or Xiaomi device if you choose operation-system-based features to clone an app. Not all the hardware devices are not for everyone around the world, while you can easily download third-party apps like Parallel Space on the application stores without limitations.
- Cloned Apps Compatibility
When you start to clone different apps, it is still quite different from operation-system-based ways and third-party ways. Knox can create another virtual system to allows you clone apps, so basically you can clone as much as you want. EMUI only supports to clone 2 apps, Whatsapp and Facebook now. MIUI can clone some daily used social apps, games and tools. Third-party apps like Parallel Space cannot be compatible with all other apps, but you can clone most of them.
- Cloned Apps Efficiency
The most important factors to affect users’ experience are the efficiency of cloning apps and the convenience of switching accounts. Generally speaking, operation-system-based ways are faster than third-party ways to open a cloned app.
Because of the bi-system mechanism of Samsung Knox, you have to start Knox first to open cloned apps, so it will take a little bit longer than other ways. Third-party ways launch speed is generally depending on hardware, but it still cannot be compared with operation-system-based ways like EMUI and MIUI.
It’s easy for EMUI and MIUI to switch between original and cloned apps, you can just tap different icons to do the switch. And it is also the same with Parallel Space. But Samsung Knox doesn’t support one-click to switch, users can only quit or restart Knox to switch between original and cloned apps.
Conclusion
There are a lot of limitations for users who use the operation-system-based app clone features because of the compatibility problem. Although operation-system-based app clone way has the natural advantage of launching speed, it is still not easy and convenient compared with third-party apps like Parallel Space.
If you don’t have one Samsung, Huawei or Xiaomi device, maybe try to download a third-party app like Parallel Space is the most convenient way to use multiple accounts on one Android device, unless you don’t care to spend hundreds of dollars to get a new one.
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