The second screen on the back of the Xiaomi 18 Pro series is getting two jobs beyond showing the time: it will show Google Maps directions, and it will run small apps that the phone builds from a typed description.
Xiaomi announced the Maps tie-in on X on 10 November, tagging Google Maps and pointing to its launch event later this month. The artwork shows a red 18 Pro whose rear panel displays a 2 km distance and a left-turn arrow above a route bar, under the heading Back Display Activities. A footnote says the visuals are for demonstration and the final interface may differ.
In its post the company put it as “Directions? Check the back.” Two days later Xu Fei shared a short video of what the company calls Back Display GenAI Apps: three plain-language descriptions each become a working app, and the viewer picks one of the three.
The rear display is what sets this phone family apart from the usual flagship. Directions on it mean you can follow a route with the phone face down on a car mount or in a pocket, and the app builder is aimed at one-off tools, such as a quick timer or a checklist, that would not justify a full app. The same artwork carries the Leica co-engineering mark under the camera island, beside the Xiaomi 18 Pro Series name.
Which model builds the apps, what they can access, whether they work offline and which regions get the features have not been stated. The phones are heading to a global launch event later this month.
