Having multiple accounts on the same app, service or website is commonplace as people want to keep their personal and work life separate, among other personal reasons. Most of the apps on smartphones don’t allow using multiple accounts at the same time. One has to switch between the accounts by logging out of one and into another.

To tackle this, Xiaomi introduced a feature called Dual App in their MIUI 8 update, which was released on August 23, 2016. Dual apps allow users to run different accounts for the same app by cloning the app. This works perfectly fine for several apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat, which otherwise only allow a single account in a device at a point in time.

But the Android ecosystem is incomplete without prompt competition and a rival to Xiaomi’s Dual apps was launched in February 2016, named Parallel Space. Developed by LBE Tech, Parallel Space has over 100 million downloads globally. It works entirely on the same concept of Dual Apps but offers many added features — making it look like an upgraded version of the Dual app.

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Parallel Space vs Dual app

• Incognito Mode: Parallel Space has its own incognito mode that lets one hide any app and make it password protected. To access any hidden app, one needs to launch the app and then use it. Dual App has no incognito mode to hide cloned apps.
• One Tap Boost: This feature frees up memory with just a single touch by closing all the running apps in the Parallel Space. Since Dual App is a feature in MIUI, they integrate this function in the UI instead of it being a separate feature.
• Storage Management: This allows a user to manage their phone storage as it also shows the space occupied by the cloned apps. On the other side, one has to manage with the default storage manager of the phone if using Dual App.
• Task Manager: Parallel Space has its own task manager, which allows one to control the functioning of the cloned apps as per own wish. With Dual App, the default task manager is the one that is the go-to option for this purpose.
• App Support: Parallel App can clone almost all apps that have account logins and is compatible with almost every app available on Play Store. The dual app works fine with WhatsApp or Facebook but doesn’t support apps like Uber or games like Clash Royale.

Xiaomi’s Dual app is good enough if you’re looking for the few features it offers but those in the market for an upgrade should check out the Parallel app as it supports almost every app, has an incognito mode, password protection, and among other helpful features.

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