Pocket Edition

Minecraft Pocket Edition is the mobile version of Minecraft developed by Aron Nieminen of Mojang AB. It was initially launched exclusively for the Xperia PLAY on the Google Play (former Android Market) for $6.99/£4.28/5,49€ on August 16, 2011, along with a free demo version. It was later released for other Android devices on the 7th of October 2011. Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS devices was released on Thursday, the 17th of November 2011 on the iOS App Store, one day before the launch of Minecraft 1.0 at MineCon and currently costs $6.99 US. The Next Update for Minecraft Pocket Edition will be here on May 23.

About
The objective of the game remains the same as its original Computer and Xbox Edition counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. In the 0.2.0 update, some survival features were added, slightly changing the objective of the game. The goal is to survive and build a house to protect yourself from mobs. Currently the only mobs available are Sheep, Chickens, Cows, Pigs, and Zombies. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between Android and iOS.

Recently, Mojang released the new update 0.3.0 to the App Store, which includes new features, the most notable one being crafting. Cows and chickens were also added in this new update. Some other new items were added into the inventory.

A video of an early prototype was released on Twitter, showing the game on the Xperia PLAY. The alpha version was recently released, and became no longer exclusive to the Xperia PLAY on the 7th of October 2011. The non-exclusive version was going to be released on September 29th for Android but there were several severe bugs that needed to be fixed; the release was delayed until the 7th of October.

A version for iOS devices was confirmed to be released before 2012 in an interview with Mojang and subsequently was released on the 17th of November 2011.

Survival Mode was added in version 0.2.0. The current version was supposed to be released February 8 for submission to Apple and Android stores for approval, but Daniel Kaplan announced on his Twitter feed that it would be delayed due to bugs. The update was submitted to Apple and Android stores for approval on February 10. On February 11, Daniel Kaplan announced on his Twitter feed that the update was available for Android users. The update was approved by Apple and released on the 17th of February. This update was stated as "laying the groundwork for survival mode." It included many bug fixes and behind the scenes upgrades that allows for Survival Mode to be included. It also included animals, new blocks, and tools. Crafting was not included in this update due to GUI difficulties.

Daniel Kaplan has released images showing the almost finished Minecraft Advanced Touch Technology Interface System (MATTIS) crafting system which was implemented in  0.3.0 on April 24, 2012.

Gameplay
Both the iOS and Android versions of Pocket Edition have the same gameplay, which is akin to that of the Classic game mode, with the following differences:
 * World is finite as in Classic version but there isn't infinite water at world corners.
 * The terrain generation is similar to that of Alpha's. It lacks many biomes, generated structures, and there are only few small Caverns.
 * With the survival update tools were added. These are: Sword, Shovel, Pickaxe, Axe, and Shears.
 * In the Pocket Edition one has the ability to place only Wooden Planks, Cobblestone, Sandstone, Dirt, Brick (Block), Gravel, Stone, Torches, Ladders, yellow Flowers, various shades and colors of Wool, Glass, Cactus, Leaves, Crafting Tables, Bookshelves Cobblestone and Wooden Stairs, Stone Slabs, (Oak and Birch) Wood, Iron Ore, Gold (Block), Iron (Block), Diamond (Block), Sugar Cane, Cyan Flowers, Mushrooms, Obsidian, Doors, Fences, Fence gates, Sand, and Bookshelves.
 * The Pocket Edition does not have a visible sky.
 * Water in the Pocket Edition is finite as compared to the infinite water in Classic.
 * It lacks many of the settings the Classic version has.
 * Neither sand nor gravel move directly above the nearest block directly below them (this was Classic's version of falling).
 * The hot bar only contains three different blocks (or 8 for the Xperia Play and iPad version).
 * Spawn points cannot be set in the Pocket Edition.
 * Online mode only 5 players can be on 1 server, in work of world-wide multiplayer.
 * You can craft using MATTIS.
 * There is survival mode with pigs, sheep, chickens, cows, and zombies.

iOS

 * The Cactus block has been spotted in addition to the unobtainable blocks in the Android version.

Android version
The Android version features a d-pad at the bottom-left corner of the screen, which controls movement. The jump button is located in the center of the d-pad. Note that when moving towards an adjacent block that is one level higher than the Player, the player will automatically jump up the block. One can place blocks by tapping the screen in a desired location. Destroying blocks is similar to the PC version's way, but rather than tapping, the player taps and holds. The search button used to be able to change the camera to and from third person view, but now this has to be done via the pause screen, and the menu and back buttons will open the pause screen. To open the inventory screen, tap the triple dotted button on the right of the hot bar.

Xperia PLAY
* Controlled with slide out PlayStation keyboard:

- Open inventory

- Scroll right in hotbar

- Jump (press twice to toggle flying mode in creative*)

- Scroll left in hotbar

D-Pad: Move

Right Touchpad: Look/Turn

Select: Bring up crafting menu (Survival Only)

Menu: Pause


 * * To fly: Press jump twice in a row. To fly higher, hold the jump button and press up on the directional pad. To fly downward, hold jump and press down. (Creative Only)

iOS version
The controls on iOS are very similar to the Android version with the exception of the search and back buttons. To open the pause screen you must press pause button in the top right corner. To switch to third person view go to the pause menu then tap the button with the square with an icon of a player in it. To open the crafting menu, press the three dot menu, then press the 'Craft' button in the top left corner.

Tablet features
Tablets have an option to enable Split Touch Controls, which may be more suitable for those with bigger screens. There is a cross hair and the right half of the screen lets the player rotate the camera. Blocks are placed by touching, and removed by holding down.

Other than the screen size difference (also because of this you get 7 slots in the hotbar), the iPad version is exactly the same as all the others. Hence the fact that you can play multiplayer with other devices.

Android
According to Aron Nieminen, the system requirements are:


 * Android OS 2.2 or later
 * The device must have a CPU that supports floating-point calculations ("ARM-v7a code")
 * The screen must support multi-touch
 * An internet connection is required to download the game

Aron says that the CPU known as "MSM7227" (an ARMv6 processor without a floating point unit) is NOT supported, which unfortunately is in a lot of smartphone models.

According to Kappische, the Pocket Edition won't work with devices that have processor speeds under 1 GHz and Android OS versions lower than 2.2.

Though some devices below these specs and OS versions have been known to work fine either with or without using a custom ROM image, kernel, and overclocking the CPU.

Officially verified working Android devices

 * Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
 * Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray
 * Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro

A full list of compatible and non-compatible devices and the performance on said devices can be found here.

iOS
The system requirements for the iOS version of Pocket Edition are:
 * An iOS device with iOS 4.3 or newer (Armv7 Only).
 * 4.3 MB of available storage space.

Helpful Hints & Tips

 * Make sure your battery is charged, and/or plugged in (3D gaming drains the battery quickly).
 * Make sure that you downloaded the Pocket Edition from the Play Store or the iOS App Store, and not from a 3rd party (which may include viruses in your download).
 * Get used to the controls before playing on servers (it is easy to mine the block under a torch by mistake).
 * You can't use ladders to make water elevators or underwater bases because water destroys ladders. However, doors, reeds and fence gates are not destroyed by water.
 * Sword is the fastest way to kill mobs (two hits). Axe takes three hits. Pickaxe takes four hits. And shovel takes five hits. Fist (or blocks) takes ten hits.

Bugs
Bugs in Pocket Edition can be viewed from the above link. All bugs should be placed there, not in this section.

Trivia

 * Natural Light, Torches, Lava, Redstone and Fire are the only forms of lighting in the Pocket Edition.
 * Obsidian and Cobblestone cannot be obtained without a pickaxe.
 * Only 24/44 Blocks and 4/5 Tools are available in the Pocket Edition Demo version.
 * Pocket Edition's save files are not compatible with those from the PC version.
 * You can have skins on the iOS version by replacing char.png in the app file. However, the chosen skin will appear as another player's skin if playing over local Wi-Fi.
 * Fire is still present but is invisible, and can only be seen by placing flammable blocks next to lava.
 * Lava appears to be frozen, but will flow if forced to move.
 * The auto jump feature doesn't work on leaves if you go from a standing start with fancy graphics on.
 * Zombies come out at night, although there are sometimes a few stragglers that stay out all day, sheltered by water or shade.
 * When flying, if you slide your finger from the jump key to the forward key, you will ascend. If you slide your finger to the down key, you will descend.
 * If you place 2 glass blocks on the side of each other, and you go to the long side, you only see the pixels for the one you're looking through.
 * TNT is only available in the Xperia play version, but through hex editing, you can access TNT, water, and lava.
 * White wool, cobblestone slabs, and snow blocks are not available in creative mode.
 * In the demo video, before the game was released, smooth lighting was available. It was taken out due to bugs being produced on a wide range of devices. The code is still present in the game and can be made available by modifying files.
 * There is a total of 58 blocks and 6 non-blocks in the game.
 * Wood tools can only break up to 11 blocks.
 * Books only need 2 paper and doors only need 4 wooden planks to craft (can be crafted without a crafting table).
 * Only blue and yellow wool can be obtained in survival.
 * Worlds played before 0.3.0 update had the other wool and sugar cane(block).
 * The Next Minecraft Pocket Edition Update will be here on May 23

Version-exclusive Blocks

 * Cyan Flower
 * Camera (Unplaceable and unseen, but the file exists)