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 Google Play (formerly known as 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 2011 and currently costs $6.99 US.

Gameplay
The objective of the game remains the same as its original PC and Xbox Edition counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. However, the Pocket Edition lacks most Survival features present in other versions of the game. Currently the only mobs available are Sheep, Chickens, Cows, Pigs, Zombies, Skeletons and Spiders. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between Android and iOS.

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 were: swords, shovels, pickaxes, axes, and shears.
 * In game items are 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, brick, and wooden stairs, stone, brick, and wooden slabs, oak and birch wood, iron ore, gold (block), iron (block), diamond (block), sugar cane, cyan flowers, mushrooms, obsidian, doors, fences, fence gates, sand, gold (ore), diamond (ore, coal (ore), lapis lazuli (ore and block), saplings, clay (block), snow (block), furnaces, and glass panes.
 * There is no visible sky.
 * Water is finite as compared to the infinite water in Classic.
 * It lacks many of the settings the Classic version has.
 * All blocks don't obey gravity.
 * Spawn points cannot be set.
 * Online (LAN) mode only allows 5 players can be on a single server. Internet support is in development.
 * Crafting using the MATTIS system.
 * There is survival mode with pigs, sheep, chickens, cows, zombies, spiders, and skeletons.
 * The world size is 255x255 blocks.

iOS

 * The Cactus block has been spotted in addition to the unobtainable blocks in the Android version even though it is obtainable at this time.

Release
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 was subsequently released on the 17th of November 2011.

Survival Mode was added in version 0.2.0. The 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.

Mojang released the new update 0.3.0 to the iOS App Store, which included new features, the most notable being crafting using the The Minecraft Advanced Touch Technology Interface System (MATTIS) crafting system. Cows and chickens were also added in this update. Some other new items were added into the inventory.

On July 16th, update 0.3.2 was released. It mainly focused on furnaces. There are a few more features available in 0.3.2:
 * Trees now drop saplings.
 * You can now craft glass panes (or thin glass).
 * You can gather any and all resources available in your world (except redstone, it simply gets destroyed upon trying to mine it).
 * All weapons and tools can now be crafted.
 * Iron, gold, diamond, and lapis lazuli blocks can now be crafted.
 * The Creative menu now allows you to place ores down.

On August 9th, update 0.3.3 was released. The updated added bows, skeletons, spiders, and bug fixes. New features include:
 * Birch and pine trees now drop their own saplings.
 * Bone meal can now be crafted and used on saplings.
 * Skeletons drop arrows and bones.
 * Spiders drop string.
 * Chickens drop feathers.
 * Gravel can now be mined for flint.
 * Bows can now be crafted.
 * Wooden doors now require a crafting table to make.
 * Brightness fix
 * Saplings in creative as well as bows
 * Tools now have increased durability.
 * Tools will lose durability when used to fight mobs.

Android
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
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.

There is also a split touch controls option in the "Settings" tab on the main menu.

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 allowing 7 slots in the hotbar instead of four, along with enhanced water graphics, the tablet version of the game is the same as other versions. Hence the ability to play multiplayer cross-platform with other devices.

Android
According to Aron Nieminen (developer of the Pocket Edition, 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
 * Full (or close) battery as 3D GPU gaming on smartphones quickly drains battery

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.

The Pocket Edition doesn'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
- iPod Touch 3rd Generation - iPod Touch 4th Generation - iPhone 3GS - iPhone 4 - iPhone 4S - iPad - iPad 2 - iPad 3 - iOS 4.3.3 - 4.3MB spare storage (however, you will need about 100MB for world saves) - A 600 MHz ARMv7 Cortex CPU/800 MHz Apple A4 CPU or better. (ARMv7 is required for floating point calculations)
 * Supported iOS devices:
 * Minimum system requirements:

Helpful hints & tips

 * Make sure your battery is charged, and/or plugged in (3D gaming drains the battery quickly).
 * 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. You can now place ladders in water as of 0.3.2.
 * Tap and hold an item in the hotbar to drop it.
 * Use shears to get leaves off of trees.

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

Trivia

 * Pocket Edition's save files are not compatible with those from the PC version.
 * Players can have skins on the iOS version and Android 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 has been removed for now, as it caused a huge bug.
 * Lava appears to be frozen, but will flow if forced to move.
 * 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 the game.
 * Wooden tools seem to be break down faster in the Pocket Edition. (ex. In the pocket edition, a wooden pickaxe will only break 8 blocks vs. the sixty blocks it can break on PC. It is reccommended to only use 1 wooden pickaxe, then upgrade to stone for mining, woodcutting, etc.) This bug has been fixed as of MCPE 0.3.2 or 0.3.3
 * Worlds played before 0.3.0 update had the other wool and sugar cane (block).
 * The terrain.png file in the APK file found on Android devices is nearly identical to that in the PC version, containing textures for items unimplemented in the Pocket Edition (e.g., glowstone, cauldrons, and End portals).
 * It is possible to play multiplayer over Bluetooth even though it is not coded into the game. Tutorial here.
 * The Indev wall is also cut by the height limit allowing players to go over it.
 * By placing ladders on the TOP of blocks at the edge of a map (stacking ladders on the top of ladders also works) it is possible to place ladders on the indev wall as if it were a solid block. This is an easy and efficient way to get to the top of the wall and walk on top of it in survival since wood is infinite. By making an additional platform somewhere along the ladder, it is easy to shoot at mobs with a bow and arrow.
 * Blocks that "snap to" other blocks such as torches, glass panes, and fences will "snap to" the indev wall as if it were an existing block. Torches only do this if an attempt is made to place them on a block they can't be placed on such as ladders.

Example of blocks being placed and snapped to the indev wall.