Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Minecraft Earth beta rolls out for Android with feature not found in iOS version

Aaron Mamiit
By

The Minecraft Earth beta has started rolling out to select Android users, with a feature that is not yet available for the augmented reality game’s iOS version.

The Minecraft Earth closed beta has arrived on Android after first launching for iOS. Similar to its iOS counterpart, the Android version will limit the number of participants and locations, starting with five cities across the world: Seattle, London, Tokyo, Stockholm, and Mexico City.

Recommended Videos

The Android beta is finally here! We’re hard at work rolling out the update in five cities: Seattle, London, Tokyo, Stockholm, and Mexico City. Happy crafting everyone!

↣ https://t.co/H3Ye8o64JV ↢ pic.twitter.com/z575yKmYXV

— Minecraft Earth (@minecraftearth) August 30, 2019

Related

Developer Mojang is making up for the delayed closed beta release by giving Android players access to rubies, the in-game currency that is not yet available on iOS. Players may earn rubies by playing the game or buy them, and they may be used to purchase Build Plates where they can build their creations over the course of the closed beta. Rubies, whether earned or bought, are linked to the player’s Xbox Live account, so the currency will not disappear through the beta stages and beyond.

Minecraft Earth beta testers on iOS will soon also gain access to rubies, but Mojang did not provide a definite timeline for the wider release of the currency.

Minecraft fans who would like to participate in the Minecraft Earth closed beta may still sign up for the chance to receive an invitation. The requirements are a mobile device that runs on at least Android 7.0 Nougat or iOS 10, a Microsoft or Xbox Live account, and a completed registration form.

In Minecraft Earth, in-game elements are mapped to the player’s surroundings, creating a virtual world build on Open Street Maps data. Things that may be tapped for rewards, called tapables, will appear on the smartphone’s camera, along with Adventures, which are mini-games that are linked to a specific real-world location. Players will also be able to stage a Build Plate, on which they will be able to use the blocks that they have collected to create anything, limited only by their imagination.

Minecraft Earth will be a free-to-play game with no loot boxes. There will be microtransactions, but the developers promise that no “pay-to-win” environment will arise.

In May, Microsoft revealed that Minecraft has sold more than 176 million copies in the 10 years since its first launch on the PC, possibly making it the best-selling video game of all time.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
Apple scrubs most mentions of controversial CSAM features after iOS 15.2 update
Photo editing on the iPhone 13 Pro.

Apple this week released iOS 15.2 with a host of new features, including a communication safety feature for the Messages app that's focused on child protection. However, the company did not include its controversial iCloud Photos child sexual abuse material scanning feature and has appeared to have scrubbed all mention of its existence.

By way of recap, iOS 15.2 was originally intended to come with a child sexual abuse material (CSAM) detection feature. The update would have implemented an on-device scanning feature aimed at sweeping through a user's iCloud photo library for CSAM material. The company noted that it would do this on-device, for maximum privacy. Privacy experts objected, noting that the very concept of scanning a user's photo library for prohibited material was a privacy violation in itself, one that could expand to include other material once the precedent had been set.

Read more
All new features coming in the Minecraft Caves and Cliffs 2 update
A mountain with a snowcapped peak.

When it originally launched, or even before that during the lengthy early access period, Minecraft was already effectively an endless game. You could build, craft, fight, and transform the world for as long as your creativity, free time, and patience allowed. Heck, you could even run in a single direction and never hit a wall. But Mojang wasn't satisfied with that, and over the years has only added more content to this already limitless game. We've gotten new animals, environments, weapons, monsters, systems, and everything in between to add yet more depth to this insanely popular game.

We already got a giant update in the Caves and Cliffs addition, but the second part of it is fast approaching. This update, also known as 1.18, will complete the pair and add in plenty of new changes that will impact the entire Minecraft world. There's a lot to look forward to in this coming update, but also a few things missing, so if you want to plan out how to tackle all the new content, here are all the new features coming in the Minecraft Caves and Cliffs 2 update.

Read more
Mozilla’s Firefox browser for Android and iOS gets a revamped homepage
A symbol of the Mozilla Firefox logo.

In May, Mozilla rolled out a fresh new interface to the Firefox browser based on some highly data-driven learnings. Now, the Firefox browser's mobile version is getting an improved homepage with several new features based on users' feedback to help make browsing more thorough and efficient.

The new homepage on Firefox for Android and iOS brings dedicated sections to improve how users browse on their smartphones. For example, "Jump back in," lets you quickly open the last active tab that you were browsing. Besides the most recent tabs, Firefox also shows the most recent bookmarks, so you can dive back into the pool of information without making a lot of effort to find the tab that was previously opened or saved.

Read more