On iOS, the Apple App Store is run and maintained by Apple who have very strict guidelines as to what is allowed to pass onto the store for public consumption. Due to this, it's not been easy for the developers to push out new updates or hotfixes quickly, due to most of these platforms having an app store or marketplace gateway controlled and run by that particular platform. It's developed in the C++ programming language and published to a massive range of platforms and devices including Windows, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Sony Playstation, Xbox and more. Sadly however, Minecraft Bedrock Edition, which is an evolution of the earlier Pocket Edition version of the game, doesn't share those similarities. Mojang, the developers of Minecraft, always hosted the game files themselves, making it easy to publish new versions and fixes, without having to worry about app store certification or third party authorization. This was always possible as JAVA edition is a game developed for desktop PCs capable of running apps developed within the JAVA programming language.

This has allowed the player base of JAVA edition to very easily switch between stable and development versions, firing feedback to the developers and ensuring the majority of game breaking bugs were patched out of the game prior to stable release. That could be the current stable release, the latest development release or even an older version of the game with the list of available versions going all of the way back to the original alphas of the game. Since the inception of Minecraft JAVA edition, the game came with a launcher that allowed the player to choose any version of the game they wanted to play.

However, it’s not all been plain sailing, especially for Minecraft Bedrock edition. For years both Minecraft JAVA Edition and Minecraft Bedrock Edition have given players early access to new features and updates during their development cycles alongside the stable release of the main game.

Minecraft is a game that thrives on player feedback for development.

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