Horizon Android 0.7.7

Important

CONTRIBUTORS WANTED! Help with SlopCoding, Rust, Android, graphics, testing, and issue triage is very welcome.

An update improving Android graphics performance and compatibility, installation recovery, touch controls, file access, and built-in mods, alongside another major upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Vulkan rendering — separate opaque and cutout terrain paths, reduced unnecessary sky rendering, and specialized shaders that skip unused fade and filtering calculations without reducing texture resolution or render distance.
• Vulkan Batching fixes — corrected indirect draw offsets that could cause terrain surfaces and chunks to disappear.
• Graphics compatibility — improved OpenGL ES shader compatibility, including fixes for transparent terrain and shader-link failures on older Adreno GPUs.
• OpenGL startup — deferred heavy world-renderer initialization and fixed getting stuck on “Preparing for world creation” before entering a world.
• GPU stability — failed timestamp readbacks are retired instead of reusing invalid buffers.
• Menu rendering — reused blur resources and skipped unnecessary blur passes when the blur radius is zero.
• Built-in mods — optional Zoom, Minimap, Recipes, and SmartF3 are available directly in Mods with Enable/Disable controls. They are disabled by default.
• Dynamic joystick — an optional joystick mode with a configurable activation area, preserving the existing fixed joystick and D-pad controls.
• Touch fixes — improved sprint handling, corrected crouch-toggle transitions in water, flight, and mounts, and fixed focused settings interfering with touch scrolling.
• Shield controls — dedicated shield controls are enabled by default for applicable touch layouts; layouts with a regular Use button hide the redundant shield button.
• Server transitions — cleared stale offhand equipment when connecting to another server, preventing items such as shields from carrying over visually from the previous session.
• Keyboard input — improved Android keyboard support in command block, structure block, jigsaw, and test-block editors.
• D-pad navigation — menu navigation becomes available earlier, before full world-renderer initialization.
• Installation recovery — missing installation inputs evicted from Android’s cache are downloaded again with bounded retries and the original size/hash verification.
• Cache compatibility — corrected invalidation of derived block-behaviour data after engine updates.
• Game files — Worlds are accessible through Android Files, with launcher shortcuts for opening game and world folders. World access is blocked while playing.
• Configuration folder — access existing game, graphics, touch, and keypad settings through Android Files without relocating them or exposing account files.
• Resource controls — optional chunk-worker limits and reusable mesh/audio cache budgets. Default settings preserve the engine’s existing behaviour.
• Launcher improvements — a clearer launch boundary between the launcher and game, plus a Cancel/Exit confirmation when pressing Back.
• Connection diagnostics — additional connection-failure and departure information without enabling verbose per-frame network logging.
• Visual fixes — restored golden horse armor rendering.
• Development builds — GitHub Actions can now produce optimized, separately installed dev APKs with source-commit information and checksums.
• Community — updated Discord links and added an optional development-support link.
• Upstream synchronization — 1,846 upstream commits, including merge history, through published nightly 8c02c0b85, covering gameplay, multiplayer, rendering, resources, world generation, input, and mod APIs.
• Architecture support — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64. ARM64 and x86_64 require Android 9+; ARMv7 and x86 require Android 8.1+.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental project. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

RGSS texture filtering can significantly reduce performance on some mobile GPUs. If FPS is low, try Anisotropic or None in Video Settings. Android’s adaptive display refresh rate and Minecraft’s inactivity frame limit can also reduce FPS while idle.

Rendering improvements do not guarantee higher FPS in every scene. Complex vegetation, transparent surfaces, and blurred menus may still be expensive. Some devices may continue to experience graphics-driver failures or startup issues.

Performance recording and GPU profiling add overhead. GPU timing availability depends on the device and driver. Review diagnostic reports before sharing; they may contain paths, server addresses, and exception text. Nothing is uploaded automatically.

Return to the launcher before editing Configuration or transferring worlds. Configuration edits apply on the next game launch. World transfer uses complete folders; a dedicated ZIP-world import/export interface is not included.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Sandboxed code .hmod mods require a compatible 64-bit build. Arbitrary native .hnmod compilation and loading remain unsupported on Android.

Account integration remains a development configuration pending project-owned Microsoft/Mojang registration.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.6

Important

I NEED CONTRIBUTORS. I CAN'T KEEP UP ANYMORE. THIS PROJECT STARTED AS SOMETHING I WAS JUST DOING FOR FUN, BUT IT GOT COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. I'M DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING IT ALMOST ENTIRELY ALONE, AND I'M ON THE VERGE OF BURNOUT. I JUST WANT TO GET SOME SLEEP. IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH RUST, ANDROID DEVELOPMENT, OR SLOPCODING, PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS PROJECT!!!

An update improving touch controls, installation reliability, player saving, GPU memory allocation, and crash diagnostics, alongside another upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Swap hands — an optional touch button, disabled by default, positioned beside Inventory. Existing custom placements are preserved.
• Shield controls — choose between raising a shield with Sneak or a dedicated button, without accidentally using the item in the other hand.
• Touch aiming — automatic crosshairs for bows, crossbows, tridents, and throwable items. Fireworks no longer trigger the automatic crosshair.
• Item interactions — corrected tap behavior for flint and steel, fire charges, bone meal, buckets, and other surface actions, while preserving ordinary block placement and hold-to-use gestures.
• Camera calibration — independent horizontal and vertical touch sensitivity, with corrected default axis scaling in landscape and portrait.
• Control feedback — consistent frames and visible held states for Shield, Swap hands, and custom text buttons.
• D-pad and tutorials — improved initial menu focus and navigation; touch, gyroscope, and controller camera movement now count toward the look-around tutorial.
• Installation fixes — corrected installer finalization deadlocks and cache-cleanup races, improved metadata retries, and preserved reusable completed downloads.
• Player saving — fixed singleplayer inventory, position, and experience persistence when leaving and reopening worlds.
• Audio responsiveness — moved periodic audio-device discovery off the frame thread to reduce recurring stalls in the launcher and game.
• GPU memory allocation — smaller Android terrain-buffer growth and a memory-focused allocation policy reduce large reservations. Texture resolution, geometry, and shader quality are unchanged.
• Graphics compatibility — texture arrays adapt to hardware limits, improved opaque Android surface presentation, and fixed a legacy Adreno shader-link crash. Graphics API selection is controlled by the launcher.
• Startup recovery — improved recovery after interrupted Vulkan startup and corrected startup-marker handling when reusing a GPU device.
• Diagnostics — combined performance and GPU recording, bounded background logging, Android exit history, and exportable diagnostic ZIPs with available crash information.
• Mod compatibility — retained sandboxed .hmod execution and added shared validation for content-only .hmod packages.
• Upstream synchronization — 1,288 additional upstream commits, including merge history, through c0b65f1d2, covering gameplay, multiplayer, saving, resources, rendering, and mod APIs.
• Architecture builds — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64. ARM64 and x86_64 require Android 9+; ARMv7 and x86 require Android 8.1+.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental project. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Older OpenGL ES GPUs may display transparent or fragmented terrain. Some devices may also experience startup hangs or graphics-driver failures. Architecture support does not guarantee compatibility with every GPU.

GPU memory changes do not guarantee higher FPS or eliminate all loading stalls. Performance recording and GPU profiling add overhead; GPU timing availability depends on the device and driver.

Diagnostic exports use best-effort redaction. Review reports before sharing: they may contain paths, server addresses, and exception text. Nothing is uploaded automatically.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Sandboxed code .hmod mods require a compatible 64-bit build; native .hnmod compilation remains unsupported on Android.

Account integration remains a development configuration pending project-owned Microsoft/Mojang registration.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.6 RC1

An ARM64-only release candidate improving touch controls, audio responsiveness, installation reliability, player saving, graphics compatibility, and diagnostics, alongside another upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Swap Hands button — optional, disabled by default, and customizable in the touch layout editor. Its default position is separated from Sprint.
• Shield controls — choose between Sneak and a dedicated Shield button, without accidentally using the main-hand item.
• Projectile aiming — automatic crosshair aiming for bows, crossbows, tridents, and throwable items in touch schemes. Fireworks do not enable the automatic crosshair.
• Camera calibration — independent horizontal and vertical touch sensitivity, with consistent physical drag scaling in landscape and portrait.
• Touch interaction fixes — short-tap support for flint and steel, fire charges, bone meal, buckets, and other surface actions. Ordinary blocks retain tap placement and hold mining.
• Tutorial and D-pad improvements — touch, gyroscope, and controller camera movement count toward the tutorial. Improved initial D-pad focus acquisition before full resource loading.
• Audio responsiveness — periodic audio-device discovery moved to a background worker and limited to once per second, addressing a source of recurring main-thread freezes.
• Player saving fix — corrected integrated-server handling that could prevent inventory, position, and experience from persisting after reopening a singleplayer world.
• Installation fixes — resolved the installation-finalization deadlock from PR #39, improved cache-cleanup coordination, and added metadata retries and clearer DNS error messages.
• GPU compatibility — texture arrays respect lower hardware layer limits without reducing texture resolution. Added opaque Android output handling to address dark sun and emissive-object rendering.
• Graphics recovery — OpenGL ES selection also applies to the launcher. An interrupted first Vulkan startup selects OpenGL ES recovery on the next launch.
• Combined performance recording — CPU recording and GPU profiling share one report session.
• Crash diagnostics — bounded local logs, previous-session context, Android exit history, and readable summaries of available native crash traces, exportable as one ZIP.
• Reduced diagnostic blocking — log redaction, memory collection, and disk writes run on a worker; routine diagnostic updates skip busy locks instead of waiting.
• Upstream synchronization — 717 reviewed upstream commits, including merge history, through c3905131b.

Known issues and limitations

This is a release candidate, not a stable release. Only the ARM64 APK is included.

Possible performance regressions remain under investigation. CPU-related stalls and lower frame rates have been reported; the audio polling fix does not establish that every source of stuttering has been resolved. Performance recording and GPU profiling also add overhead.

A startup crash is confirmed on an ARMv7 device with Adreno 304 while creating the GLES terrain pipeline. ARMv7 builds are withheld pending investigation.

The graphics fixes still require confirmation on the originally affected Mali and Unisoc devices. OpenGL ES recovery cannot repair every vendor-driver crash.

Back up valued worlds before testing. The player-saving fix does not automatically restore previously lost inventory or player state.

Diagnostic trace availability depends on Android and firmware. Reports use best-effort redaction; review them before sharing. Nothing is uploaded automatically.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Sandboxed .hmod execution requires a compatible 64-bit build; native .hnmod compilation remains unsupported.

Account integration remains a development configuration pending project-owned Microsoft/Mojang registration.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.5

A major update improving Android touch and gyroscope controls, screen presentation, performance options, diagnostics, and multiplayer connectivity, alongside another major upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Virtual menu mouse — an always-available Mouse button for relative touchpad cursor movement, hover tooltips, adjustable sensitivity, tap for LMB, and hold for RMB. Dedicated LMB/RMB buttons work in menus without enabling gameplay controls.
• Touch interactions — short taps attack entities without holding the attack into the next tick. Ordinary blocks retain tap placement and hold mining, while usable items wait for a long press.
• Crosshair gestures — an independent option allows touch taps and holds to target the crosshair. All four existing touch schemes remain available.
• Gyroscope aiming — opt-in sensor control with adjustable sensitivity, orientation-aware axes, and shutdown when the game loses focus. Applies only to active touch gameplay.
• Screen presentation — optional immersive navigation, camera-cutout avoidance, and Native, 16:9, 4:3, and 1:1 display fitting. Rendering and absolute touch input share the physical content bounds.
• Display and performance options — preferred display refresh rates on Android 11+, optional ADPF performance hints on Android 12+, and expanded GPU profiling with rolling p50/p95/p99 stage timings. Sensor and performance controls default to off; refresh rate defaults to System.
• Exit reports — Android 11+ process history, available Java/native/ANR traces, a previous-log tail, and Rust panic exports retained locally under Horizon Android > Reports.
• Launcher recovery — pending text and corner-atlas uploads are regenerated after skipped frames, preventing missing launcher labels after unlocking.
• Sign-in recovery — Microsoft device-code polling retains the active code through temporary network outages with bounded retries and backoff.
• Multiplayer connectivity — SRV-only server addresses use Android's system DNS resolver, following the active network, VPN, and Private DNS configuration.
• Mod compatibility — sandboxed .hmod execution remains available alongside upstream native hooks. Custom physical-key touch buttons now send key-down/key-up events to sandbox mods; source-only .hnmod entries remain visible with an unsupported status.
• Upstream synchronization — 2,072 reviewed upstream commits, including merge history, through f4a81d27e, with vanilla parity, gameplay, mob AI, multiplayer, saving, data-pack world generation, far-terrain, rendering, and performance improvements.
• Architecture builds — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64 APKs are available. ARM64 and x86_64 require Android 9 or newer; ARMv7 and x86 require Android 8.1 or newer.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Gyroscope support, display-rate requests, ADPF hints, and GPU timestamps depend on the device, Android version, and driver. These settings do not guarantee a particular refresh rate or higher FPS. GPU profiling adds overhead.

Exit traces depend on the OS and firmware. Normal low-memory process termination is not necessarily a game crash. Review reports before sharing; they may contain paths, server addresses, and exception text.

Skin/cape management and native .hnmod engine experiments are not included. Running .hmod mods requires a compatible 64-bit build.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Modrinth Java mods remain browse-only.

Account integration remains a development configuration pending project-owned Microsoft/Mojang registration.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.5 RC1

This pre-release addresses the server connection issue reported in #17.

Fixes

• Potential fix for #17 — fixed Android DNS/SRV resolution that could prevent joining Minecraft servers.
• Server addresses now resolve through Android's system DNS resolver, including support for VPN and Private DNS.

Notes

• ARM64 only.
• This is a testing release focused on server connectivity.
• Other issues, including #14, are still under investigation.

Please test server connections and report whether the issue is resolved.

For other architectures, use Horizon Android 0.7.4.

Horizon Android 0.7.4

A focused update improving Android rendering, controller support, touch controls, and shader management, alongside another major upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Rendering optimizations — reduced sunrise and sunset GPU workload without changing sky quality, improved Vulkan terrain batching, and corrected GPU visibility tracking.
• Smoother startup — Vulkan renderer preparation now runs in the background, reducing the blocking pause when the full game renderer becomes ready.
• Gamepad support — native USB and Bluetooth controller input, configurable buttons, sticks, triggers, deadzones, and camera sensitivity. Controller vibration is supported when exposed by the Android driver.
• Input selection — choose Auto, Touch, Keyboard & mouse, or Controller. Auto follows active input; the selected mode is saved between launches.
• Inventory touch controls — optionally keep existing on-screen buttons visible in inventories, including attack, interact, and sneak for left-click, right-click, and Shift actions.
• Sprint toggle — an optional tap-to-toggle mode for the touch Sprint button.
• Keyboard fixes — improved system keyboard support for recipe-book searches, controller text entry, and other input fields.
• Catalog improvements — Horizon and Modrinth sources for shader searches, fixed classic shader ZIP downloads, and Modrinth browsing in Mods. Java mods remain unsupported.
• File-picker stability — fixed a native callback crash when returning from Android’s file picker after activity restoration.
• Performance diagnostics — more detailed GPU preparation, upload, rendering, and post-processing timings.
• Upstream synchronization — 533 reviewed upstream commits, including merge history, with gameplay, multiplayer, world-loading, saving, rendering, and compatibility improvements.
• Architecture builds — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64 APKs are available.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Some intermittent frame-rate drops remain under investigation. Rendering improvements do not eliminate terrain-generation costs or guarantee higher FPS on every device.

Controller vibration depends on Android driver support. Classic shader ZIP compatibility remains experimental. Modrinth Java mods are browse-only.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Running .hmod mods requires a compatible 64-bit build.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.3

A focused update improving Android file access, touch input, resource-pack loading, and launcher responsiveness, alongside another upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Shaders catalog — browse Horizon's shader catalog and import native .hshader packs or experimental classic shader ZIPs.
• System file access — access Mods, Resource Packs, Shader Packs, and Reports through Horizon Android in the system Files app. Open Folder now opens the corresponding directory.
• File imports — import .hmod, resource packs, and shader packs using Android's file picker, with archive validation, cancellation, and replacement confirmation. HTTPS .hmod link imports remain available.
• Installed management — three collapsible sections for mods, resource packs, and shaders. Successful imports and downloads open the matching section automatically.
• Touch and keyboard fixes — improved sign editing and Done button handling, corrected touch-menu cursors, and expanded Android keyboard support for inventory searches, books, anvils, and server dialogs.
• Resource-pack loading — fixed unsupported Android file locking and moved local resource preparation to a background worker with a loading screen.
• Structure generation fix — restored a missing generated table required for structures. Existing installations repair it automatically; previously generated chunks remain unchanged.
• Launcher responsiveness — asynchronous catalog searches, cached results, faster long-text layout, and fewer repeated file reads when switching tabs.
• Performance diagnostics — additional GPU-buffer allocation timings, resource-reload timings, and build information in reports. Reports are now accessible through Files instead of automatically copied to Downloads.
• Upstream synchronization — 268 reviewed upstream commits, including merge history, with gameplay fixes, chunk-processing improvements, reused buffers, and rendering optimizations.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Some devices may experience temporary low FPS after entering or creating a world. GPU allocation stalls and other performance issues remain under investigation; no general FPS improvement is guaranteed.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported. Running .hmod mods requires a compatible 64-bit build.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.2

A focused update improving launcher usability, mod management, performance diagnostics, and gameplay stability, alongside another upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Performance recording — detailed CPU, GPU, frame-time, chunk processing, memory, and thermal diagnostics, with reports exportable to Downloads.
• Launcher improvements — improved D-pad navigation and automatic scrolling to off-screen settings, visible button press feedback, text cursors, and refined layouts.
• Mod catalog — browse and download mods from the official Horizon Mods catalog, including .hmod support on compatible 64-bit devices.
• Download management — individual download progress, installed status, and retry options for mods and resource packs.
• Gameplay fixes — improved riding-state handling when switching servers, earlier audio initialization, and faster availability of FPS diagnostics during startup.
• Storage improvements — temporary installation downloads are cleaned up after successful preparation, reducing unnecessary storage usage.
• Visual improvements — official Horizon application icon, clearer launcher sections, and improved touch button editor layout.
• Upstream synchronization — 69 reviewed upstream commits with gameplay and compatibility improvements.
• Architecture builds — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64 APKs are available.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Initial world-loading slowdowns and frame-rate drops in complex environments are still under investigation. Some devices may also experience interface layout or navigation issues.

Performance recording is intended for diagnostics and does not itself improve FPS.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.1

A focused update improving Android text input, resolution scaling, and touch customization, alongside another upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Android keyboard fixes — improved keyboard activation in the launcher and game.
• Client resolution scaling — adjustable rendering resolution for the entire client, including menus and HUD.
• Touch button editor — create custom buttons and select game actions or keyboard keys from a list.
• GUI texture improvements — revised mobile atlas packing preserves interface textures, including the experience bar.
• Lighter GLES panorama — reduced menu panorama resolution without reducing HUD texture quality.
• Upstream synchronization — 68 reviewed commits with gameplay, mob sound, and state synchronization fixes.
• Architecture builds — ARM64, ARMv7, x86, and x86_64 APKs are available.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Device compatibility and performance may vary.

Known issues include launcher cropping after screen rotation on some devices and incomplete D-pad navigation, including scrolling to off-screen settings. Fixes are being prepared.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.

Horizon Android 0.7.0

A major intermediate update bringing new Android features, improved compatibility, and a large upstream synchronization.

What's new

• Reworked Android runtime — unified native host, improved background recovery, window lifecycle handling, and system keyboard integration.
• Customizable touch controls — adjustable button sizes, custom key bindings, independently held buttons, and improved layout editing.
• D-pad and physical input — configurable keypad profiles, menu navigation, and experimental keyboard and mouse support.
• Improved GPU compatibility — multiple fixes for older Adreno GPUs, GLES rendering, shader compilation, and texture limitations.
• Launcher improvements — portrait layouts, clearer installation progress, and experimental Android TV support.
• Screenshot gallery — F2 screenshots can now be saved directly to the Android gallery.
• HUD improvements — restored crosshairs, additional F3/F5 controls, improved attack indicators, and better screen insets.
• Minecraft download fix — updated metadata validation to handle Mojang republishing version information without changing game files.
• Major upstream synchronization — numerous improvements to gameplay, mob behavior, combat, animations, item rendering, visual effects, and shader systems.
• Release optimizations — production builds now use full Rust release optimizations with ThinLTO.

Known limitations

This is an unfinished experimental release. Some features may not work correctly on all devices.

Currently, only the ARM64 build is available. Additional architecture builds and improvements are planned.

Minecraft Java 26.3 is supported. Java Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge mods are not supported.

Unofficial project, not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft. Developed with assistance from OpenAI Codex.