When Mojang changed the texture of lava from the texture used in Classic to the pre-PC 1.5 lava texture in around 0.7.0, they didn't make it so lava would have a notable animation when looked at from a distance (the Classic texture still shows up when doing this). This can be compared with older versions of PC, and you will notice a difference.
Steps to reproduce:
1. If you have PC, downgrade to an older version of Minecraft (using profile editor; versions Beta 1.8 to Release 1.4.7 are recommended for this, for creative mode).
2. Go to the Nether after creating a world in that version. (Going to the Nether is a good way to observe this.)
3. Observe lava animation from a distance (you will notice an animation).
4. Switch to PE.
5. Go to the Nether. Observe lava (you will notice that the animation stops after about 10-20 blocks away from you).
This could be intended (though I highly doubt it) and might be fixed when they update the lava texture to PC's current texture.
Comments 4
Some devices even older can only handle so much rendering in the Nether so lava stops rendering from a certain distance on purpose to reduce lag. Changing your render distance could possibly fix the problem. Looking at how the nether is in PC, the Nether lags briefly when entering and this sometimes can happen every once in a while.
Some devices even older can only handle so much rendering in the Nether so lava stops rendering from a certain distance on purpose to reduce lag. Changing your render distance could possibly fix the problem. Looking at how the nether is in PC, the Nether lags briefly when entering and this sometimes can happen every once in a while.
I think this might be for better performance