The 2x2 pocket cube is small, but it is not trivial. Every visible piece is a corner, there are no edge pieces, and there are no center stickers to define face colors.
That is why using a dedicated 2x2 cube solver is better than trying to force a 3x3 tool to work. Rubix Solver has a separate 2x2 mode with four stickers per face.
Why there are no centers
On a 3x3 cube, the center stickers stay fixed. On a 2x2 cube, there are only corners. This means the app cannot derive the face mapping from centers, so the solver uses a fixed orientation rule.
For you, the practical takeaway is simple: keep the cube in the same orientation while entering all faces.
Entering a 2x2 cube
Choose 2x2 mode, then paint four stickers per face. The app checks that each color appears four times. If a color count is wrong, the cube cannot be solved until the input is fixed.
After solving, follow the animation. The move notation is similar to 3x3 notation, but the cube turns only corner pieces.
Impossible 2x2 states
If a corner was twisted by hand, no legal move sequence can solve the cube. This is common with loose pocket cubes. A solver can detect that something is wrong, but the physical fix has to happen on the cube itself.
