Ever wondered why there is such a lack of online casino apps on the app store on your phone? It’s certainly not because no one has thought of the idea - quite the opposite! In fact, it has been down to strict regulations on both the Android and Apple app stores that you haven’t seen casino apps flourish. Sure, there have been a handful or so of ‘fun to play’ slots games such as Double Down, or poker practice apps, but in terms of real online casinos? Nope, nada.
A background to online casino apps on the app stores
Regulation on both the Apple and Android app stores, up until fairly recently, has been a hard NO line. That is, as in, no casino apps (where you could play for real money) were accepted as apps to either of the stores. The only way to get around this was to bypass the legitimate stores and download apps that were not approved by Apple or Google from the bestcasinosites. To download apps not available through the respective app stores is a little bit of a work around or a hack, and means that if you download these apps you aren’t protected from the strict regulations of the Google or Apple stores: apps may be insecure, be infected with malware, or even brick your mobile - making it unusable. Downloading apps that aren’t on the app store is always a bit of a gamble in itself, really, and one that you probably don’t want to risk if you can avoid it. There are also other workarounds; using a mobile browser to play casino games instead of downloading an actual app. if you are an iOS user, look at this list of mobile ready online casinos composed by CasinoShortList. All the casinos listed do not require a native app and simply run in your chosen browser using HTML5. Which is exactly what Apple wants to change.
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Online casino apps and government legislation
Times they are a-changing. As online gambling has grown through less-legal means, governments around the world have started sitting up and paying attention. If there are casinos on the land, with tax dollars flowing back to the government, why not capitalize on this market that other non-regulated providers are tapping? Like many tech products, legislation has floundered behind the speed of tech, and so too is the case with casino apps. However, we are now seeing these changes start to be rolled out. This has some pretty big implications for both Apple and Android and how they manage legal online casino apps. Some serious considerations that they need to take into account are region blocking (only allowing certain apps in certain places where they are legal), plus strict rules for age limits.
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Online casino apps on the Apple App Store
Apple have now gotten the ball rolling in allowing casino apps on the app store. Let’s take a look at the rules for these types of apps.
As per the Apple regulations on the app store:
“Apps may not use in-app purchase to purchase credit or currency for use in conjunction with real money gaming of any kind, and may not enable people to purchase lottery or raffle tickets or initiate fund transfers in the app.”
There is also the following rule:
“Apps that offer real money gaming (e.g. sports betting, poker, casino games, horse racing) or lotteries must have necessary licensing and permissions in the locations where the App is used, must be geo-restricted to those locations, and must be free on the App Store.”
What this means is that you will need to sign up via the legal casino’s website, transfer funds to the website, then download and install the respective app from the app store, which will show your balance once you’re all logged in. Apple doesn’t allow you to transfer funds for gambling through the app itself (and it must not be a paid app): so that’s why you have to do it on the casino website. Apps must also be native to iOS, which means HTML5 casino games that play from apps must be converted to native iOS code to be compliant.
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Online casino apps on the Android app store (Google Play)
There are similar restrictions on the Android app store, aka the Google Play store. The app store stipulates that apps must comply with local gaming regulations and registrations, be age and geography limited, and show information about responsible gaming.
Android also has the following rule:
“App must NOT be purchasable as a paid app on Google Play, nor use Google Play In-app Billing”
At the time of print, these apps on the Android store are only available in the UK, Ireland, and France. If you are from other regions, then you’re fresh out of luck.
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Our conclusion
If you live in a region where online casino apps are legal then have a browse around to see what’s available. As these are new rules for both of the app stores, there probably won’t be a wide range of apps available to choose from as yet, although that’s sure to change. If you don’t come up with any casino games, though, you can always check out HTML5 sites for play through your phone’s browser instead.
