Online gambling has never been more popular, and casinos today provide players with numerous ways to access their games, such as through desktop websites, in-browser mobile websites, and mobile apps. A 2020 study from the UK Gambling Commission found that smartphones were the most-used method to access gambling sites, so why don’t more casinos offer mobile apps?
Casino Mobile Apps: What You Need To Know
Mobile casino apps can be downloaded onto iOS and Android devices and essentially function as mini portable online casinos. Through these apps, players can register or log in to access a variety of HTML5-developed casino games or sports betting services, can make and request payments, and contact the casino’s customer support service directly.
Mobile casino apps are popular among smartphone users for providing them with instant access to their favourite casino, right from their home screen, and for utilising the smartphone’s security mechanics, like Face or Touch ID. Unfortunately, there are several drawbacks to using them; there are no exclusive benefits like promotions, the game selection can be somewhat limited when compared to playing in browsers, and downloading the apps takes up storage on smartphone devices.
However, there are several casinos in the United Kingdom that provide mobile casinos, including some very famous sites, but the majority of casinos in the United Kingdom do not provide users with mobile apps, requiring them to instead play in-browser.
Is Playing In-Browser Better?
Like with playing in a mobile app, there are benefits to playing in-browser, and they include not taking up storage on your device, potentially offering a wider selection of games, and being more easily accessible. While the majority of casinos in the UK do not offer mobile apps, all casinos can be accessed in-browser, so there’s no need to worry about compatibility issues.
Many users may feel that playing in-browser is simply easier since all casinos allow you to play this way. However, this may simply be because most casinos do not offer native apps, pushing users to simply ignore them and use the in-browser alternative instead.
So Why Don’t Casinos Offer Apps?
There are a number of reasons many casinos don’t offer apps. Many operators may believe that developing native apps, which may require plenty of resources, isn’t worth it. What’s more, developing apps can prove to be a time-consuming and rigorous process as casinos will need to meet the requirements of the Google Play and Apple App store, and they will need to update the apps on a regular basis. All of this can be a tax for most operators, and it’s simply easier to just optimise their casino for use in mobile browsers.
Why More Casinos Should Offer Apps
We believe that more casinos should offer mobile apps to provide their registered users with the choice to play in-browser or in-app. At the time of writing, many users across the UK may not be able to play in their preferred method, and that may be hindering their overall enjoyment or experience when gambling.
Providing mobile apps will also make it much easier for many smartphone-based users to access their favourite casinos, rather than having to manually load up the casino website in their internet browsers. It’d also be great to see casinos offer mobile users more incentives for using mobile devices, like smartphone-specific bonuses or games.
Unfortunately, it’s likely that we won’t see more casinos offer smartphone apps or exclusive benefits since the majority of casinos have already optimised their website for mobiles and may not want to spend additional resources on creating apps. That doesn’t mean we won’t stop hoping though!
