Betting and Gambling Apps to Become Available in Google Play

Android owners in the UK, France and Ireland will have access to betting and gambling apps in Google Play from August.

Mobile casinos and mobile casino gaming are becoming increasingly popular and the number of players who choose their smartphone or tablet as their primary gaming device is growing by the hour. Some industry experts even suggest that the number of mobile gamers might surpass the number of people who play casino games on their desktop computers/laptops.

In the past many online casinos offered a download version, in fact, this type of online casinos was prevalent. It turned out that players generally prefer playing online, so the instant flash versions slowly took over and now many leading casinos don’t even have download versions. With mobile casinos things are a bit different.

Players Prefer Mobile Native Apps

Online casino operators quickly realised that mobile casinos are the future. All major casinos these days have mobile-friendly websites. Players can open the website in their mobile browsers and then log in and have access to all the services that are otherwise available. However, unlike with desktop casinos, many players prefer when the mobile casino is a native app, instead of an instant play mobile version.

Native apps offer better functionality and the games tend to run smoothly without any interruptions. However, casino operators have had certain problems with Android native apps, as Google didn’t allow gambling and betting apps to be available in the Google Play. So, players had to download the apps from a link. This made things a bit more complicated, since before downloading a casino app you have to change your settings and accept apps from unknown sources.

For some players this was too much hassle, and others were simply worried about the legitimacy of the apps which had to be downloaded from somewhere else. Players who own iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) didn’t have the same problem, as Apple accepted real money gambling apps and multiple casino and betting apps are available in the App Store and can be downloaded from there.

The First Apps to Appear in August

As a result of the betting and gambling app ban, iOS devices seemed to be a lot more betting and gambling friendly, so Google decided to reconsider its position. It has been reported that Google has already emailed a number of betting and gambling operators, informing them the betting and gambling apps will be accepted by Google Play. It appears that from the begging of next month (August), customers in the UK, Ireland and France would be able to download betting and gambling apps from Google Play.

It appears that Android casinos are about to become a lot more user-friendly and reliable. Operators will need to submit relevant documentation, including proof of their licence to operate within a certain market, so that their Android apps can be made available in Google Play. Some suggest that the appearance of Betcade which allowed operators to offer Android betting and gambling apps, whwas the main motive for Google to change its mind, despite the fact that Betcade ceased to exist earlier this year.

In 2015, Google started offering daily fantasy sports apps in the US Google Play and that was the first indicator that they might change the restrictive policy towards betting and gambling apps.