Mobile Casinos – The Best Apps for Smartphones and Tablets

How Real Money Mobile Casinos Work

Owing to the restrictions of iTunes and the Google Play Store, you will not find a great deal of real money gambling apps available for download. Yet online casinos found a way to get around these constraints, by developing instant-play versions of casino games that can be played in the browser of mobile devices. In recent years, the situation has relaxed somewhat, and more downloadable apps have become available. Yet they are still not available for all online casinos.

With just a few exceptions, the majority of online casinos make their games available to be played in mobile browsers. When it comes to downloadable apps, the situation is more favourable for iPhone and iPad users, with more and more native apps becoming available for download from the iTunes app store. The situation looks different for Android, where there are still very few download apps available. Yet when it comes to Windows Phone and Blackberry, the situation is worse still. There are no download apps available for these operating systems at all. What’s more, instant play in the browser is often not officially supported for these operating systems.

Find the Best Apps for Your Device Here

Pretty much all online casinos provide mobile games, but the selection can differ depending on the operating system. Our top apps are suitable for most players, but there may be better apps, depending on the operating system you use. Generally speaking, there are few differences in the games that are available for iOS and Android, yet there are big differences when it comes to the availability of download apps for the 2 operating systems. As for Windows Phone and Blackberry, it mostly comes down to which apps run at all and which are supported. Here you will find specific details and all supported apps for your device.

General Points You Should Consider When Choosing an App

When it comes to choosing a mobile casino app, there are only a few key points that you should take into consideration. You can use the following 4 criteria to make a general assessment of how good the casino’s mobile offering is. These will help you determine which apps you are likely to enjoy and play in the long term:

• Game selection – it’s important to know how many games are available and what is their quality
• Free play option – unlike the desktop versions of casinos, there is not always a play money option
• Usability and functionality – are all the important functions available and how well does the app operate?
• Security – when playing with real money and providing personal data, the mobile casino must be secure

Game Selection

When you play at a mobile casino, perhaps the most striking difference is the smaller game selection. There are several reasons why the game selection for a mobile casino is smaller than its desktop version. As mentioned previously, casino games that have been developed in Flash are not mobile compatible. It therefore takes a lot of time and investment for games to be adapted for mobile play. In many cases, older, less popular games will not be adapted for mobiles. There are some software developers who have excelled in the provision of mobile games, whilst others still have a long way to go. As such, the game selection can vary greatly from one mobile casino to another, depending on which company provides their software. There are some operators whose mobile game selection is limited to just 20 or so games, whereas there are others who provide hundreds to choose from.

Operators and Game Selection at a Glance

Provider	Desktop Games	Mobile Games
Microgaming	634	96
NetEnt	139	56
Playtech	235	83
Nextgen Gaming	79	68
IGT	109	44
Play’n Go	55	49

As well as the quantity of games, the quality is just as important. There are some developers, such as NetEnt who have excelled in their mobile game selection. The quality of the graphics and sound have not been compromised, with their mobile games boasting the same exceptional visual and sound standards as their desktop games. What’s more, they have optimised the games for touch screen usage.

Play Money Option

For those of you who have played at online casinos, you will no doubt be aware that the vast majority offer a play money mode, where you can play the games for free. Sometimes you need to sign in to your account to play for free, whereas there are some casinos where you do not even have to create a player account to try out the games without spending any real money. The situation is different when it comes to mobile casinos. There are very few mobile casino apps that allow you to play for free. This can be very annoying when you fancy a quick game whilst you are on the go, and are not in the mood to play for real money.

So if you are the type of player who likes to play for free every now and then, it is worth looking out for apps that offer a play money mode, rather than exclusively providing real money games. Often, you simply need to log in to play for real money and log out for free play. Yet as already mentioned, this is not even an option at some mobile casinos. Therefore, make sure you check for this option if free play is an important factor for you.

Usability and Functionality

When you’re playing on the smaller screen of a tablet or phone, touch control usability becomes very important. Yet it is not just the games that should be optimised for touch usage. You should also check that the menus are easily accessible and clearly laid out. You will find there are some big differences between different mobile apps in terms of how easy it is to navigate to your favourite games, as well as in terms of how well the actual games function.

One way in which usability is optimised on mobile casino apps is to remove the less important options that you would usually find on the standard casino website or software. The app developers need to find the right balance between including the most important functions, such as depositing and withdrawing, with a clear overview that is easy to navigate.

Protect Your User Account Against Unauthorised Access

When it comes to the protection of your personal data, the same security measures exist when using a mobile casino app as when playing on a PC. Your sensitive personal and banking information is encrypted to ensure that it cannot be intercepted by third parties, protecting you from fraud. Yet there is one major difference in terms of safety when playing on a mobile device. It is easy to lose your phone or tablet, or even for it to be stolen. Without putting certain security measures into place, this could lead to your device, and as such, your casino account being accessed and used by someone else. In order to avoid unauthorised access, it is recommended to take the following actions:

Never Save Passwords

Despite the convenience of saving your login details, I strongly advise against doing so. Sure, it may allow you quick and easy access to your casino account. Yet at the same time, should your device fall into the wrong hands, it also provides others with the same easy access to your casino account and real money games.

Do Not Save Payment Details

The same applies to details for any payment methods you use on your mobile device, such as credit/debit card numbers, e-wallet user names and passwords, as well as bank account login info. Once again, if your phone is lost or stolen, then you are providing easy access to your money, and it is likely only a matter of time until your data is abused and you suffer financial loss.

Activate the Screen Lock

Another measure is to activate the screen lock on your device, meaning you need to enter a password, PIN, pattern or even a finger print to gain access to the device. Whilst this approach does not provide complete protection against unauthorised access, it can buy you some time to report your device as lost or stolen, and possibly also to cancel any user accounts that you do not want anyone else to access.

Conclusion – Plenty of Choice of Mobile Casinos

There is such a wealth of choice when it comes to mobile casino apps. Yet there can be significant differences from one app to another. Therefore, before deciding which one to choose, it is worthwhile to look closer into what they have to offer. Of course, a good game selection is important, with a decent amount of high quality games. Whilst it is true that the game selection on a mobile app is considerably smaller compared to playing on a PC, the majority of new games are developed in a mobile friendly format. So the number of mobile games is constantly increasing. Just as important as a good game selection is a clear layout and user friendly operation. Without this your playing experience could soon become more frustrating than fun.

Questions and Answers

When discussing the topic of casino apps, there are some questions that are regularly raised. I would like to take this opportunity to answer some of the most commonly asked questions relating to this subject.