Android Betting Apps
Mobile betting has seen a massive increase in use over the last five years or so, with some online sports and casino sites reporting that over 30% of wagers are placed over a mobile device. It was the introduction of smartphones that really kicked off this growth, with players having easy access to web pages, and then the site owners began to develop specific apps for download. These apps are designed to make mobile betting as user friendly as possible, with the layout arranged to fit the smaller screens of phones and tablets.
The most popular operating platform for mobile devices is the Android system which was launched in 2007, with the first Android phones coming out in 2008. Android is an open source product, owned by Google who allow phone and app developers to modify the software to their requirements. By the end of 2012, there were around 700,000 apps, with over 25 billion downloads, and online casino, sportsbook and Poker apps are among some of the most popular.
In order of popularity, the top phones and tablets using Android are the following - Samsung Galaxy range, Motorola Droid RAZR, Apple Kindle Fire Tablet, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet, Google Nexus Tablet, Google Nexus 4, and LG Optimus. These devices have screen sizes ranging from 4'' up to 10.1'', making them perfect for playing your favourite games or placing a bet while away from the desktop PC or laptop.
You can find mobile betting apps at most online sportsbooks and casinos, with some of the most popular ones coming from Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet365, 888 Casino and Poker, Bovada, PokerStars and mFortune, with specialist apps for Sports betting, Casinos, Poker rooms as well as Horse Racing being available for download. The quality of these apps does vary however, with some giving you the full online experience, and other just offering the bare bones of their desktop versions. You will also find that while you can create a new account and deposit or withdraw funds with some apps, many will not let you do any of these actions, so you would need to have an account set up and funded at the main site before being able to play on your mobile. With more and more people exclusively using tablets and phones, this limits the practicality of certain apps. Having said that, this is still a young market which is adapting rapidly and as mobile betting continues to grow, the apps will have to adapt accordingly.
Downloading apps to your android device is usually a simple enough procedure, but different sites take different approaches to how it is done, with some places displaying a QR code which you scan to get to the download page, others having logos linking to the Google Play Store, while others automatically bring up the download page or homepage when you search for them in your mobile browser. Whichever method is offered or even if several are, it is not difficult to get the apps onto your device.
Sports betting apps will usually offer the widest selection of events, as this market is very dependent on customers wanting to access lots of different games, so you will be able to view all the most popular sports and many less well known ones via these apps. Typically, the app will let you choose your game then click onto a Bet Slip where you can select your stake and bet type, confirm the bet and be done. The sports offered can depend on where the betting company is based, so a US facing site will focus on US sports like American Football, Baseball and Basketball, whereas UK and European sites will prioritise Soccer, Rugby, and Cricket, but most apps will have most sports somewhere, it may just be that they are not featured in the same order.
Casino apps tend to be slimmed down versions of the main casino sites with the most widely played table games like Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat as the main attractions, as well as a number of the biggest online slots games, plus scratchcards, Keno and perhaps some Video Poker games. The actual number of games varies enormously, with some apps having as few as 10 - 12 games in total, others providing over 40, but because these games can take up a lot of memory space, you won't find anything like the selection that you would at the main sites.
Poker apps again vary in quality, from sites that give you Holdem games only, perhaps with a range of stakes and buy in levels, to those that feature several types of Poker, at a huge range of tables. Most Poker sites now let mobile players use the same tables as participants at the main sites, giving a larger pool of players and more tables to choose from.
Some of the better apps are provided by specialist sites, so for example, PokerStars have a very high quality app which gives players access to several different games, at a wide range of levels and allows you to open a new account deposit funds and play, all from a mobile device. You cannot, however, make withdrawals via a mobile and this is common across many sites due to potential security issues. Excellent Sports apps are found at sites like BetOnline and Paddy Power, which are known for their sports betting, with each of these concentrating on their local markets, US or European, while still giving you easy access to sports from around the world. Some of the more unusual sports, found via the A-Z tabs, covered by these apps include Australian Rules Football, Hurling, Handball, Sailing, Triathlon, and Surfing.
Most of these betting sites have either one app for Sports, Poker or Casino, or one homepage with links to the different parts of their businesses. Ladbrokes for example, have one landing page when you get to their site on a mobile device, with links to the different apps for Sports, Casino, Bingo and Poker, while Coral focus on the Sports site only with no mobile casino or poker sites at all.
An important factor to consider is how easy it is to play games and place wagers on small screens, and you will find that these apps all give you oversized buttons to make it easy to place the correct stakes, or choose the right cards, even when on the move. The table designs and navigation screens all tend to be thoughtfully laid out with generally clear graphics and games that fill the screens for clarity. You also need to be aware that playing over a 3G link can incur data charges and provide a less reliable link to the games, so it is always preferable to play over a WiFi link where possible. Although data usage will vary depending on circumstances, you can expect around 1mb download and 500kb upload per hour of play.
With mobile use still growing rapidly, you can expect more developments in Android apps, perhaps making this the default way to enjoy online sports and games before very long.