It’s pretty fair to say that casino games on mobile phones took longer than most in the industry. It was a good few years after mobile betting really became established that mobile casino really started to take the floor. One thing that the casino has always done though, is move with the times and the development of these types of games has continued to impress.

In fact, the last two years have probably seen the biggest developments since the niche really started to bed itself in. What we will say straight away is that the technology doesn’t appear to be there right now, like it is for mobile betting. Actually, a better way of putting that might be that a lot of mobile casinos aren’t as developed as they could be. The gulf between some of the bigger casinos and some of the smaller casinos, in terms of mobile at least, is huge.

Differences Between Online & Mobile Casinos

The first and biggest difference that you will find is with the design of the games. Online you get to take advantage of big glossy screens and high-powered computers to produce visually stunning games. The mobile market requires a much keener eye for detail as the screen real estate is that much smaller. Smaller screens mean that often games do suffer in terms of the graphics that are on offer.

This is very much the same that any convert from online to mobile has. If you look at platform based games whose graphics far out way that of online casino games, the format for their computer based game will be huge and when they convert to mobile you will simply have to accept that graphically the smartphone or tablet can do a lot less than the computer. Having said that, the games that are starting to come to life are all pretty well designed and we are seeing that with each release the quality of games on mobile casinos is starting to be much higher.

What mobile does offer you, that no online casino ever can, is freedom. You can literally play these casino games from anywhere in the world and whether you’re on your way from work or off for to meet a few friends for drinks, you’ll always be just a couple of taps away from some of your favourite casino games.

Mobile games are also where a lot of casino software developers are starting to plough most of their time and resources in. As with mobile betting, more and more users are using their mobile device instead of that of their PC. Mobile gambling is something that has progressed at an alarming rate over the last decade and it shows no sign of slowing down. As with anything, where there is a demand for something, you can be sure that not too far away will be someone looking to supply that demand.

Mobile Casino Games

One thing that we often hear people enquiring about is which games are on offer. Well, the short answer is that the majority of them are all on offer. What you’ll find from online casino games is that they are a pretty simple set. They aren’t rocket science to play and in turn, they aren’t rocket science to design. So, you’ll see that even mobile-based casino games are starting to improve in terms of design and also availability.

The biggest seller for mobile casino games will always be slots. The majority of people who get into their online casino will be heading towards a slot. It’s hard to avoid them at online casinos due to their being so many of them. You’ll find a good range at most mobile casinos but the number will likely be less than an online one. The main reason for this is that a lot of slots become pretty redundant with online casinos. New ones seem to get developed pretty much every week that means the older ones get pushed to one side. As they are already developed then there’s no need for an online casino to get rid of them, but at the same time, if they aren’t getting played then they aren’t going to be getting developed for mobile casino.

What you’ll often find from the mobile casino is a much more concentrated number of slots to choose from. It’ll be a cherry picked selection of games that often include some of the better performing options from the online version.

Table games have been taken a bit longer to get here than slots, but they are finally starting to make an appearance. The usual suspects for most mobile casinos are roulette, blackjack and video poker. The variations for each game will depend on the casino, but they wont stray too far from the more ‘standard’ formats for the time being, at least.

Handsets & Operating Systems

Android

Google’s Android mobile operating software has become a huge hit in 2014.  Google now sells more than 60,000 Android operating systems per day.  The software’s bright touch screen display combined with advanced processing chips and internet connect makes it the perfect platform for mobile gambling.

The Android mobile device has even overtaken the iPhone as the most popular smart phone, which means a number of online casinos and mobile casino games have now been developed for the Java-friendly device.

How Do I Install Android Casin$o Apps

The Google app marketplace (Google Play) doesn’t allow real money casino apps. This means that you have to download casino apps directly from the mobile casino website. The only way to do this is by allowing “Unknown Source” apps to be downloaded.

Generally you can click on “Settings” and then “Application Settings” to find the unknown sources box that you need to enable. Once enabled you can download any .apk files. It’s recommend you disable the unknown sources feature after installing the casino app.

Alternatively you can play in mobile casinos like PocketFruity, which are available through your browser on your Android. There is no download necessary in order to play. This is the easier method, but it limits your options, as most mobile casinos are app based.

Most Popular Real Money Android Casino Games

The majority of casino games that you’d expect in a land based casino or online casino are available in mobile casinos. Whether you want to play roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, casino poker games or a few other card/table games they’re available.

A lot of slots have been developed to work on the Android OS along with video poker machines and bingo. The size of mobile phones and tablets continues to grow each year making them better for mobile gaming. HTML5 has also improved mobile gaming a lot.

Now there are also multiplayer blackjack and roulette tournaments available in mobile casinos. The betting limits are smaller in mobile casinos, but everything else is the same. The quality of the games are just as good and will continue getting better.

iPhone

Since Apple launched the original iPhone in 2007 it has gone on to become the most popular smart phone in the world and provided a giant platform for the growth of mobile gaming.

The massive advantage of the iPhone is its large 8cm, crystal touch screen display which is perfect for mobile gaming.  iPhone users can download real money games such as Roulette, Blackjack, Video Poker and Video Slots such as Mermaid Millions to play on the large, colourful screens.

iPhone gambling apps are much easier to play on then regular WAP-friendly casino games since you can download a “casino app” to your iPhone in seconds and open it up whenever you want to play a game.  In fact, the latest news shows that 4.3% of iPhone users have installed a gambling app on their phone.

The majority of iPhone gambling apps also give you full access to your casino account (unlike basic WAP mobile games) so that you can make easy deposits, withdrawals, and access a user-friendly menu navigation.

Best iPhone Casino Games

When iPhone casinos were initially launched they were very limited in the games that they offered. Now you can play a host of great games on your iPhone including roulette, blackjack, baccarat, video poker, slot machines, scratch cards, bingo plus numerous others.

IPhone casino games are now being developed specifically for the iOS. They fit the screen perfectly, the touch screen buttons work and the graphics are high quality. Nowadays you can’t tell the difference between games developed for the iOS or Windows/Mac.

How to Download iPhone Casino Games

iPhone casinos make their apps as simple to download as possible. When you visit one of the casinos above you’ll have to download an iPhone app. After you install the app onto your iPhone you’ll be able to download the games you want to play on your phone.

The reason all of the games in the casino aren’t installed on your iPhone is because you don’t want to waste valuable space. You only want to install the casino games that you’re planning on playing. Once you no longer want to play a game you can delete the files.

If you’d rather not download any app to your iPhone it’s still possible to play in certain iPhone casinos. Some iPhone casinos utilize web-apps where no download is needed to play the games. Simply visit the casino in your Safari browser to begin playing instantly.

The Future of Mobile Casinos

It would be pretty huge if mobile casino didn’t continue to grow over the next 5 years or so. In fact, we will stick our necks on the line and say that it definitely wont be the case. The industry is starting to really catch fire and the numbers that many online casinos are pulling would seem to suggest that mobile casino gaming is here to stay.

What we would expect to see is that the catalogue of games will increase but also the quality of games to increase as well. Graphically they are already starting to get better and we would say with the introduction of retina displays and high-resolution smartphones and tablets, this will only improve.