Each day is a new beginning, as for the gambling industry each day brings new provocations or unwelcome situations. This time the troubles come from the new policy imposed by the Apple Store.

1. Apple Updates Gambling App Requirements for App Store Staff August 15, 2013 Any new gambling app that wishes to be listed on the Apple App Store needs to make sure they comply with Apple’s new set of guidelines. An article on macrumors.com highlighted many of the changes but there are a couple of key changes that solely affect gambling apps.
2. An opt in like you said would keep the store safe for those not interested, but apple still gets to choose what they sell. Apparently servicing their customers with gambling and porn apps is not the image they’re going for.

Apple had a perfectly clear position towards gambling apps in the past, but the new rules could overturn the gambling industry. The change in concept is supposed to have a strong impact on sports betting and real-money games.

The problematic issue relates to Guideline 4.7. of the Review Guidelines, that “HTML5 games distributed in apps may not provide access to real money gaming, lotteries, or charitable donations.” The Guideline also completes that “this functionality is only appropriate for code that’s embedded in the binary and can be reviewed by Apple.” Important that the new gambling apps have to be revised for publication in Apple’s App Store. As for the existing apps, the operators have to make sure they comply with the Guideline policy by September 3, 2019.

While theoretically possible, hardcoding a wide-range of casino games from scratch for inclusion in the iOS App Store is a daunting task, meaning Apple’s new policy will effectively ban many online casinos from the App Store for a time. Current players would be able to keep those apps on their iPhones and iPads, but forget about updates.

App Store Native Functionality

Apple keeps a good reputation and tries to be unique with regards to the gambling market. In this direction, the reviewed guideline submits strict rules for gambling publications.

As usual, the gaming developers use websites as apps through HTML5 technologies to publish their products. It is evident that sports betting and online casino apps are coded with HTML5 as a mobile version of a website and is not solely created for Apple platform and iOS devices.

From now on operators have to meet the guideline requirement in order to publish in the App Store – which means all the gambling apps have to be developed natively for iOS.

To conclude, all the new apps shall comply with the new rules, being developing automatically for iOS. Otherwise, the apps not native to iOS risk to be rejected from Apple Store on the deadline date.

Apple Trap for Online Gambling Apps

The new guideline was updated to develop the Apple platform and protect the consumers. Nevertheless, the mobile gambling industry is eventually cornered by the new policy. Despite the fact the native apps requested by Apple has many strengths, such as quick loading, individualization and new gaming performances, they are quite difficult to be drafted, requiring development costs. In this way, powerful providers could finance their projects as required the new guideline, while for the small companies the new rules could be a total failure.

Additionally the remained three months predetermined by Apple are not enough for many developers to comply the new strategies.

In consequences, big fish eats small fish, and little companies can miss a large customer.

Apple Store Gambling Policy Online

However, Apple remains on its strict position: if operators choose to remain in App Store, they should respect the new rules.

Apple Store Gambling Policy Template

Under the Play Pennsylvania report, the online sports betting and online casino gaming in Pennsylvania were not launched because of the Apple’s Guideline.

Apple Store Gambling Policy 2019

Nevertheless, SugarHouse Casino launched the state’s first sportsbook In May 2019, which would be broadcasted live with online gaming.

Apple Store Gambling Policy 2020

Early this year many European gambling operators proclaimed having difficulties to publish their apps in App Store, hoping to remove them from Guideline 4.2: Minimum Functionality of the App Store Review Guidelines, which reads that an app “should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website.”