What You Need to Know About Apple Removing Illegal Gambling Apps

Online gambling has been around for longer than most people think.  In the last five to 10 years the popularity of online gambling and gaming has soared, so many assume that this is a new pastime.  Yet, some online casinos have been around for more than 20 years!

The internet has long brought casino games and gambling fun to players through their computer, but as technology improves, many casinos have introduced mobile applications that allow the player to enjoy the games wherever life takes them.  As such, when players log into their mobile phone application store, they’ll find a plethora of apps to gamble with.

Yet, online and mobile gambling is a very heavily regulated activity.  This is a frustrating fact to many because there are so many hoops to jump through for players for some countries.  This has also become a frustrating fact to entities such as Apple as illegal gambling apps are out there and can be difficult to catch.

Removing Illegal Apps in 2019

In September and October of 2019, Apple and Google both have removed hundreds of illegal gambling apps from their app stores.  Many are wondering how hundreds of illegal gambling applications were out there for consumption at all; the answer is shockingly simple. Most of the apps that were removed were not marked as gambling applications, but upon further inspection, they were gambling applications.

When the apps were investigated, Apple found that they either were not properly categorized as a gambling app, or their descriptions were incomplete, leaving out any reference to gambling. In most instances, the apps appear to have intentionally concealed this information so they would go unnoticed as gambling applications.

Why Removal is Important

Online regulation of gambling is very strict.  It is complicated, as well. Laws vary from one part of the world to the next.  In the case of the United States, the laws are even different from state to state.  When you have applications that are being downloaded that have not been properly categorized, people who may not legally be allowed to gamble may be gambling.  Many of the apps were linked with otherwise legal companies and gambling businesses, they were just not appropriately filed with the app stores to allow for proper regulation.

Apps need to comply with local laws and regulations just like independent sites and local casinos do.  While frustrating for developers, they must be transparent about what their site was designed for.  Failure to do so will result in the application being removed from the Play store.  The developers can resubmit their application for approval, but it is up to the stores whether they accept the application.  Those who have been removed should expect their apps to be investigated even more thoroughly than others.

Who Was Accessing the Removed Applications?

The popularity of illegal apps is what allowed them to be discovered at all.  The apps were trending, getting thousands of player reviews, and even more downloads.  People from all walks of life, ages, and people from legal and illegal regions were downloading the applications.  With hundreds of thousands of downloads, many of these applications were accessed illegally an untold number of times.

With the removal of the apps, even those who have played with the applications can no longer access them.  When removed from the app stores, the apps were rendered useless despite previous use, even if they were accessed from a legal region.

How to Find Legal Online Gambling

While many are frustrated because they were enjoying apps, they didn’t know were illegal, they are still plenty of legal websites and applications to enjoy.  You can find new bingo sites with bonus at bonusesonline.com.  On this site, you’ll find information for completely legal sites and apps that will allow you to play your favorite UK casino games from the comfort of your home or work or when you are on the go.

While not all sites have an application with the app stores, almost all of them have mobile-friendly sites that will allow you to game seamlessly from your favorite mobile devices. It’s true that online gambling regulation can be frustrating, but there are a lot of completely legal and legitimate applications and websites to game with.