Apple’s Gambling App Purge – What does it Mean?

Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, August 28, 2018

In the summer of 2017, Google finally relaxed its longstanding ban on gambling and sports betting apps, enabling the Android App store to list these products across the globe. This was considered to be a game-changing move for the mobile gambling sector particularly with Android market leaders Samsung dominating the space with a 22% share.

This also brought Android in line with the iOS platform, as while the legal status of gambling in the App store remains uncertain there has never been a blanket ban in place. In fact, Apple simply insists that associated apps must have the necessary licensing and permissions in the location that they’re used, while they must also be made freely available to customers.

However, Apple have recently conducted a purge of so-called gambling content in their app store, to the point where a number of tools that have little to do with real-money wagering have been caught in the crossfire.

But what is the reason behind this, and what are the key takeaways for operators within the gambling space? Let’s take a look.

The Purge – Why have Apple Taken Action?

Despite the fact that Apple have never imposed a blanket ban on gambling related apps, there are only a select few platforms listed in the App Store.

The UK has the highest propensity of these, thanks largely to the size of its online gambling market and the presence of extremely progressive regulatory measures.

Despite this, and the renewed levels of competition that have emerged since the Android App Store began to publish gambling content, Apple has taken the surprising step of implementing a widespread crackdown on their real-money wagering apps that they do offer.

As we’ve already said, this unexpected move has already backfired to some degree, with a number of non-gambling apps having been mercilessly removed from the App Store. Several developers have taken to social media to report that their apps have been suddenly removed from the store as part of Apple’s purge, including a Polish lifestyle magazine to a game that enables players to send Xbox clips to their friends.

Although this is clearly an accidental occurrence, it is entirely avoidable and has caused a significant stir (and not to mention a wave of negative press) across a number of social channels.

Apple representatives have declined to make an official comment, although shared communications with affected developers revealed that the brand was looking to remove certain gambling-related apps in an effort to reduce fraudulent activity.

Apple also said that they were removing apps in order to comply with government requests to proactively tackle online gambling activity, although there appears to have been a great deal of haste in the brand’s response.

This followed hot on the heels of similar developments in Norway, where Apple successfully banned all gambling apps from its store. This has also had an initial impact on the global market, with some operators noticing that their platforms had been eradicated entirely.

While many of the unfairly affected apps are now coming back online, this was an unfortunate incident that has brought negativity to Apple’s global brand and raised questions about the future for gambling operators in certain markets.

There is also doubt about the real motivation for the move, which some believe has been inspired by a recent, landmark ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court.

More specifically, May saw the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection App (PAPSA) struck down. This was a 1992 federal law that amount to a blanket sports gambling ban in every state, and the removal of this will allow local authorities to pass laws and legalise real-money wagering online.

A number of states are already poised to legalise virtual casino gambling in the states, following in the footsteps of New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This recent ruling will also enable states to expand into virtual sports betting and boost their revenues exponentially, with New Jersey expected to be one of the first to capitalise.

As a result of this, it’s likely that the Supreme Court’s ground-breaking ruling could open the floodgates in terms of sports-betting apps, which would be made available across both iOs and Android platforms. This could lead to a deluge of associated apps in the App Store, creating a vast and lucrative marketplace that is difficult to regulate and even harder to manage from an accessibility perspective.

Given this, there’s a belief that Apple may have taken the proactive approach to streamline its range of gambling apps ahead of time, in order to allow for an influx of apps once operators begin to invest in mobile sports betting platforms. This will ensure that create a compliant and transparent library of gambling apps before new products are launched, and this should make the process of vetting new products considerable easier and less pressurised.

There’s no doubt that the online gambling and sports betting markets in the states could be about to explode, and in this respect there is method in the madness of Apple’s rushed and seemingly ill-considered purge. The issue lies with the execution, however, as the brand’s hasty and ineffective handling of the process has potential alienated developers while also drawing some unwanted attention to their future treatment of gambling-related apps.

The Last Word

For years, Apple appeared to benefit from its relaxed approach to publishing gambling content on the App Store, enabling it to boost revenue streams while also stealing a march in rivals Android.

This may now be backfiring, as the brand lacks a clear and concise approach to regulation mobile gambling apps and this has impacted significantly on its recent attempts to purge the platform of questionable products.

Make no mistake; the proliferation of gambling and sports betting apps from the states could exacerbate this issue, creating an array of platforms that is almost impossible for Apple to regulate. This perhaps explains why the brand were so hasty in removing so-called gambling-related apps in the first place, but they’ll need to adopt a more measured approach if they’re comply going forward.