Have you ever tried downloading your favourite betting app from the Google Playstore?
If that is the case, you would have noticed that such apps do not exist in the store.
But why is this so?
Google has a very strict policy on real-money gambling apps; and only recently have they begun to relax their stance.
Up until the start of 2021, the Playstore only allowed gambling apps in four countries- Brazil, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
However, Google announced in January 2021 that it was adding 15 more countries to the approved list of nations.
The new nations are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
For a betting app to be accepted in the Playstore, the app must meet some all the requirements set by Google. Developers must have completed the online application process; while the operator must be approved by the government, or own a license with the governmental gambling authority in the specified country.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is not on Google’s list, so android users in the country will have to wait a while longer before they can download betting apps from the Playstore!
But there is a way out!
Knowing that a vast majority of Nigerian bettors are on mobile, and that most smartphone users in the country are on android, betting operators have found another way to make their apps available to their customers.
Instead of downloading betting apps from the Playstore, which is not possible at the moment, android users can get their betting apps directly from the operator’s site.
The app download links are usually conspicuously displayed on the home page of the operator’s site. Once the user clicks the link, the download process begins.
Android devices by default are programmed to accept apps only from the Google Playstore.
If you are getting an app from another source, you must manually enable your device to install apps from that particular source. This can be easily done in the device settings.
The main problem with downloading apps from sources other than the Playstore is that the safety of the app cannot be guaranteed.
For an app to have made it onto the Playstore, it would have passed some stringent security checks and must have been certified safe to use.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with apps from other sources. Since there is no third party to verify the safety of an android betting app, it comes down to the level of trust the user has for the operators and developers of the app.
Hence, you should only install a betting app from a trusted source.
One way of knowing trusted betting apps is if they are from licensed betting sites in Nigeria. The two main organizations responsible for registering and licensing betting operators in the country are the National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority.
Operators usually have their license information at the bottom of their sites. If that information is not available, then it is better to stay away from the site.
Hopefully, some day in the near future, android users in Nigeria will be able to download gambling apps from the Playstore so that we can at least skip the step of double-checking operators and developers!
