Last year, reports suggested the number of unique mobile internet users reached 4.32 billion, and there’s no doubt mobile gaming has been a primary force behind the rapid increase in mobile internet usage worldwide. In the United States alone, the number of mobile gamers is projected to hit over 180 million in 2025. This number is also expected to rise in the United Kingdom, with 25 million mobile game users in 2021 increasing to 30 million in 2025. The top mobile game genres in both countries include sports, puzzles, and casino games.
Based on these growth figures, we know it’s not a question of whether mobile gaming is popular or has potential, but rather, what’s the best way to play games on mobile devices? For instance, there are two ways, with the first being HTML5 apps. The second way is through native apps. In this article, we will explore both app types and the pros and cons of each.
Mobile Gaming On HTML5 Apps You can access mobile games such as puzzle games like The Birdcage and casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, and megaways through HTML5 apps. Megaways are a form of casino game that offers players up to roughly 100,000 different ways to win, and HTML5 apps are based on internet-enabled applications. That means people can access puzzle games, casino games, or strategy games through their mobile device’s web browser, rather than downloading and installing an app from iOS or Google Play.
There are both advantages and disadvantages of playing mobile games through HTML5 apps. As mentioned, these apps function in-browser, which means players don’t need to install apps on their phones. Ultimately, this frees up storage space for other apps like social media and banking. For perspective, in 2019, there were a reported 25 million people in the UK banking through mobile devices. HTML5 apps also tend to be easier to maintain than native apps. However, some disadvantages of HTML5 apps include their inability to work without an internet connection. This is crucial since one attraction of mobile gaming is that people can play games wherever, whenever they want.
Mobile Gaming On Native Apps
While HTML5 apps work across different devices, native apps are developed for a specific mobile operating system and are installed onto someone’s device through app stores. For example, native apps that are designed for Apple iOS will not work on Android OS and vice versa. Fortunately, most gaming operators, especially online casinos, offer mobile gaming apps for both Android and iOS.
Some advantages of mobile gaming through native apps include faster access times, they work without an internet connection, and native apps can access device systems like GPS and camera. There are also disadvantages, though, such as mobile native apps taking up a large percentage of someone’s storage space on their smartphone. In addition, native apps are more expensive to develop and require constant maintenance.
Mobile games revenue is set to reach unprecedented levels in the coming years due to growing global mobile penetration and smartphone usage rates. As the industry becomes even more successful, it should become more clear which apps are better for mobile gaming. However, for the moment, there seems to be a decent balance of users between HTML5 apps and native apps
