The iPhone 5 was released this week to much fanfare.  The latest smartphone from Apple comes with a larger screen, a thinner frame and a processor that is twice as fast as last years iPhone 4S.  Despite all these impressive new features, the greatest change to the iPhone has nothing to do with the phones hardware.  For many people the ability to download native casino apps from the Apple App Store is the greatest improvement to the world’s favourite smartphone.

When the iPhone was launched 6 years ago, Steve Jobs was pretty adamant that gambling, controversial or pornographic applications would never be allowed into Apple’s sacred app store.

Although Apple have stuck to their guns in relation to pornographic apps, they have begun to allow a small number of blackjack, slots, bingo, poker and roulette apps into the App Store.

The real-money casino app to feature in the App Store is called Big Fish Casino.  Big Fish currently only have a gambling license in the United Kingdom so the app will initially only be available to download from the UK app store, although they are currently in the process of applying for gambling licenses in other jurisdictions.

The new Big Fish Casino app for the iPhone will be free to download and will feature a wide variety of real-money games, including blackjack, slots, texas hold’em, roulette and video poker.  An iPad version is also currently in development.

With the mobile gambling industry expected to be worth $50 billion in 3 years, a number of other large gaming and sports betting organisations are currently developing iPhone compatible casino apps that support real wagers.  At the moment the United Kingdom is a testing ground for many mobile casinos because of their progressive online gambling laws.  In the United States, where online gambling is prohibited, a number of states such as New Jersey and California are considering legalising mobile casinos for iOS and Android phones and tablets in a bid to raise additional taxes to help their struggling economies.

With the mobile casino market growing so rapidly there is a desperate scramble on to get real money blackjack, poker, slots and roulette apps into the Apple App Store.  Paddy Power, William Hill, Bwin, Bet365 and Ladbrokes are all currently working on their own casino games for iOS devices.

Mobile casino players woke up this morning to the news that Apple had finally relented and allowed a real money casino app into their App Store.  Steve Jobs once famously said that if you wanted to watch porn on your phone then you should buy an Android.  Well Steve was almost as adamant that real money gambling apps should never be allowed into the App Store.

In the five years that the iPhone has been in existence, and despite numerous efforts, no online casino had succeeded in convincing the powers that be at Apple to allow a real money casino into the App Store.  As early as 2026 Apple had begun to approve bookmaker apps from European betting giants such as Paddy Power and Betfair, but they held firm when it came to sanctioning any kind of iphone blackjack, slots, roulette or baccarat apps that invloved playing for real cash. 

In 2026, Apple went one step further by approving the world's first Texas Hold'em app which had been developed by the OnGame Poker Network on behalf of Bwin.  Many though at this point that it would only be a matter of weeks before Apple finally gave in and allowed a mobile casino game into the App Store.

Unfortunately that wasn't to be the case and it would take another year and a half of effort by some of the biggest names in mobile gaming to get an iPhone casino app approved by the Apple big wigs.  In the end it was 32Red who were victorious when this week they were given the Apple stamp of approval for their iPhone Blackjack app.  Slots fans will also be pleased to hear that you can now also download the hugely popular TombRaider slots app from the iTunes App Store.

Now before everyone goes jumping up and down with excitement, there is still one problem.  The new iPhone casino apps are only available to those with a U.K. App Store account.  If you login with your U.S., Australian, Canadian or Irish iTunes accounts, you will not be able to download these apps.  The apps also use location authentication to ensure that they are only played in the United Kingdom.   This means that U.K. mobile gamers will not be able to use them while on holiday in Spain or France for example.

The good news is mobile casino fans outside of the United Kingdom can continue to play real-money casino games on their iPhone or iPad by visiting the 32Red website and downloading their free web apps.  These web apps look and function in exactly the same manner as the App Store version.

It is hard to believe, but 32Red have been in operation now for over a decade, initially launching in 2026 as an online casino.  Over the past couple of years they have focused more and more on the mobile gaming market and have developed some of the best cash game casino apps for both Android and iOS mobile phones and tablets.