The landscape of legalized online gambling seemed in dire straits just a month ago.<\/p>\n
As it geared up to become the third state<\/strong> with legalized online casinos and the third with legalized online sports betting (not counting West Virginia, which had mobile operations shut down after only a few months),\u00a0Pennsylvania\u00a0<\/strong>appeared to be in a bind.<\/p>\n New\u00a0Apple\u00a0<\/strong>guidelines prevented potential mobile platforms from entering the market. As a result, PA operators were limited to web browsers and\u00a0Android\u00a0<\/strong>users. Those operators would miss out on some\u00a040% of users\u00a0<\/strong>who own an iPhone.<\/p>\n FanDuel Sportsbook<\/strong> eventually rolled out a Pennsylvania betting mobile app, which integrates with its existing\u00a0New Jersey<\/strong> product and is available in the Apple App Store<\/strong>. Before FanDuel, though,\u00a0GeoComply<\/strong> threw PA operators a lifeline: the geolocation company dusted off and submitted to the App Store an old app that pinpoints the location of a customer and shares that data with its clients.<\/p>\n Essentially, the app serves as a solution to operators\u2019 mounting headaches. Temporarily, anyway. This is not a long-term solution, according to\u00a0Lindsay Slader<\/strong>,\u00a0vice president of regulatory affairs<\/strong> for GeoComply<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, it is a solution. And a significant one for operators in Pennsylvania, or in any state considering the legalization of online gambling, which will no longer miss out on a large chunk of players using Apple products.<\/p>\n It was\u00a0SugarHouse Casino<\/strong> that broke the Pennsylvania online gambling mold.<\/p>\n Its\u00a0PlaySugarHouse<\/strong>\u00a0app was not the first to feature an online casino in the state, but it was Pennsylvania\u2019s first to become accessible by Android and Apple users<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Essentially, users must download the GeoComply-produced\u00a0GeoGuard Location Validator<\/strong>\u00a0app from the App Store. The app verifies players\u2019 locations and communicates that data to the operator.<\/p>\n After allowing the app access to their locations, users can return to their browser to take part in their online casino or sportsbook of their choice that is utilizing the GeoComply app.<\/p>\n Slader recalled GeoComply originally developing this app \u201cas a proof of concept probably four or five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n That process, she said, began \u201cin response to Android apps not being accepted into the Google Play store.\u201d As users would be forced to download apps directly from operator websites rather than the Play store, GeoComply anticipated the \u201cuser journey,\u201d as Slader put it, would become difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the ideal user experience,\u201d Slader said. \u201cSo we figured that if we were able to come up with an alternative that could be more smooth, it could look like something like this. We developed it like a beta and said, \u2018If anyone\u2019s interested in rolling with this, here it is.\u2019 \u2026 But no one really cared enough. A lot of people sniffed around and thought, \u2018Yeah, this is kind of a good idea.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI think as everyone made their priorities and as time passed and as Android users became more familiar with the (external) file download process and became more familiar as additional operators went live in places like New Jersey, there was less than an immediate demand for such a thing. So we kind of put it on the shelf and figured, \u2018OK, we\u2019ll save that for a rainy day.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That rainstorm made landfall in early\u00a0June<\/strong>\u00a0when Apple updated its guidelines and required operators with real-money gambling apps to develop products\u00a0native to iOS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Apple updated its guidelines within the first week of June. But as Slader pointed out, it had hinted at potential policy changes<\/strong> prior.<\/p>\n There was no overarching policy, she said. Rather, Apple began imposing similar guidelines on a case-by-case basis \u201cas early as last fall.\u201d<\/p>\n The change in June, Slader believes, is more of an official decision to institute an overarching policy, one that \u201cseemed to slowly creep up on everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n GeoComply started collaborating with clients months ago, attempting to find ways for operators to clear the hurdles Apple was throwing into their path<\/strong>. This was when GeoComply took its years-old geolocation app off the shelf, dusted it off and offered it as a potential solution.<\/p>\n \u201cAs more people started asking,\u201d Slader said, \u201cand the struggle as the change in policy of Apple became quite apparent, it, too, became very apparent to us that we needed to update it and really whip it into shape for production-ready product and take it from what was previously more of a proof of concept.\u201d<\/p>\n For months, Slader said, GeoComply maintained ongoing talks with\u00a0Rush Street Interactive<\/strong>, the parent company of SugarHouse. They discussed solutions, if they were only temporary, to prepare for \u201ckind of what we saw coming,\u201d i.e., for Apple to update its guidelines.<\/p>\n Certainly, the technology used by the app needs regulatory approval. Explaining how the software works, how it communicates with operators and assuring the reliability and credibility of the geolocation service can be taxing.<\/p>\n \u201cPut yourself in the shoes of a regulator who has never overseen online sports betting or online gaming before,\u201d Slader said, \u201cand try to grasp the basics of how these gaming platforms work and all the components. And then throw in the mix this app that has to talk to a website to perform the geolocation. It\u2019s a little confusing, to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately, GeoComply carries a credible resume as the geolocation provider for\u00a0all online operators\u00a0<\/strong>in the US. Once integrated with an online product, the app goes through testing before receiving approval from regulatory bodies. Which, of course, Pennsylvania did.<\/p>\n SugarHouse used it for its online casino, which shares a wallet with its online sportsbook. Its sister property in Pennsylvania,\u00a0Rivers Casino<\/strong>, then integrated the GeoComply app for its\u00a0BetRivers\u2019\u00a0betting app<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Slader emphasized the beauty of GeoComply\u2019s product:<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a gambling app. It doesn\u2019t contain gaming content. As a result, it does not come under the same Apple scrutiny as real-money gambling apps. Really, GeoGuard is not a product that is only for gaming operators.<\/p>\n \u201cThe app is developed to support all types of e-commerce,\u201d Slader said. \u201cAs much as a sportsbook could use it, so could any kind of business that exists online to help process financial transactions and to support the integrity of any kind of transaction online.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, she added, the technology that communicates with gaming apps still goes under the Apple microscope.<\/p>\n Now, GeoComply\u2019s app becomes a solution for any of its clients who wish to take their gambling apps into the Apple world. Although Slader understands that this is only a temporary solution, it is not \u201cthe ideal user experience,\u201d she said. This is only Plan B.<\/p>\n \u201cThis service is something that we were able to throw into the ring for everybody to grab onto, kind of as an immediate lifeline,\u201d Slader said, \u201cbut don\u2019t see this as a long-term solution that we would suggest as the ideal user flow, the ideal (case) for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cPlan A is to have a native app like everybody wants in the app store. That\u2019s what everybody wanted. I think in the absence of being able to have that, this is Plan B. But that doesn\u2019t mean to say that Plan C (or) D could be better.<\/p>\n \u201cI think maybe what we\u2019ll see is there\u2019s going to be different options and doesn\u2019t need to be one option instead of another, but give the user as many ways as possible to prove they\u2019re located within the state where they\u2019re supposed to be to help operators ensure that all of their users are permitted to bet and are where they\u2019re supposed to be. They take many shapes and forms. We don\u2019t feel there should be one way over another, but give the users as many options as possible to pass the geolocation requirements from a user\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The post Online Gambling Operators Should Thank GeoComply For Apple iOS Fix appeared first on Play USA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The landscape of legalized online gambling seemed in dire straits just a month ago. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","vebbtech_seo_disable_yoast":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_author":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_date":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_factchecker":false,"vebbtech_seo_fact_check_enabled":false,"vebbtech_seo_post_reviewer":0,"vebbtech_seo_post_review_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-link","6":"category-news-category","7":"post_format-post-format-link"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe temporary solution developed by GeoComply<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u2018Proof of concept\u2019 turns into online gambling solution<\/span><\/h2>\n
GeoComply throws lifeline to online gambling operators<\/span><\/h2>\n
GeoGuard app goes live for Apple<\/span><\/h2>\n
While temporary, online gambling solution is still a solution<\/span><\/h2>\n