Industry News
Glacial Pace of Change: Web Notifications Coming Soon to Apple Devices?
Apple’s dragging its feet in response to Anti-Trust Pressure; Bob Lawson, Optimove’s Director of Mobile offering, looks at what that actually means
Operators and mobile app developers love Apple’s App Store. Specifically, those who have a high percentage of their players on iPhones. They love the reach the stores give them to acquire new players.
Operators and mobile app developers dislike Apple’s App Store. They are tired of the hoops they need to jump through to get their app listed. Not to mention Apple’s 13,000-word “guidelines,” which include restrictions for types of apps they will accept, and where, AND the slice that the App Stores take on every dollar spent through the app, kicking a big hole in potential revenue operators can earn from their players.
It’s fair to say operators and mobile app developers alike have a love-hate relationship with the App Stores and Apple in particular.
Recently Apple has come under increasing pressure from Anti-Competition lobbyists to offer other ways for users to utilize their apps on iPhones. But a business with over 745 million software subscribers, grossing over $70bn in direct app revenue a year, isn’t going to give that up easily. Add to this their slowing revenue from hardware sales, and some commentators see Apple increasingly as a software company rather than a vendor of high-end devices. What are we to make of these somewhat conflicting messages? Consider the following:
- Apple is under pressure from antitrust regulators to show opportunities for companies that don’t, or can’t, have apps in the App Store. The ruling from their very public lawsuit with Epic Games in the US, and the EU ruling in favor of Spotify, also means that Apple needs to show tangible proof that the Apple ecosystem isn’t closed to competition.
- Apple is doing everything it can to hold onto its dominant position while appearing to listen to software makers’ concerns. They continue to make only minor tweaks to App Store terms in response to class actions and slowly introduce small, frequent changes. Those Changes make it very difficult for developers to stay on top of what would make Apple block their new app listing.
So how do the recent announcements at the June 22 WWDC event give us a clue to Apple’s response to pressures? First, it continues to show Apple’s strategy for the glacial pace of change.
- Apple has for years been reluctant, to say the least to allow applications other than approved apps on its store, accessing phone and browser functionality. Push notifications, for example, have been possible on Apple mobile apps since June 17, 2009. Just 11 months after it introduced the App Store in July 2008. They have always seen the Apple Push Notifications service (APNs) as a critical part of the iPhone experience.
And in the meantime, next door, Google has allowed much more extensive options for delivering notifications on Android devices. For example, since 2013, it has been possible to deliver notifications on an Android phone to users who don’t have the mobile app installed but have subscribed for notifications from a mobile responsive website or progressive web app (PWA).
But there’s a big difference here and it is that neither websites nor PWAs are downloaded from the Google Play Store, so they aren’t governed by the submission rules or delivering a revenue cut for the Play Store.
- Apple’s resistance to following Google’s lead could easily be seen as an attempt to restrict the popularity of Web-Based Applications over mobile apps published through its stores. After all, in the past it did follow Google’s lead when it first introduced notifications to mobile apps published through the Google Play Store.
- Apple argues that it’s about maximizing users’ customer experience, but increasingly it has been seen as anti-competitive. It’s strongly suspected that the recent announcement at WWDC 22 to introduce web push notifications to Apple devices is a way to demonstrate that they have no platform bias. They will soon introduce web notifications to browsers running on mobile devices, closing the gap between Mobile Apps and Web Apps.
- The technology has been available as a developer test build for months. At their developer conferences, Apple often announces features well into the future to get their community excited about what’s to come. Rarely do they announce something that will be available up to a year later. So why announce now, and why so far in advance?
- Antitrust pressure may have led to the announcement this year. And maybe, just maybe, by kicking the can down the road, the heat will come off. They have built it, but will they come? Only time will tell.
What does this mean for the industry?
Marketing automation tolls will relish the prospect of allowing more freedom around mobile devices. CRM Marketing Platforms have many customers who don’t, and won’t, have apps in the store for one reason or another. So being able to offer an experience that is on a par with that of a Native Mobile app is a compelling idea. The power of push notifications to re-engage with lapsed players and send reminders to Apple users, as has been possible with Android, is undoubtedly a good thing.
Is Apple ready to truly embrace customer experience across mobile and web applications? It’s anyone’s guess, well anyone not named Tim Cook, anyway. We’ll be watching this space closely over the coming months.
Bob Lawson is Director of Mobile Offerings at Optimove. He joined Optimove early in 2022, when it acquired Kumulos, the company he co-founded. Kumulos was a market-leading Mobile and Web Messaging Platform serving a broad range of industries. Bob has spent more than 18 years in technology, particularly Mobile MarTech. He has held commercially facing roles in start-ups, scale-ups, and large enterprise businesses, particularly in Mobile Technology. Before working in the Tech space, he spent 15 years in Financial Services, most recently as Marketing Director of one of Europe’s largest Fund Management Companies.
Industry News
Flexion Reports Revenue Increase of 9% for 2024

Flexion, the games marketing company, has announced that its revenue grew 9% to year-end December 2024. The growth is attributed to the Company’s success in the alternative app store market.
Since its IPO in 2018, the company has built a well-positioned games marketing business around the alternative stores and grown annual revenue 50-fold to almost US$100 million. Its game portfolio represents several billion US$ in gaming IP for alternative market partners like Samsung, Amazon, Huawei, OneStore and Xiaomi.
“With the Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into force in Europe and recent legal actions in the US, mobile game developers have felt a new-found freedom to explore their market options. We’ve already moved beyond the era when Google and Apple controlled everything. Developers are looking for alternatives that offer better margins, and additional audiences and revenue. Partnering with Flexion opens up a range of market channels with very little up-front investment,” said Jens Lauritzson, CEO of Flexion.
Flexion currently distributes more than 30 high-profile titles on the alternative stores. Top-tier games in the Flexion portfolio make on average US$ 10 million a year based on Q4 2024 run rate. That’s income in addition to their Google and Apple revenue with a business model that adds little to their costs.
In Q4 2024, Flexion-serviced games were, on average, generating 9.3% through the alternative stores of the revenue they made on Google Play. This is a significant boost for Flexion’s partners without major costs or effort.
“If you scale for the size of the stores, the alternatives massively out-performed Google in Q4 for our games. This is exciting both for Flexion’s business and for the future of the games industry as a whole. We’re seeing the beginning of a sea change in games marketing,” Jens said.
“We’re seeing just the beginnings of a major shift in how top-tier developers address their markets. Using Flexion to access alternative stores is an easy first step into the post- Google and Apple world. Many developers are already looking at their options beyond that and Flexion will be right there with them providing the technology and expertise they need to maximise the potential of their games,” Jens added.
The post Flexion Reports Revenue Increase of 9% for 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
Players Reclaim Close to $7M Through AskGamblers Complaint Service in 2024

The latest AskGamblers Complaint Service report for 2024 has officially been released. The comprehensive report highlights the most important accomplishments and records of the AskGamblers Complaint Service team for the previous year.
In 2024, The AGCS team (formerly known as AGCCS) managed to return $6,890,547.11 to players. Over 7259 players turn to AskGamblers, submitting complaints against 1114 casino brands. Out of all the accepted and processed complaints, the team had a 68% resolution success rate. One of the notable milestones that reached was returning a total of $70 million to the members.
Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, said: “It’s amazing to see the trust players put in us year after year, and we’re able to repay them by helping them recover their funds from operators or solve other related issues. We’ve had another successful year, with a few records broken and amazing milestones achieved and we can’t wait to see what lies in store in the years ahead.”
The post Players Reclaim Close to $7M Through AskGamblers Complaint Service in 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Industry News
SlotsCalendar Announces its Second Awards Edition at iGC Malaga 2025

SlotsCalendar, a leading name and tastemaker in iGaming, has announced the second edition of the SlotsCalendar Awards. Winners will be announced during the iGC Malaga event in May 2025.
These awards are rapidly gaining significance in the iGaming world as SlotsCalendar’s steady growth, success, and player-centric mentality represent the community’s interest.
Players have approximately a month to vote between the 10th of April and the 12th of May.
For its 2025 edition, the SlotsCalendar Awards Gala returns to the iGaming Club Conference in Malaga, happening on May 28th. The Awards categories for this year are as follows:
• Game Studio of the Year
• The Slot Everyone’s Talking About
• Star Slot in the Making
• Casino of the Year
• Excellence in Bonus Variety
• Industry Standard in Responsible Gambling
• Live Casino of the Year
• Best Sports Betting Platform
• Best New Casino
• Best Crypto Casino
While the idea of iGaming Awards is not new to the industry, the SlotsCalendar Awards are unique for a simple reason: winners are voted by players from the entire iGaming community.
The uniqueness of these awards makes them particularly important in iGaming. Placing the decision-making strictly in the hands of the player is a fundamental shift in the iGaming community.
SlotsCalendar CEO Viorel Stan said: “It’s truly an honor and a privilege to see how our SlotsCalendar Awards have evolved. Last year’s inaugural edition was a crowning achievement for us. It proved how vast and involved our community is, creating a level of engagement that made us incredibly proud. Being able to return to the iGC and reward some of iGaming’s luminaries in the name of the SlotsCalendar Community is beyond gratifying.”
The post SlotsCalendar Announces its Second Awards Edition at iGC Malaga 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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