Why is the casino app missing from the Play Store? The store rules

When the 22Bet app is not available, it is either not in the Google Play Store, or the store says it is not available in your location. The overview of the casino app compares Android, iPhone and web app for 22Bet, Irwin, Frumzi and 5Gringos. Google Play and Apple set their own conditions for real-money apps, for Germany Google names only certain gambling products, and on top of that comes the age check for apps rated 18+.

Google Play: real-money apps only with a licence in the country

Real-money gambling apps are prohibited on Google Play in principle. They are only admitted after an application process with Google, and the developer must hold a valid gambling licence for every country in which the app is to appear. Products not covered by that licence may not be offered in the app. A licence from Curaçao or Anjouan therefore does not open a store listing for a country it does not cover.

For every other country a second duty applies: there the developer must prevent access to and use of the app. The app must also technically exclude minors.

Further conditions concern price and presentation. Admitted gambling apps must be free to download and may not use Google Play's in-app billing. They carry the IARC rating AO (Adult Only) and show a responsible gambling notice with local support services both in the store listing and in the app itself; for Germany Google names the Fachverband Glücksspielsucht as an example.

A detour through a harmless game app is ruled out as well. Apps without gambling approval may not offer content that enables real-money stakes, explicitly including menu items, tabs, buttons or WebViews leading to real-money play. How a real-money casino app differs from a social casino app with play currency is explained on its own page.

What Google Play allows in Germany

Google Play keeps a fixed list of countries in which licensed online gambling apps may be offered. Germany is on it, as retrieved on 08.10.2026. What matters, though, is which products are named for Germany: sports betting, horse racing (separately regulated and licensed) and lotteries, the latter only from state operators or providers commissioned by the state.

Online casino games and virtual slot games are not listed for Germany. Other countries differ, for example Ghana or Greece, where “online casino games” appear explicitly on the list. A slot or casino app in the German Play Store is therefore not provided for, whatever licence the operator holds. A Tipico or lottery app can be listed there, a casino app with reels and live tables cannot.

The GGL whitelist (as of 02.10.2026) lists neither 22Bet, Irwin, Frumzi or 5Gringos nor their operating companies. The whitelist contains no information about apps.

According to goal.com (Indian edition), 22Bet offers a native Android app as an APK, explicitly not in the Google Play Store. According to AskGamblers, Irwin offers an app for Android, source and format of the file: no information. According to AskGamblers, Frumzi and 5Gringos have no native app and run in the mobile browser, on the iPhone as well. What is known about the 22Bet app, from the Android file to the open iOS question, is collected on the brand page.

Android itself allows the route outside the store: developers may host APK files on their own website and offer them via a download link, and users must allow the installation of unknown apps for this. Where the file comes from is described on the page about the casino app for Android; as a system requirement for 22Bet, goal.com names Android 6.0+.

Apple App Store: rule 5.3

In its App Store guidelines (version of 08.06.2026), Apple counts gaming, gambling and lotteries among the most heavily regulated categories in the App Store. Developers must check their legal obligations in every country where the app appears and should expect a longer approval process. Such an app should be submitted by the legal entity that provides the service, not by an individual developer.

The core rule is in section 5.3.4. Real-money apps for sports betting, poker, casino games and horse racing, as well as lotteries, need the necessary licences in every location of use, must be geo-restricted to exactly those locations and must be free on the App Store. Aids such as card counters are prohibited. Under section 5.3.3, apps may not use in-app purchase to buy credit or currency for real-money games.

For 22Bet and Irwin the information diverges. According to goal.com, 22Bet has a native app in the Apple App Store; according to AskGamblers there is an Irwin app in the App Store, and lcb.org states “App Available: Yes” without naming the platform. A search of the German App Store via the iTunes Search API on 08.10.2026 found no hit for either. A listing in another country is not ruled out by this.

In the EU, and so in Germany, an iPhone can also load apps from alternative app marketplaces or directly from a developer's website. Such apps only go through Apple's notarisation for integrity, malware and fraud; section 5.3 is not marked in the guidelines as part of this notarisation. Whether any of the four providers uses this route: no information. Why there is no APK on the iPhone and how the web app works is shown on the page about the casino app for iPhone.

18+ age check in the store

A second reason why an app is missing from the Play Store has nothing to do with licences. Users report that the Play Store only shows apps rated USK 18 after proof of age. One user wonders: “Strangely, it's only apps rated USK 18.”

An adviser in a forum writes: “Lately it's often no longer enough in your Google account”; what is needed is confirmation “with ID card or credit card”. This does not always work; one affected user reports about the verification link: “but it says confirmation not possible”.

Some problems arise on devices with parental controls. One user describes removing Family Link in these words: “then the Play Store had suddenly disappeared”.

“Not available in your country”

The message that an app is not available in your country or location can come from the geo-restriction that Google Play and Apple require from real-money apps. In the store this does not look like a ban, but like an empty search result or this very notice; the notice itself gives no reason.

A similar notice also appears outside the stores. On the German page of an APK portal for the 22Bet file it says: “Download not available in your location”, followed by the question “Why is this app currently not available to me?”.

Location can cause trouble after installation, too. One player in the US reports geolocation errors and writes that he often has to reinstall his betting app because of it.

If the file comes not from the store but from an APK portal or directly from the operator's website, the store's checks fall away and installation runs on the device itself. How to install a casino app, from granting permission to the first launch, is shown in the guide on this website.