GUIDE TO MOBILE BINGO SITES

Established in 2011, Bingo Diamond is one of the Broadway Gaming Ltd. family of bingo brands – a company that brings with it a strong track record of operating online bingo in the UK.

Bingo Diamond is still operating without apps, which is disappointing for an otherwise highly respected bingo operator. This is probably because their mobile site is so effective, designed to be responsive for play on any device browser. You still have access to the full range of games, including bingo, slots and other games from your mobile or tablet device, and it’s simply a case of heading to the website to get started.

If you live in the UK, you’ll know Heart Radio – one of the leading commercial radio brands in the country, with up to 8 million people a week tuning in to their shows. The bingo site carrying their name is Heart Bingo. Alongside some of the busiest 75-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball bingo games, you’ll find fantastic slots like Deal or No Deal and Celebrity Riches.

They now offer apps for players on iOS and Android, which offer a much faster playing experience, a better user interface, and simply more enjoyable bingo play. Of course, it’s still possible to play in your browser from any device, so compatibility is unlikely to ever be an issue.

Like Heart Bingo, Sun Bingo is another licensed bingo brand, hugely popular amongst UK bingo fans. Sun Bingo regularly advertise on TV, as well as in their partner newspaper, The Sun. Sun Bingo welcomes new players with a much-publicised spend £10 get £40 offer, where a 3x wagering bonus applies to the bingo portion of the bonus. You also get a £10 bonus credit towards ‘All Games’, with a wagering of 30x. On the inside, there is plenty of bingo action to sink your teeth into, with the usual selection of 75-ball, 80-ball and 90-ball variants, alongside plenty of other fun variations and jackpot games, like the 36-ball Winning Headlines Bingo.

Sun Bingo offers players the chance to login through their device browser – whether you have an iPhone, an Android tablet or Windows phone. In terms of apps, Sun Bingo has good coverage, with iOS and Android apps available in their App Store and Play Store respectively.

When you land at Glossy Bingo, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve landed in one of those celebrity magazines – their brand is meant to reflect these ‘glossies’ that are read by millions of bingo fans every week. Setup back in January 2013, Glossy Bingo has been winning new players as part of the Broadway Gaming group ever since, with its bingo site powered by Microgaming. Play with £40 from a £10 deposit with the welcome bonus, which also comes with 100 bonus spins for eligible slots games.

Glossy Bingo doesn’t have any apps for mobile bingo, but that doesn’t mean you can access their platform on mobile. You can still play in-browser thanks to the responsive mobile website where you’ll  be able to access the entire catalogue of Glossy Bingo games via the mobile site.

Kitty Bingo has a good selection of games and coverage of bingo variations, as well as a number of slots and instant wins. New players can benefit from a 300% first deposit bonus, up to £150, with 100 free spins on slots thrown in for good measure (terms and conditions apply). Established in 2012, Kitty Bingo have positioned themselves as a friendly, original bingo provider, and they aim to stand out from the crowd with their promotions, rewards and welcoming atmosphere.

Kitty Bingo is another brand that doesn’t yet offer any apps for iOS or Android. The in-browser experience is still worthwhile on mobile, however, and it’s easy to find your way around the bingo action, or take your chosen slots game for a spin. It would be nice if Kitty Bingo developed apps for their mobile players, but with fast in-browser play in its place, this doesn’t feel like too much of a loss.

Polka dots everywhere – that’s what you can expect at Dotty Bingo. This slightly off-the-wall operator is perfect for those who consider themselves a bit ‘crazy’. If that sounds like you, you might want to give Dotty a try – home to 90-ball bingo, 75-ball bingo, and some of the funniest chat hosts in the industry. If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, you can play with £35 from just a £10 deposit, as part of their welcome bonus – subject to the usual Ts and Cs.

Like the other sites operated by Broadway Gaming, there are no apps available for Dotty Bingo. This lets them down, especially when the site already operates such a strong mobile website. Instead, you’re left with in-browser bingo as your only option if you want to play at Dotty Bingo on the go.

Paddy Power has a strong brand, with origins in sports betting. Today, they’re one of the biggest players in the UK market also offering a great casino and bingo site.

As a titan of the betting world, you’d be shocked if Paddy Power didn’t have high quality apps in place for their bingo offering. No surprises here then, to find Paddy Power do mobile incredibly well. Firstly, their mobile site means you can enjoy bingo on any smart device, simply by heading over to the Paddy Power bingo site. When it comes to apps, you’ve got some of the best in the business to look forward to. The graphics are impressive, load times rapid, and the playing experience incredibly easy – no matter if it’s the Android or iOS app you’re playing on.

If there’s an operator who can lay claim to being a bingo site to end all bingo sites, it’s Gala Bingo. Gala, now part of a huge gambling group with bookmakers Coral and other brands, primarily operates over 160 bingo halls in the UK, with a presence in towns and cities across the country. This gives Gala instant name recognition in the UK, combined with TV, radio and press advertising campaigns that ensure the Gala brand is one of the first people think of when they think ‘bingo’. Gala Bingo has transitioned from being one of the best physical bingo operators in the country, to one of the best virtual operators, through their website and bingo apps.

Gala Bingo is another trailblazer as far as mobile apps are concerned, as one of the first pioneers of bingo apps for Android when the App Store relaxed restrictions around pay to play apps. Their apps, available to download for both iOS and Android devices, present players with an easy interface that feels familiar – you could just as easily be playing in one of their bingo halls, as on the app. Gala’s app is an award winner, scooping a prestigious WhichBingo award in recognition of the quality of both the app and the games on mobile.

Verdict

The bingo sites we recommend are all chosen because they’re doing something right. Across online and mobile platforms, these are the sites that are treating players fairly and generously, while offering the best bingo gaming experience. In that respect, it’s hard to choose a favourite from the pack, with each of our bingo sites a great choice for any new player.

If we have to split hairs, we would probably recommend Gala Bingo or Paddy Power bingo ahead of the pack. There’s really not too much in it, but with the reputation that comes from being a giant company, and in the case of Gala Bingo, with over 160 physical outlets nationwide, it’s hard for smaller operators to compete with the sheer selection of games, the jackpot sizes, and the social factor on offer.

Gala Bingo probably gets the nod as the best-in-class when it comes to bingo apps, although Paddy Power and Sun Bingo also have strong offerings. All of the sites above offer a fantastic mobile experience, so it’s really up to you whether you value an app more highly than other differentiating features, like mobile bonuses and games.

Particularly for mobile, both Paddy Power and Gala have great apps too, which helps seal the deal.

Deposit Bonuses: Deposit bonuses are those that require you to spend money in order to trigger or activate a bonus – no deposit bonuses, by contrast, are awarded simply for setting up your bingo account, with no deposit required. Naturally, deposit bonuses are more generous than no deposit bonuses, and both are subject to their own specific terms and conditions.
It’s not just the apps that set different bingo sites apart – bonuses have a major role to play, too. Mobile bonuses tend to be one of either two types: deposit, or no deposit.

Deposit bonuses are often matched to the size of the first deposit, like Kitty Bingo’s 300% up to £150. Or, it might be that the deposit bonus takes the form of a specific amount, like spend £10 get £40 from Sun Bingo. You’ll also find a similar spend £5, get £30 offer from Paddy Power. All of these bonuses are subject to wagering terms, usually around 3x the amount, although this varies between bingo sites.

No Deposit Bonuses: No deposit bonuses are similar, but there is no deposit element. This is just a small amount of bingo credit to get you started, and is mainly used by players looking to test out new sites. Still, it’s a great way to play bingo with no risk, and for real money prizes. Gala Bingo has a £5 no deposit offer for new players, which is around the standard amount for no deposit bonuses. Sun Bingo sometimes run a £10 no deposit promotion, but this isn’t available year-round, while others like Heart Bingo have a similar £5 no deposit offer in place.

With no deposit bonuses, wagering requirements will also apply to any winnings, along with other relevant terms and conditions, which you’ll find links to on the bonus page.

Mobile Bingo Games

Depending on whether you’re playing in-browser or through an app, you’ll generally have access to a different selection of games. The game selection is usually a smaller sample of the games available on desktop, to keep apps compact and fast running. Chat games and mini games often suffer, with a stripped-back lineup on most mobile apps to save space. Similarly, some older slots games aren’t optimised for mobile, or don’t port well. This all means you often won’t find as many games available in bingo apps as on desktop or browser versions of their sites.

This isn’t always true, but it’s one to watch out for if you’ve got a specific slots game you like to play alongside bingo, for example, or there’s something very particular you want to play on your mobile. For most players, there are still so many games available on apps for this to be irrelevant. There are usually several dozen games available at each bingo site when you include slots and games, running into the hundreds when you look at some of the bigger operators like Gala and Paddy Power.

Bingo games are usually provided by third party developers, who provide software that is fair, random and technically capable of handling large scale live online play. While hundreds of online bingo sites exist, most are powered by a small number of these developers.

Playtech: Widely considered the best software platform for online bingo sites, Playtech is the developer of choice for the likes of Gala and Paddy Power thanks to the high quality of the games, and the strong back-end bingo management software. Their game designs are simplistic and easy to understand, while fast enough to offer stable bingo play in real time. Games like Rainbow Riches Bingo, Corrie Bouncy Balls and The Chase make the leap from the browser version to the mobile app without any compromises, creating a compelling list of games for those playing through Playtech powered apps.

Microgaming: Another developer with form across the wider online gambling industry, Microgaming bingo software powers sites like Dotty Bingo, Glossy Bingo and Rehab Bingo. Microgaming covers the usual bases with 90-ball and 75-ball, but is arguably strongest on the slots front – as a developer with a huge reputation in slots, this is hardly a massive surprise.

Cozy Gaming: Part of the same group that operates PartyPoker and PartyCasino, GVC Holdings, Cozy Gaming is one of the biggest bingo software networks by numbers, with countless bingo brands reliant on their software. Cozy has also most recently benefited from the addition of extra games from NetEnt and Microgaming, bolstering the collection available to sites running their bingo software.

Dragonfish: Dragonfish is by far the biggest bingo software provider by number of players, with over 200 sites using their platform, including the likes of Celeb Bingo, Bingo Me Happy and the relatively new Inspector Bingo. The software of choice for its impressive games lineup and fast game engine.

Mobile Bingo Sites Vs Mobile Bingo Apps

Mobile Bingo Sites

• Full range of games, promotions and features available
• No compatibility issues: play in any browser, regardless of your operating system
• Less convenient than apps, with less stable gameplay

Mobile Bingo Apps

• More convenient: tap the app to get started
• More stable gameplay: reduced lag times and improved game performance
• More limited range of games

All of the bingo sites we recommend have taken steps to ensure their websites perform equally well on mobile. So whether or not you’re downloading an app, you can rest assured that every one of our recommended bingo sites can be played on mobile, with access to the full selection of games, promotions and features that you’d expect if you were playing on a laptop. Modern bingo websites are responsive to the screen size, so they can provide a native experience on any device – whatever your hardware, whatever your operating system.

Bingo apps take the experience to another level. Rather than fumbling around trying to type the URL into your smartphone browser, you simply tap the app, login and get going. They often offer a faster, more stable experience too, which most players find an improvement on the in-browser alternative. As long as you have a smart device that runs on Android or iOS (Apple), you’ll be able to download an app, where available, to take advantage of better quality bingo.

Tips For Mobile Bingo

Play Quicker Games: The speed of your bingo play can determine how many games you can play per session. The more bingo you play, the more often you’ll come up a winner, and quicker games can make all the difference. There’s also the usability feature here too, with quicker games often feeling more suited to on-the-go bingo.

Play on Landscape Mode: Landscape mode gives you the optimum screen layout for most mobile bingo games, and compares favourably to landscape, in terms of delivering the best bingo experience. Playing on landscape mode makes the screen feel less cluttered, so you can keep a closer eye on your numbers as they come up.

Play Bigger Money Games: Everyone has a budget for their bingo, and it’s important to stick to yours. But playing bigger money games often has several advantages. Firstly, the ticket price often means a smaller number of competing players, compared to cheaper entry games. But because the ticket price is higher, the jackpot is often higher than it would be in some other cheaper games, so there’s a double benefit to playing at the top end of your budget per ticket.

Take Advantage of Promotions and Rewards: The more bingo you play, the more promotions and rewards you’ll be entitled to benefit from. Do take maximum advantage of these perks, and be prepared to play with different bingo sites and mobile apps to get the best deal.

Pay by Mobile Phone Bill: Some mobile bingo sites such as Becky’s Bingo will allow you to make deposits to your account by using a pay by mobile payment method. This is a great alternative for bingo players that do not want to give away sentsitive payment details online.

Conclusion

Mobile is fast becoming the platform of choice for bingo players. The extra convenience, speed and flexibility of playing bingo through apps or in-browser on mobile or tablet devices means this will continue to attract new players in the months and years to come. While virtually all online bingo sites now offer mobile play in-browser, it’s clear there are some that still need to catch up, and develop apps for a more immersive, engaging experience.

For those that already have great apps in place, like Gala Bingo, Sun Bingo and Paddy Power, their mobile bingo offer is altogether more attractive. But with so many great operators in our recommended list, you’d be hard pressed to find a site that doesn’t deliver the goods.

So choose your bingo site, sit back, and get ready for some incredible bingo action on mobile – whoever you choose. With each of our recommended bingo sites, all you need is luck!