Casino apps vs. desktop gaming: Which offers the best experience?

Virtual casino games remove so much friction from the gaming experience. There is no need to hop in your car—or on a plane—to get to your preferred gambling venue. Not when world-class casinos live on your phone or computer.

But which device offers the better experience?

There’s no Socratic-worthy answer to that question. Gaming preferences are subjective. Circumstances can influence when to use which device. It helps to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Desktop gaming

Desktop games can be played on laptops or stationary computers. The biggest advantage that desktop casinos have over their mobile counterparts is visual. Here, you get a larger screen and greater graphic capabilities.

In that way, your playing experience may feel a little more immersive.

Desktop casinos are also good for multitasking. You can easily run other activities at the same time. Your Spotify playlist. Maybe a preferred social app for chatting with friends while you play.

If there is any drawback to the desktop gaming experience it is that you are locked into one place.

Often, that place will be the same space where you work. It might be a little harder to slip into the relaxed mindset most people are hoping for when they visit a virtual casino if the experience is taking place in their home office.

Obviously, it’s also less mobile. This will be a good setup for longer gaming sessions. It’s not really a good fit at all for quick rounds. If you like the idea of playing some slots while you wait for your car to have its oil changed, you just aren’t going to have that experience with a desktop game.

That said, your computer keyboard setup will often be a little more ergonomic—particularly if you have a specialized setup designed for comfort.

We have all experienced hand cramps or other discomfort from prolonged phone usage. Desktop gaming helps avoid this with its more comfortable control interface.

Mobile gaming

For mobile gaming, everything is basically reversed. The playing experience in casinos with apps is graphically reduced and generally less immersive due to the smaller screen. The controllers are typically slightly less convenient than using a mouse.

What you lose in graphic and mechanical advantage you gain in convenience. Mobile casinos are great for on-the-go playing experiences, or for people who don’t want to be tied to their desk while they play. If your preference is to game lazily from your bed or sprawled out on the couch, it will be easier to do with a phone or tablet than it would be with a laptop.

Connectivity considerations

You do want to play on a device that has the best internet connectivity. People living in well-developed urban or suburban areas might find that they connect easily to the internet using WIFI. In rural communities, it might be through cell data.

Losing your connection during a game is not an apocalyptic event. Your bet will either be frozen or automated based on the least risky scenario. Still, it’s a disruptive experience you’ll want to avoid.

Which one has more games?

While the game libraries will ultimately be very similar, desktops consistently have a wider range of options.

This is primarily because they have better processing power. The improved graphics capacity and operating system speed simply make it easier to run more titles on the desktop.

There is also an increasingly rare type of casino game many people call “Flash” games. Titles developed using Adobe Flash. These titles could be played directly in your browser without any download or installation requirements.

Flash games are rare because most major browsers no longer support them. They are impossible to run on mobile devices. You can, however, still find the occasional Flash relic on desktop casinos.

Should the inclusion of potential flash titles be enough to tilt your preferences toward desktop? That won’t be the case for most people. Nostalgic though the experience might be, Flash games were not special in the way that you might fondly remember an 8-bit Mario or Pokemon game from your youth.

Fun—yes. Just not fun enough to earn the desktop a victory in this battle.

Use both

If you really enjoy playing at virtual casinos, you don’t need to limit yourself to one option. There is a wide range of desktop casinos with apps. These will allow you to play the same games you love on the go or in a more permanent space as the case might require.

In for a lazy Friday night? You’ll probably feel more comfortable pulling up your favorite virtual casino on your laptop.

Traveling? In that case, it will be easier to play on mobile using your phone or tablet.

Both options provide a really good experience and serious gamers will enjoy the ability to pivot into different experiences depending on their situation. Find the options that make the most sense to you.