Friday view: HTML5 the only way to go

eGR Mobile Intelligence talks to Pascal Blyau, managing director of sportsbook solutions provider LVS, about the importance of migrating to HTML5

eGR Mobile Intelligence (eMI): Were there any special considerations you had to take into account before launching on both mobile and tablet?

Pascal Blyau (PB): We’ve made two mobile applications before and you often find out that the technology is not fast enough or light enough, or you discover that the user experience is not good, but we’ve now ended up with something that’s very nice. The one we’ve most recently done for BetButler we’re very happy with.

We realised that to make a good mobile application we really had to think about the user experience. It has to be fast, simple and preferably HTML5. We’re not that fond of native applications from our own experiences, so we built a team with the skills to build a framework that would enable us to develop a HTML5 platform that looked like a native app.

eMI: What are the advantages of html5 platforms over native ones?

PB: They obviously work on both iOS and Android, and you can really make them look like its native. We managed to achieve that and we’re quite proud of it. Currently we’re really looking at being across multiple channels and to have one single product that does everything, that’ll provide more opportunities at less cost, and with less complication.

 

eMI: For a sportsbook supplier, what are the biggest differences between mobile and tablet platforms?

PB: Our view is that mobile is very specific and we tried to make a desktop website that sized correctly on a tablet. Some people say it’s good to have native apps for iPad or other tablets, and that works well too. Tablet are very interesting because it’s replacing desktop. Before it was side by side, but we’re seeing more and more people asking about having a specific tablet offering, and we’re currently working on a project for Francais des Jeux for this.

 

eMI: And what would you say is the biggest challenge in launching a mobile sportsbook product?

PB: Right now everybody is moving to HTML5, and the challenge right now is being able to still address the old handsets with html5 technology. Android for example is difficult because some of the handsets are quite old and Android doesn’t push the latest software. If you have an iPhone it’s always pushing the last version, but Android doesn’t do that.

Some browsers customised by manufacturers can also be slow and require more specific development to make it work properly. This won’t last forever though, so the direction is clear when it comes to HTML5.