Singular Designs Native App for Nigeria
The unique characteristics of the Nigerian online gaming market need to be addressed by operators wanting to take advantage, and more suppliers need to follow the example of established brands like Bet9ja.
Sports betting is a very popular activity here, but land-based venues still dominate thanks to market constraints like connectivity, the cost of data, the capabilities of mobile devices, and general habits around mobile Internet use. Singular has now risen to the challenge when one of its Nigerian National Lottery-owned clients asked for online-only operations and has created an app that is designed to cater to the market.
The Market’s Special Characteristics
84% of online traffic is mobile in Nigeria, and smartphones are generally cheap, low-powered Androids with limited storage capabilities. Also, the lowest, cheapest data plan in the country is US$0.28 per 50MG, and almost 70% of Nigerians live on less than US$1.25 a day. Only 41% of mobile Internet users can access 3G or 4G, and there are still problems with connectivity, high latency, and constant issues and limitations with mobile online payment attempts.
Traffic Minimised with the Right Tech
Singular opted for a hybrid app with the majority of networking activities and resource-intensive UI elements implemented in active code. What makes it different is that it is not simply a native wrapper. It is actually a fully native app that uses CSS, HTML, and JavaScript for rendering the UI and handling component layouts on each page.
The company then minimised data usage for third-party content like slots and table games. Players using cellular data receive instant notifications about how many Mb will be required, so they can proceed with loading or wait for Wi-Fi. After the game gets fully loaded the first time, it is cached on local storage, too, so there is no additional mobile data use the next time it gets played.
Small App, Seamless Experience
The Singular app is tiny, below 3.5Mb, and Code Push for updates make each one an incremental payload, only downloadable over Wi-Fi. The company further integrated all major payment options for mobile to USSD from Interswitch. OPay has since been launched, in cooperation with Opera, and for the first time in Nigeria.
This app provides an experience similar to a native one, complete with biometric login, syncing in real time with the site, and smooth functioning even on low-powered devices with slow connections. It also has an inbuilt meter for measuring data usage that provides the user with detailed analytics. This transparency around data usage has seen the application gaining user trust quickly and increased the time being spent on it.
Singular is focusing on developing new features based on telemetry about usage and is set to release Cache Sharing soon. This will allow users to share app cache like pre-cached games over Bluetooth, an especially crucial feature in suburbs where Internet access is limited to cellular networks. Singular has thus been able to confirm its core belief that market limitations can be turned into a source of opportunity. When it is implemented correctly, this Native App provides the perfect, and sole, mobile-only approach for sports betting and online casino sites in Nigeria.
