A number of spread betting brokers today offer mobile trading platforms with many having launched new mobile spread betting platforms in 2011, often developed in-house as bespoke apps for Android or iPhone devices.
These take the form of applications that you download to your iPhone, Blackberry, or Android handset, and which permit you to have much of the functionality that you can have from your desktop computer. As well as monitoring prices, you can buy and sell spread bets, place stop-loss and limit orders, and check your present and past performance. Bespoke apps are designed specially for mobile devices and often deliver an enhanced mobile experience including the ability to monitor live prices, intuitive navigation and customised layouts, enabling quicker access to bet placement.
Without doubt, Android is now the biggest competitor to iPhone in the mobile spread betting market, which is why many providers have expanded their support of the Google powered platform. According to the latest stats issued from an independent research specialist Android software now powers three out of four smartphones shipped globally meaning that the Google-backed operating system now dominates the market. The Android share of the market is now 75% compared to 57.5% a year ago. Android device shipments have in fact increased to 136 million in the third quarter of 2012. On the other hand shipments of Apple’s smart phones experienced a 14% increase to 26.9 million in the quarter.
Apple or Android? Most Android handsets are remarkably cheaper than iOS but research suggests that most users go for an Android powered phone because the iPhone is too expensive and not because they think it is inherently a better system. The main problem with Android devices seems to be that it is not as user-friendly as an iPhone; in particular while with an Android phone one first has to first choose apps and make sure they work together, this is not so with an iPhone which basically comes ready to go out of the box. Most users aren’t too technical and as such they won’t get to take advantage of all the potential an Anroid handset has to offer.
All Apple apps are custom developed for its iOS operating system and have to gain approval by Apple before being listed in the app store. This ensures that good standards are met but also that the app is fully compatible. There are no such checks for Android apps so one apps that works on a particular Android smartphone model might not work on another as manufacturers tend to customise the software leading to discrepancies into the versions.
Incidentally, IG Index has recently launched a new trading application for the Android. The new mobile application is available free of charge through the Android Market and provides existing clients a range of mobile functions equivalent to IG Index’s traditional online dealing platform. Non-clients can also access live free market data and may also apply for an account directly from their smartphone.
Spread traders using IG Index on Android will be able to place deals on the full suite of markets, including shares, indices, commodities and foreign exchange. Additional facilities including the ability to view open trades, monitor watchlists and gain access to one’s balance information, setting or adjusting working orders, and charting facilities. The company’s continued investment in mobile technology – it was one of the first to use Apple’s online app store — is putting it “ahead of the pack” in terms of gaining customers using smartphone and tablet technology.
CMC Markets has also launched its own Android platform which also includes a product library to filter the thousands of different available markets by various crtiteria including type, sector, region, performance…etc Tapping the screen will then display the respective sheet for your chosen market which includes a basic background of the market under consideration and details of the facts that might impact its performance. A link to the market chart is also included as well as pertinent current news pulled from a Dow Jones news feed. All the usual stop orders are supported including trailing stops and limit orders.
In the United Kingdom the Android continues to be in the lead with data from Kantar Worldpanel noting that smartphones using this operating system to be more than twice as popular as Apple or RIM smartphones. Meanwhile, BlackBerry and Symbian smart phones market share continues to decline. Some analysts are suggesting that by the year 2013 more people will access the Internet through their mobile phone than through a personal computer, and that by 2015 mobile broadband could exceed a fixed line broadband by several times.