A: Other than providers which require you to download software there is no difference. I use IG Index, Ayondo and ETX Capital on different macs, the only issue i have, is sometimes IG's advanced charts slow down or even freeze my system. I also run mt4 platforms through parallels.
A: The consensus on iPhone spread betting is that these days trading on your mobile is almost as straightforward as using your desktop computer, although it is only recently that this has been the case. Most applications nowadays come with live news and charts as standard and most of them are pretty useable - for instance the IG Index mobile application even allows you to specify how often you want the charts to refresh. Most mobile trading applications today also come with a decent charting packing including a number of technical indicators such as stochastics and moving averages which makes it possible to research new market opportunities. However all said, the charts are a bit too small to make decisions with - a large screen will always have a place for advanced technical analysis.
Here's a more comprehensive review from Graham -:
Have been using the iphone with IG Index for the last few months. It's kind of OK to close and open spread trades on the go but I don't suggest you rely on it to run your account.
I cannot always get at the market prices on my watch list over 3G despite seeming to have a strong signal and being able to navigate other sites - sometimes it keeps refreshing you back to the menu before displaying prices or if you get to the prices then these may be a snapshot and not keep updating live, so you have to go back to the menu and select watch list again for an update. This does not happen too often and hasn't caused me any big issues but then i'm not trading by the minute.
More annoying and potentially costly is having the same issue when trying to view my open trades, which you have to do before you can close them. The problem is far more common on this screen. i.e. when the watch list is working and refreshing OK (which is probably 60-80% of the time over 3g/Edge) i still get a lot more failures (with a refresh back to the menu) when trying to access my open trades. More than 50% of the time i am not able to see and close a trade this way.
I have also had a couple of problems with the trade not being accepted due to what i am told is a network delay. The iphone does not confirm the trade in this case so i have called IG Index instead to trade.
Overall I do find it really useful to be able to monitor my account, access a basic chart and use the iphone to trade to the point where i won't move my account from IG unless another spread betting firm can at least match this platform. IG are 2 points more expensive on the FTSE 100 future which I mostly trade so I've contacted 15 firms with the view to changing but have not found iphone support to a comparable level anywhere else.
I at least have the option to call IG Index or get on the internet from a personal computer asap to react to something I've seen on the iphone if it doesn't let me trade.
Other stuff:
Don't have any worries about security at all.
Can set stops and limits when opening a position.
Can change stops and limits on an open position (if you can access it).
Can close a position.
Charts usually work.
Can't see your account balance or total running Profits/Losses (only P/L for each trade).
I've made a few thousand that I would have missed without the iphone access so overall wouldn't be without it.
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