As more and more individuals enter the world of currency trading, the number of desktop and mobile apps available to traders has increased substantially over the years. Whether you are a novice trader or a veteran trader, if you’re looking for mobile applications that will help you perform your market analysis and trade on the go, then you will be glad to know that there are many solutions available to you. Forex trading apps allow you the freedom that you need to stay on top of the markets and avoid missing potential trading opportunities.
Forex Mobile Apps
Due to the increasing popularity of smart phones, many currency traders rely on mobile solutions for better convenience and up-to-the-minute access to market data and news. There is a relatively large number of Forex related mobile applications in the market today. Many of which support the iPhone and Android environment.
Additionally, many major Forex brokers have built out their own fully functional mobile applications to allow their user base to trade directly from their smart phones. Mobile apps are particularly useful for the currency markets, since it is open for business 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Forex trading has evolved greatly over the years, and the smart phone revolution has contributed further to that progress. What once was the domain of large institutions and banks, has now become available to mainstream currency traders and investors.
Whether you are a professional trader that trades primarily from your trading desk, or you are an amateur trader holding down a full-time job, and occasionally need access to the markets, the infrastructures has now been developed to allow ever type of market participant to gain access to the most up-to-date and relevant trading information.
The four primary platforms for mobile development today include Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows. Of these, the majority of currency mobile applications are built on Android or iOS. As such, individuals that have two these platforms, will have the largest choice of Forex mobile applications to download.
Within the Forex mobile app world, there are generally a few types of applications. This includes market analysis apps, trading and execution apps, market news and data apps, demo trading apps, market training and learning apps, and other general apps related to the currency markets.
Market analysis apps are one of the most popular types of Forex trading apps around. These apps seek to provide market analysis features such as charting, technical indicator studies, price data, volume studies, pattern analysis, and more. Trading apps, as you might imagine, allow the user to execute orders directly from the mobile app. This includes placing new entry orders, managing existing orders, and exiting current positions.
Depending on your broker, and the platform, some trading apps will be more sophisticated, and allow for more flexibility in the way the orders can be executed. For example, some mobile applications allow traders to place orders directly from the chart, while others will require manually inputting your orders within their dashboard.
Pros and Cons Of Mobile Apps
Forex mobile apps certainly have some very distinct benefits. But there are some drawbacks as well to using mobile apps. Let’s discuss some of the pros and cons of Forex mobile apps.
Here are some of the advantages of using a Forex mobile apps:
Ability To React Fast – The FX markets abound with opportunities throughout the day. And many of these opportunities have a relatively small window in which to take advantage of a particular set up. Having access to your preferred set of mobile apps, allows you perform market analysis and react more quickly to trade setups.
Greater Convenience – Whether you are taking a lunch break, watching television, or brushing your teeth for that matter, you will typically have your smart phone in your pocket or next to you. As such, mobile apps offer a great convenience factor and can make your trading experience much more enjoyable. With the convenience of your smart phone, You don’t have to stress out about whether or not you’ll be able to enter into a new position, or manage your existing positions during the waking day.
On The Go Access – If your full-time job requires you to travel frequently, or you are away on vacation, you can rest assured that you will still have access to the markets from most anywhere in the world. As such, you are not limited to trading or performing market analysis at specific times, or specific locations. So long as you have access to your smart phone, you can access your downloaded Forex mobile apps at will.
Below are some of the disadvantages of using Forex mobile apps:
Can Lead To Overtrading – The very advantage of having access to the markets via your smart phone, can also serve as a disadvantage at times. Meaning that, with too much access can come the tendency to over trade your account. As such you should put some sort of practical limitation on this, so that you do not fall victim to the overtrading trap, or drive yourself crazy by over analyzing the markets.
Limited Screen Size – From the more practical standpoint, since most mobile device screens are relatively small in comparison to laptops and desktop computers, they generally have a less than ideal user experience. This can be particularly true of currency related apps, where every detail can be of consequence.
Coverage Not Always Available – Just because you have your smart phone with you, does not mean that you will necessarily have Wi-Fi or data coverage at all times. This is particularly true when you are traveling via airplane or are within a more remote area where Wi-Fi and data coverage may be limited or sporadic at best.
With these pros and cons in mind, let’s now outline some of the best Forex mobile apps in the industry.
Forex Practice App
Many new traders choose to practice their Forex trading skills before committing real funds in the market. This is quite common and the recommended route for most entering the FX market. Currently, there is a free forex game app which allows traders to invest in the markets in a virtual environment. This forex training app is called – The Trading Game. The application provides various tips and lessons related to trading the markets as well. In addition, you can test your knowledge through various quizzes and challenges along the way.
So whether you’re a complete Forex beginner learning the ropes, or someone that has a bit of experience in the market, The Trading Game app can be a valuable resource. Traders can test various strategies in a virtual environment free of capital risk, and then decide which strategy may be best suited for them to deploy in a live environment at some later point.
Forex Chart App
Chart analysis is an integral part of technical analysis. Technicians looked for certain patterns on the price chart to help them gauge current price action, and predict future price movements. There are a handful of good mobile charting apps available. One of the more recognized applications within this category is Trading View. When you download the Trading View app, you will get access to hundreds of free charts, be able to interact with other traders, and get access to a library of training ideas and strategies.
With over 10 million users worldwide, Trading View is the leader in charting software. The charts are very easy to use, and visually appealing. You can overlay your charts with dozens of different technical indicators and studies. In addition you will have access to some advanced drawing tools including Harmonic patterns, Elliott wave, and Gann studies.
What’s more, if you are only needing delayed data, then you can gain access to most of their features for free. If however, you require real-time price quotes, or would like to utilize some of their alert features, then you will need to sign up for a premium plan.
Forex Time App
The Forex markets trade 24 hours a day, five days a week. The major trading volume moves from various money centers around the world. And for some traders, who rely on executing orders within a given time window, it’s important to know the exact time in the major money centers such as New York, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Sydney.
The FX Hours mobile app will help you keep abreast of the trading hours within the three major Forex sessions, the New York session, London session, and Tokyo session. The Forex hours app is particularly useful when you need to quickly scan the market for trading opportunities during the most active times of each trading session. This foreign exchange app also provides some basic volume data based on hourly trading for all of the major currency pairs, and many of the minor currency pairs. Knowing when the volumes are the highest can help in locating pockets of opportunity.
Forex Trading Platform App
The most popular trading platform within the foreign exchange market is Metatrader. Most brokers offer this platform to their clients. And it is available as a desktop application and a mobile application. The Metatrader platform has a host of features available to the currency trader seeking to execute orders from their smart phone. Some of the features within the Metatrader app include basic and advanced charting, multiple order execution types, account history details, technical analysis studies, financial news panel, and more.
The Metatrader platform connects with your Forex broker via an API bridge. As such, all the market data you receive will come directly from your broker’s servers. Additionally, if you trade with more than one broker, you can switch back and forth and connect with your preferred broker on the mobile app with relative ease. One of the best features of the Metatrader platform is that it is completely free to use. It is a robust Forex broker app that can greatly enhance the experience for traders on the go.
Forex Social Trading App
One of the biggest trends in FX trading today is the advent of social trading networks and platforms. Social trading allows traders to interact with other users within a network. In addition, beginning traders can take advantage of the copy trading features within many social trading apps. A social trading platform with copy trading enables any trader on the network to copy or follow the trades of other, typically more experienced traders, on the platform.
One of the recognized leaders in the area of Forex social trading is the eToro. They are a reputable global Forex broker that has built an excellent platform around social interaction among traders. Their mobile app is very clean-cut and easy to navigate. Within the mobile app, you will have access to your traditional features such as creating watchlists, analyzing charts, and placing orders. Additionally, you will find an area where you can enable copy trading capabilities, and set up customized parameters based on your personal risk parameters.
Forex Investing App
A widely used learning and investing app used by traders that trade multiple markets including Forex, stocks, commodities, crypto, and more is the NetDania Stock and Forex Trader app. It is a high-quality mobile app that provides traders and investors with access to price quotes on various asset classes and instruments. Additionally, there are some unique alert tools within this application. More specifically, traders can set alerts using price thresholds, trendline alerts, and indicator based alerts.
NetDania provides its users with access to over 20,000 different financial instruments. As such, you will certainly find your preferred trading instrument within the NetDania
app. Along with many of the basic charting, and technical analysis features within the application, it also has an economic calendar built within it. This can be quite useful for short-term traders that base their market decisions around news events. What’s more, users can create simple or even advanced trading algorithms within the platform without the need for programming or coding skills. This is a truly international mobile app for investors, as is evident from the 18 different language options that it offers.
Forex Quote & News App
While having a plethora of advanced charting tools, and other related technical studies is a must for a certain class of traders, others may require and actually prefer a more basic, and simplified mobile app that mainly provides market data, and news coverage. For this class of FX traders, the Swiss Forex mobile app may be a viable choice. This FX app provides all the necessary features without going overboard.
The Swiss Forex app includes charts, quotes, calendars, news, and calculators. It is a practical trading app that focuses on supplying traders with a set of tools that will help them to make better, more informed decisions in the market. The Swiss Forex app is free to use, and it is a creation of Dukascopy, a well-recognized currency brokerage firm in the industry. The app provides coverage on over 500 currency pairs, CFD’s, precious metals and more.
Forex Signals App
If there’s one type of mobile app that is widely sought by most beginning Forex traders, it would certainly have to be a Forex signals app. Essentially, a Forex signals app provides users with specific buy and sell signals based on certain technical or fundamental parameters. The signals are typically issued by a service provider offering Forex signals. Most of the FX signals apps are available only to paying members. However, there are some signal providers that issue free Forex signals. One such provider is FX Leaders.
They offer a free Forex signal service that is available via their custom mobile app. They provide coverage on various asset classes including currencies, cryptos, precious metals, and stock indices. It’s important to note that there is a wide disparity in the quality of services and trading performance among various signal providers. As such, whether you opt for a free service a premium service, you should always do your due diligence before committing your own capital using any type of FX signal service.
Forex Sentiment App
Sentiment analysis is a very useful technique for gauging the underlying strength or weakness of a specific market. By analyzing the different categories of volumes such as long volume and short volume, along with trader positioning, such as the long short ratio, we can get a better sense for the internal strength within a market, and the overall sentiment. The Forex Sentiment app is a lesser-known mobile app within the industry. Nevertheless, it can be extremely helpful in recognizing potential market extremes from the sentiment standpoint.
The Forex sentiment app provides coverage on over 25 major and minor currency pairs, and also on spot gold and silver. With the app, you will find a strength meter which highlights which pairs are trending strongly in one direction or the other, and how strong or weak that trend is. Additionally, you’ll find information on various sentiment data points including long to short volume, long to short positions, net positions, and more.
Forex Backtesting App
Many experienced Forex traders realize that back testing a strategy or system is a critical step towards finding and applying a consistently profitable technique in the market. Since the markets are constantly evolving, the back testing process should also be performed regularly. While most strategy testing software programs are built for desktop applications, there are a few that can be utilized in a mobile environment. One such back testing app is Trade Interceptor.
This app is available on both the iPhone and Android platforms and provides a host of features from real-time data quotes, news, charting, and more. However, the most unique aspect of the Trade Interceptor mobile app is its back testing engine.
Summary
We’ve detailed ten of the best forex apps for beginners. With the rapid technical advancement that has occurred over the last decade or so, more and more individuals now have the ability to enter into the foreign exchange market, and compete alongside professional traders.
The trading tools available in the market today make it possible for any prospective trader to engage in the markets and do so on their own schedule. Forex mobile applications have made this possible for those that are on the go. As such, there is no better time than the present the start building your knowledge base in trading and investing. Doing so will allow you can start taking more control of your financial future.