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Remember when all we could do with an iPod was listen to music. That was so 2002. I was using the current iteration of the iPod – the iTouch – reading the latest news while enjoying some Metallica and thought it might be a good idea to do a post on the applications (and specific web sites) I use on the device. I know there are many more out there; I am constantly finding new ones and dropping old ones. Here is a selection of the current finance related applications that I have loaded.[ad#tdg-embedded]
Ok, so my first pick is not technically finance related. However, the way I use it is. I subscribe to a lot of investing and finance related blogs and news sites. Keeping on top of all the articles, which is usually in the high hundreds every day, can be difficult if I do not constantly check and skim the headlines. I use the Google Reader as part of Google Mobile to skim the articles and star ones that I want to dive into a little bit later. This also helps me prepare my weekly roundups.
This is one slick app that really had some thought put into it. It actually was the first application I ever downloaded on my iTouch and I use it everyday. It can be customized to deliver the news that you want, as well as can be used to get stock quotes, charts, and specific stock news. I would love to see a portfolio function added to this one.
Like Bloomberg, this is an application that is used to obtain the news. The Globe and Mail is a national newspaper in Canada and being a Canadian living out of the country I find it handy to be able to see what is going on at home for my Canadian specific dividend holdings (i.e. Royal Bank, IGM Financial). I can also check on how the Calgary Flames are doing.
I used to use Microsoft Money but my switch to a Mac ended that, and I realized that I didn’t need it. I can manage my personal finances using only the iTouch and this program keeps track of my balances and my budget. It can be a bit manual at times, but overall it has been a good application. It does not handle portfolios though (more on that later).
Currency is my default currency converter. Again, as a Canadian living outside of the country I am constantly converting money to and from Canadian dollars. As I also buy and sell U.S. dividend stocks, I find that having this currency converter on my iTouch very helpful when completing transactions. I also like it because it will convert multiple currencies at once (i.e. Canadian dollars to U.S., Euro, and British Pound).
The list is not huge, but these are the apps that I have actually found useful. There are many more finance apps but none that I have found too useful. This is early days in the iTouch and iPhone applications space and I suspect that there will be many more useful applications in the future. The one app I think I am really missing is a very robust and powerful portfolio tracker. I would gladly replace my portfolio Excel spreadsheet for a good iTouch application.
I would love to hear about the finance apps that you use – ones that you use daily and provide real value as opposed to just that novelty factor that a lot of these apps seem to portray.
Great apps my friend. I’m fond of the Bloomburg app myself. I saw on the preview for the iPhone 3.0 software that the default stocks app will get some new features. One of them is the ability to draw on a stock chart from two points, it will then calculate the return over that period of time.
I’m not an Apple fanboy, but I do love my iPhone more and more every day.
Great apps advice. Checked out a few of them. Very helpful.
Thanks!