Must-have Forex apps for Android?
I took the plunge three weeks ago and got myself a shiny new “smartphone”, a first for me. I’m not a huge Apple fan so I got a HTC Desire with Android 2.1. It is very impressive. Since the first hour I just can’t understand how I managed before. It is very responsive and the screen is very bright and sharp. The browser works great on all the Forex and news sites I frequent regularly, even MyFXBook works great. All in all everything is better than I expected.
There is one thing I kind of miss thou, a mobile edition of MetaTrader. There is one, but it only runs on Windows phones (not even iPhones, weird decision by MetaQuotes if you ask me). There is a third party application at http://metatraderandroid.com/ but it isn’t a full replacement by any means.
My solution for mobile trading have been to setup a special VPS account to log in to with Remote RDP app (available for free in Android Market with limited, but good enough features). In the VPS I have MT4 sessions for all my accounts running. With 2X zoom level steering regular MT4 is quite easy. A problem is that the Remote app keeps showing the virtual keyboard as soon as a text input field is active, it can become quite irritating, but after a while you know when it is going to pop up so you can close it quickly. Using this setup I can check in on my accounts where ever I am and I can open/close trades easily. One bonus also is that I can use all the indicators and EAs available for the regular MetaTrader, something that is not possible on the mobile solutions. The drawback is that the interface isn’t optimized for touchscreen use and that RDP is heavier on your Internet communications (no biggie if your on WLAN or have unlimited 3G data plan).
MT4 session on VPS accessed via RDP on the HTC Desire
I’ve been looking for some simple chart software to run on the phone, but I haven’t found any good ones. Google have a app called Stocks, but it is only useful for stocks on NYSE and NASDAQ, nothing for international investors or Forex traders. There are numerous apps that are called something with Forex or Currency, but they’re all just simple currency converters. Hardly useful for traders, just tourists. I’ve also been trying to find a app to easily access the Forex Factory calendar (I use it all the time in the browser), but it seems no one else have needed it. I would like it setup as a widget that shows upcoming events and even sounds an alarm on certain select ones.
As for MyFXBook I’ve been looking for a app or widget accessing their information more easily than via the browser, but it seems no one has taken the time to write it yet. There is a API to use so it should be quite straight forward. I’m thinking of giving it a go myself. Would be great to be able to see all my live accounts in one screen I think, with just the most important stuff like balance, free equity and open positions. The problem of course is that the spare time I actually have available for coding is spent on coding EAs 
If anyone has some other tips I’d be delighted to hear about them. Android Market is huge as it is and I probably have missed some goodies.
Hopefully MetaQuotes will deliver a Android version of MetaTrader 5 this year. If they get it out the door soon…