What’s this app for?
If you have a love for money, and who doesn’t to a certain degree,
this is the app that will keep you on the crest of the financial wave with the
latest news on business, markets and some other related topics.
Does it do the job it
was primarily designed for?
I’ll admit it. I’d barely looked at this app before today. I
have no interest in financial markets so gave this app a wide berth. Most
likely the vast majority of Windows 10 users will do the same, but having looked
around the app as part of this review, I was genuinely surprised as to how much
is jam packed into the one app. Even more so, I was flabbergasted that I actually
found some aspects of the app interesting and useful. I’m no financial expert
or enthusiast, but I think this is an app with a lot of useful information in
that genre. Yet even with my limited appreciation of the subject matter, I do believe
this app does definitely achieve its primary aim very well.
First up, the main home screen of the app gives you the
choice of viewing stories from several different money related topics; today,
news, technology, personal finance & popular slideshows. There’s the option
also to just see subject from your own watchlist, but I have to admit I’ve not a
clue what I would want to keep an eye on, and this is a rather specific watchlist in
terms of keeping an eye on a company’s stock related charts and news. 'Today' is
naturally containing the latest money related news, whereas the news section
itself will be slightly less recent. However, these stories that it shows aren’t all
stocks and shares but mixed up with related stories that are probably a more
widely appealing subject matter, such as tips on saving money and those classic rich lists.
The Technology section is actually pretty generalise, showing you the stories
about what companies are up to with new phones, computers etc as well as
internet trends. This is certainly more interesting to most than stock prices.
The Personal Finance section allows you to be even more granular on what
stories you see, allowing you a filter to view just stories on savings, homes,
credit, shopping, travel and more. The popular slideshows section seems like an
oddball at first but if you like your celebs and money-rich people, this is a
more appealing way than most to scan through what’s going on in that area.
The next section on the app really gets specifically into
the meat of the app regarding markets and one doesn’t mean your local farmer’s
market but the financial ones. There’s a shed load of information here, none of
which I would think most would care about. It covers all the latest active changes in
the market, those who have gained and those who have lost is all here at the
click of the button. I’d assume it’s the latest information but timedate stamps aren’t
always visible. Ever wondered what the price of gold is like these days? Well,
there’s the option under the markets section to look at commodities such as
metals, energy, agricultural and livestock. It’s covering a decent range of the
financial market I would think.
Next section on the app was a pleasant surprise, as it’s
about currencies. You can convert currency values and find out how much it’s worth in
every other currency you can think of. It’s nothing new, but it’s neat, and
useful to know that this facility is actually only a few clicks away in Windows
10. As well as live conversions of money, the latest exchange rates are also
available to be viewed along with stats and trends for that currency. It’s more
useful and interesting than one would think.
There’s a section in the app for mortgage calculations,
which is something most would use at one point in their lives I guess, but it’s
a little niche perhaps. Seems to do the job but I doubt most are going to be
clicking on this section every day.
World Markets is next on the app and is very much full of
numbers which look pretty but I’ve no idea what it all really means. I can say
that there is easy clicking and filtering so as to view just the latest values from
the major markets, Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, which should satisfy those
in different areas of the world or those who like to invest money globally. Clicking
on any of the markets will bring you up even further information on how that
market has been performing, should anyone really want a further financial headache.
Back to the actual app functionality, and in the settings
section there’s extremely little to be tinkering with. You can choose the “edition”
to determine what you see depending on where you are in the world, and there's a breaking
news alerts toggle.
The only downer app wise is perhaps that there are a few
adverts here and there, but they are very limited and tend to only appear when
you have the app opened to full screen.
What’s the alternative?
If you’re into finance, the chances are you’ll know all the alternatives
already, but there are of course numerous financial websites out there to turn
to, although most of them actually contribution content to this app such as
Forbes and Financial Times. There’s also plenty more apps in the Store to wet
anyone’s money appetite, including those from reputable sources like The
Economist.
Hit, Miss, or Maybe?
Hit; I think. It’s
hard to be fully sure, but what I can be sure is that this is no lightweight
app but one that is packed full of financial information to help one keep track
of their stocks and relevant markets. Most of it might be of limited appeal to
the masses, but with a currency convertor and mortgage calculator there’s actually
some genuinely appealing useful bits to this app that most might never bother
to check out, and who could blame them.
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