iPhone Integration Rating:

User Interface Rating:

Re-use / Replay Value Rating:

Overall Rating:

The iPhone and iPod Touch are well known for their gaming and entertainment value. But the market doesnt stop there they also act as productivity tools; lifestyle tools; and business tools. Neon Surges iTrade Stock Market Simulator falls into door number three. Its a fully-fledged, live-quote stock market simulator (did the title give that away already?) with one goal: earn a greater return than the initial $100,000 you are given.

Whenever this application dropped into our review queue, I snapped it immediately. As someone who is genuinely interested in the trading life, I had to see if this app was as good as I had hoped. This posed a little bit of a bias problem: if it didnt live up to my overly-high expectations, what would I do? Thankfully I didnt have to go down that road. iTrade met these expectations. And then some.

Whenever you open the application for the first time, you are greeted with a registration page. Why? you might ask. iTrade takes trading properly: all of your trades are logged, recorded and sent to a server so that they are saved on the web, guaranteeing that you wont lose them. Once you have registered you have an account, and trading can begin immediately.

The home screen of the application is laid out as it should be, slightly resembling Apples Stocks application, but much more advanced. Up top, you have a clock of when the market is open; your net worth; your gain and even a performance graph illustrating your success. Basically, an overview of your trading. Down below is where the detail is: your stocks. Name, quantity, value, gain its all there and easy to read off. For an application that needs to tell you so much in such a limited amount of space; it works well with the iPhone and its design is well thought out.

Before diving straight into the stocks, Id like to quickly talk about a few of the apps main features. There is a News tab that tells you all about iTrade: whats happening with the server, some tutorials etc. Theres also a Scores tab to keep the competitive nature of everyone alive: you can see where you are in relation to the top 20 in the world. But these are all additional features that you shouldnt spend too much time with trading time is your main focus.

The NASDAQ and NYSE, in their entirety, are at your fingertips. What Im getting at is that you have no limitations on choice. Only money. Your $100,000 wont buy you everything so choose wisely. Before I go sounding all Morpheus-like, let me get back to the application itself. Buying stocks is a relatively simple procedure. Click on the stock you want, hit Buy (you can check out the latest news when you are at a particular stock also) and choose your quantity. You can enter in a quantity of a stock or a total price you are prepared to spend on it having both is a nice little addition. Once youre ready, by hitting Submit the information is sent to the server and your iPhone updates. If you arent too sure on what to pick, theres a Hot Stocks list to help you get started although the market can change at any second so dont rely on it too much.

Thats really all there is to this application (and all there should be). When you refresh it gets all of the latest prices and adjusts your portfolio accordingly. From hereon, its just a matter of keeping your portfolio positive and your trade record clean. Little features such as tapping on the stocks cell and get an adjustment between percentage change and value change make this application work well with the iPhone / iPod Touch.

There are, however, a few things that need sorted out. Most importantly is iTrades server it keeps on failing to connect (and this is a problem not just voiced by here) which is a major problem for someone who wants to check their portfolio, and buy/sell stocks. Secondly, with the work gone into making a Performance Graph wed love to see the implement of a) a landscape view and b) a full screen performance graph. Lastly, as the app is available not just in the US other stocks to choose from what would be nice. The FTSE, DOW JONES, S&P etc are all major markets and if it were to implement these itd appeal more to the international community.

Overall, you get what you pay for. And you pay nothing. The application is free and for that it deserves a lot of credit. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into building it, and if you are in any way interested in trading then its a must-try. Neon Surge are no strangers to the app store its a well built application and it shows. Buy now.