IBKR Mobile - Invest Worldwide Reviews

by Gagalady1990

1. Log in is super frustrating. It takes forever, it logs you in many times without trading permissions, and often it just gets stuck on the “connecting” message after you enter your credentials and never logs in. 2. The functionality on IBKR for trade types is more extensive than the web interface. Which tells me that they have developed these two interfaces completely independently of each other and thus the user experience is not uniform across both. This is an antiquated approach from the dot com bubble days. They need to completely revamp their approach to Omni channel 3. The data on your portfolio is extremely inaccurate. It has some value for net gain or loss for the day and when you trade a stock at market the actual net profit loss changes dramatically, telling me that the data is not correct. 4. Customer service is impossible to reach. 5. Would you believe that the browser based website does not have Trail Limit order functionality while this is available on the Mobile App? Just unbelievable how their IT has built the web and mobile versions completely independently of each other. They really are in the 1970s of web development.

by Eddiepugmire

There is a bug where the events calendar doesn’t filter your portfolio companies, it just removes all corporate events. Tech support is bad, they make you wait a lot and ask you to walk through processes only to make you submit a bug on IBKR at the end. Why not just start with that? Also, like many have said, calculations are wrong and the columns you can add are pretty sparse. There is no tax lot column for example, or even a price to sales ratio column.

There is also no way to save your settings. So if for time reason you need to reinstall IBKR , like for example when they had me reinstall in order to see if the event calendar was fixed (it wasn’t ). I had to redo all of my columns and chart settings. IBKR needs a serious upgrade. It is absolutely garbage.

by F IB

This reason alone is why I am switching to fidelity. IB sends you a debit card and then after you activate it- it has a purchase limit of like $300 a day. I activated the IB key on my phone- such a horrible experience. Authentication problems and logging onto my account. Plus they are very very slow with ACH deposits- makes me think they earn a couple days interest on just holding onto your funds. Not worth it- a total scam. I won’t be able to trade 100,000 products with Fidelity, but at least I will have power over my money. Their marketing of giving you access to all these products is a gimmick when they can’t do basic things right. Wait times are long for phone support. Crappy technology, crappy UI, crappy support- I don’t need to trade some obscure product. I have what I need with Fidelity and I think IB commissions are a scam too- whole company is a scam- it’s from Chicago made from, for and by bonehead Chicago traders. Just compare the reviews of Fidelity app vs this app app on the AppStore- that says it all!!! I should have done that before going through this ordeal.

by Acole25

Where do I start. Every night at 11:30pm the mobile app can’t get updated quotes. Just sits there till after midnight. Every day ur PnL is never accurate , certainly not real time . How do u manage a position with false information? The mobile app is always rearranging ur quote lists .. one second Your Z silver quote is at the top of the list the next it’s nowhere to be found, then it magically pops up in a random spot. Smells like a predatory app selling ur order flow under the guise of confusing u. Oh and can never login.. enter all the stuff.. correctly, says it’s wrong and try again.. have to swipe out IBKR , enter again and cross my fingers.. iOS . Update: when you can’t login it says “login failed- invalid authorization parameters”then u swipe out and enter the same stuff it may let ur in.. pathetic

by Boy From Da Hood

Been using for over a year now and while there are robust tools available on Interactive Brokers, it’s become increasingly frustrating to use. Their login, especially on web, seems not to work much of thumb and doesn’t allow you to view your portfolio without sometimes restarting the browser. Customer service is horrible. I’ve been trying to get a debit card for 5 months now and have spoken to 4+ customer service agents only either to be assured that my issue has been seen to-when it hasn’t, or they just ignore my service ticket. Trading permissions have also proven difficult and approval is meant to take 1 day- again customer service has proved useless at trying to help me resolve this. I’ll likely close my account because of these issues. It’s a pity because there is so many great things about the platform but I wouldn’t risk using a platform that doesn’t assist their customers with resolving issues.

by Splilla

I deposited small amounts to try out the new to me platform. With that, I make small purchases. Small sells, small withdrawals to make sure everything works as it should. I put in a withdrawal request mid January 2021. It still has not deposited. I have called their customer support number with being on hold for over an hour and finally giving up. I have tried their chat support but no one ever comes on to it. I have emailed them and gotten no reply. They can keep the $195... I am glad yo be done with them and extremely happy that I didn’t make a mistake of making a larger deposit with them. Good luck to anyone who uses this app. I strongly urge otherwise. Too many other platforms out there that have no issues with any of the above. I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau.

by KNV365

Having used several different brokerage apps, this one is at the bottom. Logging into IBKR is hit or miss, as it may take 30 seconds to receive the OTP & once I input it, it’s incorrect. The interface is ok but not intuitive & quite cumbersome. And what’s with the inaccurate P&L & way off bid/asks for stock options? I actually use Robinhood to get an idea for where the bid/ask spread actually is, so I can place the correct order. If I were to depend solely on IB’s bid/ask, I would be entering useless orders. And sometimes my order gets rejected for being too far above/below the market when actually that’s where the market is but they’re the one that’s way off. For what’s supposed to be such a prestigious brokerage, their app is second rate, at best. I’m too mobile to not depend upon a solid mobile trading platform & this doesn’t cut it. I’ll be moving my money elsewhere.

by Pedro_Casas

I was attracted to Interactive Brokers because of the low margin interest, however, the user experience is horrendous. IBKR is hard to navigate. After opening an account I tried to use IBKR to log in and it keeps taking me to a “simulated trading” account with fake money. It keeps prompting me to finish my application (which I have done already) so once I click on it, it takes me to the web site (why?? , can’t you handle this within IBKR ??)
Then within the web portal , i keep getting an error saying my account “won’t authenticate”, so it won’t load trading data or market quotes. It is totally useless. I already funded it, but I plan on taking my money out and closing the account. A total waste of my time. This experience was very regretful and I hope I can get my money.

by Trips P

The platform provides great information accessibility but the overall service is geared towards an extremely wealthy customer. All ACH deposits are subject to 4 day hold which makes the platform useless for people that cannot afford wire fees. The customer service reps should not be allowed to see your balances because the low level of service and the “I’m better than you attitude” you get from the customer service reps when they find out you have a low account balance in their eyes is pretty amazing. If you have less than a 100k balance don’t bother with this broker unless you want their second tier customer service. Go to Fidelity or TD where they actually care about every customer.

by Stuffjusthappens

The two-factor login process is a bit involved and doesn’t always work correctly. Why not just use the process that other brokerages/banks use and install a cookie on the device the first time it is validated so it remembers it for repeat sign-ons. That seems much more straight-forward. Also, I’ve been trying to migrate to a new phone I just bought and can’t seem to get it to work, so now the authorization message is being sent to the old phone. I tried clicking on an embedded link to read the instructions, but got a “page not found” error message. I dread calling customer service because they are not usually very accessible.

by HunterKnight

Almost every calculated value is routinely wrong. Daily P&L seems to randomly change every time I open IBKR (while markets are closed over the weekend). Options P&L graphs always show the result of the previous date selected, so if I want to see the potential P&L at expiation, I have to scroll all the way to the end, wait for it to load, *then* selected another date, such as the second-to-last date. The “Home” tab has very limited functionality, and the top graph includes deposits in the total growth, with no option to switch to the time/money weighted return % graphs easily accessible on the browser version. Finally, the performance outside of market hours is very poor; Options P&L graphs take several additional seconds to load, and the complete lack of access to the system on Friday evenings (Pacific time) is very inconvenient. These factors make it almost impossible for me to do research and prepare for the upcoming week when it is convenient for me to do so (over the weekend)

by Chris Emeka

Everything about IBKR is a pain.
Performing ACH money transfer was a nightmare. First I had to link my bank. After doing that nothing happened. Had to login on their website to complete that. To verify my bank account linking was another story. Started on the website but apparently they didn’t like it. They asked me to go to IBKR to complete that.
And what is with the endless verification of everything you try to do on IBKR ? It makes IBKR very user unfriendly.
I have two accounts. I had to request for permission to trade in my account. Apparently permission on one account does not carry over to the other account. My accounts were transferred from another broker that sold out to IB. How did IB think I was trading with the previous broker?
IBKR is so user unfriendly that I am considering moving to Fidelity or Schwab.

by Nohname

I want to distinguish between the two aspects. In terms of the value proposition and the particular niche this app serves for investors that handle more trades and care about things like ADR vs OTCs, this app has been a godsend. Though they’ve always indicated that they’re primarily serving institutional investors and judging by just how unfriendly their app experience is, I almost get the impression that they want to weed out investors who aren’t worth it for them by making everything so barebones and making no effort to educate users or explain certain terms etc. this app is the design equivalent to an SEC company filing, tiny print, jumbled lines, no variation, no highlighting important content.

by RAE-72

The IB app is okay - limited, but fine for keeping on eye on things if you’re on the move, and it’s improved a lot over the years.

Some notes:

1. On my iPhone 7, the drop downs for modeling date and parameters (P&L, Greeks) for an option contract don’t work. They drop down but roll up immediately before I can select anything. Works fine on my iPad Pro.

2. Again in option contract modeling - allowing only 5%, 10% and 30% max moves is inconvenient when one is trading daily/ weekly contracts, especially close to expiration. Would like a to be able to chart at (say) 1% and 3% moves also.

3. Overall, options modeling is somewhat limited. Would like to be able to model complex positions in a less clunky way - probably not on the iPhone, but definitely on the iPad.

4. Adding a little more capability to charting (again on the iPad, rather than the iPhone) would be great... things like customizing colors/ line style for indicators, customizing background color, adding template capability (i.e. saving layouts), etc. Doesn’t need to become TradeStation - just upgrades for usability and appearance.

by Shahed08

Customer support replies to my ticket sometimes, and other times, it’s left ignored for months. I even offered to pay for premium support for quicker response, and that wasn’t responded to. I guess that’s a sign their management no longer interested in improving. With that said, I had to be fair and add 2 stars because they currently have the lowest margin interest rate I can find (but not by much. M1 and Robinhood rates are close, so it’s not the difference maker). My hope is this app focuses on the future, which is mobile OS, ease of use for beginners, and customer support.

by Frontierninja

I exclusively trade on mobile platforms and have found myself trading more and more on thinkorswim as I can roll over my options with a click of a button. TOS pre fills the fields and I make adjustments and execute my trades. Why can’t it be that simple instead of me entering the buy and sell portion all by hand. I would like to see Roll Position next to Close Positon when you go into the detail of the trade. It makes it easy for mobile platforms and reduces fat fingering. Please add and button to roll options. Please people I am getting so tired of this.

by Purecharger

I really like IBKR as a trading platform, but it is very frustrating to login with trading permissions. Firstly, it defaults to login without trading permissions and you are prompted to enter your password for trading or account management. Then the lack of compatibility with password managers flexes it’s ugly head. I use LastPass and the problem is twofold: launching lastpass from IBKR prompt does not display my IB entry I have to search for it, and after selecting my IB entry I’m returned to IBKR without the password populated and in fact the password prompt is gone. This means I have to switch to lastpass, find IB, copy the password then go back to IB, trigger the password prompt and paste the password. Overall it’s a frustrating, broken user experience.

by Danny Bg

I have two different logins for two different accounts. They have to stay separate for a reason. I can only login to one account and the second kicks me out on the Face ID. I can’t even create a ticket because I can’t log in to my account. For some reasons messages stopped coming to my phone so I have to do IBKR authentication even if I want to log in from the website. Since I can’t login from the phone....I can’t log in from the website. See the issue? Basically have no way of logging into my account.

*update. I figured out how to activate to security devices for two different accounts using the same smartphone.

by Emowilli

Short Interest rate and Market Cap are no longer working on watchlist or portfolio. Please fix and also add % of IB shares short.

Thanks for all the improvements in this version!

1. It does feel like charts are slower to load now? I realize there is more logic with adding trading features, but would like it a bit faster.
2. More ability to work columns in portfolio view
3. Better use of landscape on iPhone XS Max (is a lot of wasted space)
4. Better Multitasking, at least give 60 seconds before requiring to relog in. If I swipe to my password manager and then back I have to log in again and then re-navigate to the view I was on.
5. There are columns like MKT Value that are available in Portfolio view, but then only MKT Value % is available in watchlist. This wouldn’t matter as much if you could sort portfolio view.
7. Split screen support on IPad
8. When you click to Portfolio, it calculates your daily change, and then recalculates again. That initial calculation is often off by many thousands of dollars, giving me a heart attack on a daily basis. Please don’t display the daily calculations until they are accurate.

by UltimaOnliner

IBKR is incredibly solid with responsive developers who are always improving the stability, interface, and complement of features.

HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL TWO BUGS:

In the watchlist, if a futures contract is listed for a specific expiration, then the graph will show live orders and the days order history will display underneath the graph. However, if the futures contract is set with the “infinity” sign indicating that it will update to the next expiration date once it expires, then live orders, active orders, or past orders will NOT show on the graph or beneath it.

If I login to one of my three iPads, then my login credentials are rejected on the other iPads even if my identity is confirmed with Apple’s camera ID system. I am not permitted to login automatically even for “read only access” of watch lists. I have to retype my login credentials and use 2 factor authentication with my iPhone. This problem does not seem to occur if I login to my iPhone and then back to an iPad, however.

This is a great app that continually evolves positively.

by BjB1000

As a software developer, I completely understand how it got this way, but nevertheless, it doesn’t excuse it.

This application and their desktop version are the most horrible un user friendly pieces of software I have ever attempted to use. There is no consistency with context menus... attempting to find information about account balance, trade history, company information... it’s just not intuitive.

Don’t get me wrong... this application has probably every Bell and whistle that a trader could want, it just should have had a real application architect leading the effort to ensure a smooth application. As a result it’s just a conglomeration of ideas packed into an application with multiple non-intuitive ways to access.

by OrPredarT

Like “missing so much” review. I’m discouraged about the lack of investor NEEDS knowledge your programming has.
* The IB Key switch back is terrible.
Most individuals with cash to invest are knowledgeable about digi pass type security confirmation. The IB programmers are making it WAY to cumbersome and never explain their updates to user.
Example: I was using my IB Key on my iPad with the platform. Then suddenly NONE of it worked properly without an explanation. For people that are busy and need access. It’s unacceptable.
* Call in support needs some serious training.
If any call in support team is using VOIP ~ you’ve confirmed the security of the investor. GET A NUMBER and call them back if the VOIP drops the call. I’ve waited for up to 20 mins. Gone through the security confirm and then the call drops.
The call in support staff should be able to call me back.
* The platform itself is good. Not great, but “Ok”. But it’s being dictated by programmers that don’t seem to have a securities trading background. More BETA’s and less push it out fast!!!

by Affan1

Half the time option quotes for a given expiry don't even load. I usually trade ES weekly options and screen is half empty. Sometimes it takes 10 seconds to load. Sometimes a minute. And sometimes they never load! I don't have all day to just sit there and hope quotes load up.

I called customer service multiple times and they couldn't help. All they suggested was reinstall app and restart phone which I did to no help. This is sad considering you have to pay for live data.

Update: issue still persists after more than a month. You can't take a broker seriously who has serious data issues. Changing my rating to 1 star.

by Filadelfia76

Let me start with the fees for quotes , just to see your stock or etf price you have to pay 10$ plus add on fee 4.5$ a month and that’s on top of 10$ activity fee, money withdrawal fee, commissions etc. they charge you 25 $ a month just to have your account open. The customer service is rude ( disconnect you phone calls) or reject any request to help whatsoever. The platform is super confusing to use , it takes weeks to learn how to use their software which is difficult to access, customize and use. I will be closing my account and moving my assets to different more reputable and customer friendly stock broker.

by Kpn Star

If touchid doesn’t work which it often doesn’t, have to use a different app called IB Key to login. And the login isn’t even valid for a few hours. When you switch n come back, you need to go thru the whole drill again.
Also annoying multiple yes pop-boxes have to be clicked before an order can be placed. By the time all these actions are complete, the price would all different. I just don’t get why they are so behind the times. They should take a look at some competitor apps like TOS or Tastyworks. Trading Mobile apps are the hot thing for people today and they don’t invest enough attention or effort in this.

by Clayb88

Still can’t successfully transfer funds within IBKR . The latest versions provided a “Home” tab that has a transfer funds option but you still have to verify your login information and be authenticated again after you initiate the transfer. But if you follow the links within IBKR , it just crashes after authentication and my transfer attempt discontinues. Still have to access account management in Safari to get a transfer to successfully go through.

Also, can’t pick my tax lots when I sell stock in IBKR . Limited to an out of date “Tax optimizer” that is terribly configured and reliant on Java.

Love the brokerage company and trading for the most part on IBKR is really good but account management is a disaster within IBKR .

by Casios01

The latest update seems to be causing reconnecting issues at log in. It has to roll through 4 or 5 attempts to connect before it finally goes through which can be a problem if you need to get in and make a time sensitive trade. I never had this problem before until this past update a few days ago.

But I love the new ability to see my trade history for the past seven days though quite frankly, it was long overdue.

Otherwise a good slick app that gets the job done well for making phone trades. I use it every day.

by Paulbari

Two improvements related to order entry for your consideration: (i) including the capability of automatically exercising a put or call option at market once the underlying shares reach a certain price; (ii) including the capability of entering a combined market order for both the option and the underlying shares such that the market order for both instruments gets executed simultaneously (so not to get whipsawed by price action of the two instruments when entering market orders for both instruments sequentially).

by Rickdakidd

Executions work fine. Charts are small and you cannot expand them. The chart graphics are poor and difficult to see. Hard to see the coor lines on the moving averages and the fonts on the price levels.

You better know the exact symbol for a stock price quote or it will not show. I like the strategy builder for option spreads, very easy to use. Would like to see more option indicators like implied volatility vs historical option volatility. Of course, love the low commission fees.

by Jade7125

The paper mode for personal education is key for user comfort level.

I’ve traded on many mobile apps before, and this is by far the most inclusive app I’ve ever used.

Order entry is very smooth, and intuitive. Charts are easily expandable and widen with pinch/reverse motion. The range of chart studies have been greatly improved. Option strategies for different combination is easily achieved. Account information is detailed, along with quick order entry from portfolio page.

by Atlanta Trader

IBKR is fine, but the IB customer service can be challenging at times. I called IB about their updated app. I told them I wanted to change the tabs at the bottom of the screen. The rep had no idea how to do that. After my conversation with the rep it was nail after 8 PM Eastern time and nobody could help me. So I googled how to change the tabs at the bottom of IBKR and after doing a little research and reading I figured out how to do it on my own.