MetaTrader on PC or mobile; which one should you trade with?

How bad do you want to make it with forex trading? You might have learnt that you need to manage risk, have a good strategy and manage your emotions to see success. But how well do you know your trading platform? Did you know the device you are trading on could hinder your progress? In this article, you will get to know the best trading device you should install your trading platform on, preferably MetaTrader.

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There are quite a number of trading platforms available for use by forex traders. Different traders have different preferences and they may favor one trading platform over the other. This piece is focused on the MetaTrader platform, since it is the commonest and of course, it is my favorite as well. The MetaTrader platform is compatible with Windows and MacOS interfaced computers, as well as Android and iOS interfaced phones(tablets).

This gives a trader the rare opportunity to choose from the variety. However, it has been a long-standing argument as to which device a trader must use in order to get the best out of trading. This argument is widely between PC and mobile phones.

Trading with MetaTrader on PC.

From the onset, I would say, trading with PC is the better option for any trader. Even the best if you trade with price action or if your trading strategy has anything to do with supply and demand. You might have heard the phrases, “the market has a history”, “the market has a memory” or “the market remembers”. These statements are purely formulated for those of us who analyze our charts from left to right before making a forecast.

Because price leaves footprints for bears and bulls, markets are forecasted by using past price movement. The year is 2019 but a price action trader can go as far back as 2013 to find a strong support or resistance level. This is a rare occurrence though.

When you trade like this; you need a big screen to avoid making a petty trading mistake like missing a good level because your screen was so small for you to notice. The big screen lays everything bare on the charts for you to see enough, to arrive at a probable decision to buy or sell.

Also, traders who believe in automated trading would choose PC’s ahead of mobile phones. This is because, self-developed trading indicators and bots do not work on phones. MetaTrader on phone has no Expert Advisor pane and even if it had it, bots are so system intensive that they could reduce the lifespan of a lightweight phone.

Again I would choose the PC ahead of a phone because placing trades with PC is easier than on a phone. You are bound to make a silly mistake on the phone if you are not extra careful. Stories like I wanted to choose a lot size of 0.05 but I chose 0.50 are common with phone traders; especially when they are starting out.

When it comes to trading, you can never underrate the importance of a big screen and the power of the system the MetaTrader is installed on. The smallest of PC’s which is a mini laptop has a screen size of about 11 inches, phones aren’t that big.

Anyway, traders whose strategy are purely based on indicators might not agree with the assertion that trading with PC is the way to go. This is so because indicators analyze from left to right through some sort of calculations to give the trader information based on the present and the future. Unlike price action traders, indicator based traders don’t really have to manually analyze that further into the past. That is not to say, trading with indicators are simple.

The downside to trading with PC is that it is only portable if it is a laptop but a laptop is still not as portable as a phone. Also, it could be data intensive.

Trading with MetaTrader on phone(tablet).

A phone is super portable; it can fit into your pocket or your small bag if it’s a tablet. The idea that you can take it everywhere there’s a good internet connection and trade is very accommodating. Also another pro of trading with the phone is that, since the MetaTrader app for mobile is lightweight, it is not data intensive. This is however more true for MetaTrader 4. Since the 5 is an improvement of the 4, it uses more data, but it is still cheaper than on PC.

The mobile app is also very simple and easy to use. There aren’t a lot of technicalities and tools to deal with when you trade on the phone. However, it is the very same simplicity that disallows the use of Expert Advisors. You can’t have it all.

Aside the fact that phones have small screens, use less data and are portable, there’s one major difference between phones based on their operating systems. The difference lies in trend trading with the Android and iOS interfaced phones.

Trend traders who use trendlines and channels will face a major problem with Android interfaced phones. When you plot a trendline or channel on MetaTrader for android, it will look different when you change timeframes. For instance, when you plot a trendline on a Daily chart timeframe, be sure that it is not going be accurate if you switch to the 4-hour or 1-hour.

metatrader for android

Nice up channel plotted on a USDJPY Daily chart.

metatrader faulty channel

Same up channel when you move down to the 4-hour timeframe

I tried finding a way around it but it seems it is a problem that can only be solved by the MetaTrader Android app developers. Another way to go around such a problem would be to delete and replot the trendline when you change timeframes; that would be a headache even as PC and iOS  traders do not experience such a condition.

up channel on usdjpy

Up channel re-plotted to suit the 4-hour timeframe.

metatrader flying trendline.

But when you switch back to the daily timeframe, the case is deepened.

NB: These shots were taken from a phone with android 8.1

Yet, another way could have also been to draw the trendlines for each and every timeframe so that when you switch timeframes, you don’t have to replot. But doing that would clutter your screen and that could hinder you from seeing price clearly. What if three lines cover a reversal candlestick, so it doesn’t appear to you clearly for you to miss a trade?

This is one major setback for the android MetaTrader even as those for PC and iOS have no such problems.

Whereas on iOS 11.3.1;

metatrader on iphone

The view from the iOS interface.

metatrader for iphone

It doesn’t get messy when you switch timeframes.

 Recommendations.

Obviously, I’d advice that traders stick with trading with PC always. There are some market moves that look great on phone but on PC they are no moves at all. If you haven’t trained your eyes to see such deceptive moves, you might make mistakes. Once in a while, when I see a trading opportunity on my phone; I make sure to cross check with my PC before entering.

Even if you love your phone so much; try your possible best to be a good trader on PC before transitioning to phone trading. By doing so, you would be doing a lot of good to yourself and your account.

My second choice of trading device would be an iOS device which has a screen size of 5 inches and upwards. I would never go below that size. I use trendlines to time trends; so I personally wouldn’t use or recommend MetaTrader for android until that glitch is fixed.

All the above are the reasons why I favor trading with the PC. Even as we have come to the end of this lesson, I would like to know your preferred trading platform and device; also, why do you chose that over the other.

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2 Comments

  1. I prefer trading with the PC as you stated above. You see the moves so clearly and connection to the server is smooth unlike the Metatrader for android where it takes a long while for it to connect.

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