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Robinhood announces major update, makes investing on mobile even easier

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Mobile investing app Robinhood has announced its biggest update since launch, adding cards and insight features onto the iOS version. It comes almost a year after the official launch, when Robinhood pushed its vision of a simpler and cheaper investing service for people who might be put off by the complexity of the stock market.

Robinhood removes the costs normally incurred by stock brokers when making a trade by using computers in place of brokers. Its new cards feature informs users on how their stock is performing and on relevant upcoming events, and provides financial advice published by market experts.

The cards will be specifically tailored to the user, meaning if you have invested in Apple, for example, you will receive news about Apple’s hardware performance, its rumored electric car tests, and other contextual information.

Insights will offer more info on the stock’s past performance, upcoming events, and revenue streams to give users more confidence when buying shares. The insights will also cover the user, showing trading history and portfolio diversity — useful info for users who want to engage in more hands-on v. Robinhood is adding NASDAQ after-hour trading updates as well on highlighted stocks, giving users the opportunity to see the stock performance before the market opens.

The update will come to iOS users first, with an Android update coming in the next few weeks. Robinhood released an Android version in August, half a year after launching on iOS. It recently passed $1 billion in transactions.

The app is part of a growing collection of services tailored to first-time investors, like eToro. These apps use computers to simulate real-time stock market changes, with minimal costs and the potential for increased gains for smart investors.

Robinhood is backed by Google, Index, and Andreessen Horowitz. The startup currently offers its services in the United States, and Australia is next on the list. It has not announced plans to launch in any other countries.

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