I wonder if financial apps for tablets or phones are a reasonable and safe practice? Some apps are known to be loose with your privacy, especially ones depending on ad revenue:
revenue:
I don't even check my bank acct using my home wireless. I only use my wired connection. I just don't see why I need to check my bank balance on the bus using a phone.
When I physically hooked into my first broadband modem, I was hardly aware it was rigged with wide open wifi with no security as default settings. I can't recall if my laptop wifi was activated by default, but eventually I had to learn how to lock that wifi down with ironclad security. Since then I have used unsecured wifi such as at hotels maybe a bit too freely.
I wasn't thinking of phones so much but the new generation of tablets. They can be great for just couch surfing while the tv is running commercials. Somehow they seem less "work" than laptops to flick thru financial indicators or news. Besides the expensive apple variants there is a new wave of affordable android tablets, right-sized for one handed operation but with big enough screens. However I am wary of their security - google even says their android isn't appropriate for tablets.
So I guess for now it's best to mainly use them for generic financial info and not personal. Right now you can download pretty good Android apps for example from Wall Street Journal (they threaten to make it more pay-based), Bloomberg, Fidelity (without logging on), but I seem to recall the Yahoo finance one currently stinks. Others promise great things if you log on, but...
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