Barclays Live App for iPad Devices Launched to Help Institutional Clients Access Content

Earlier this afternoon, in London, Barclays announced the launch of its Barclays Live app for iPad devices, as now available on the iTunes App Store, according to an official company press release.

The Barclays Live app provides the firm's institutional clients with access to in-house research, data, and Analytics - in a personalized manner, across markets such as foreign exchange, among other asset classes.

The app is available to institutional clients of the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division of Barclays Bank PLC, and its Affiliates , and will require them to have a valid Live user name and password.

The addition of the live platform on the iOS system aims to reach a wider audience, since iOS is estimated to have nearly a 3rd of global market share against rival Android which controls the majority of smart-device usage.

Barclays says it will announce in coming months as to whether other operating systems -such as Android - would be added. While the Live app is designed for iPad, there are ways to install it on iPhone, just like nearly any iPad app using a known workaround, although it's optimized for the former -and thus best used on the intended device.

The app shouldn't be mistaken for an older version of a prior generation app that had a completely different name and is still online according to a description on the iTunes app store for the Barclays Capital Research App for iPad -which is used with the Live login, and that was last updated in November 2012, and compatible with iOS version 4.0 and higher. Instead the newly launched Barclays Live app, can be viewed from within the iPad app by searching the app store, as opposed to accessing iTunes from a web browser. Upon finding the app we can see that it was last updated on April 15, 2014, ahead of today's announcement, and is compatible with iOS version 6.0 and above.

Commenting in the official press release, Larry Kantor, Head of Research at Barclays said, “Clients are looking for the content that is most relevant to their investment decisions,” and Mr. Kantor added, “Barclays Live for iPad allows clients to access the content they want, when they want it, by delivering market intelligence that is tailored to their specific needs.”

"The quality of mobile apps in the consumer space has raised the bar for enterprise apps,” said Valerie Monchi, Head of Research Operations. “Barclays Live for iPad re-invents the way clients access content. The app’s unique look and feel, and customization options, will help clients to cut through the information deluge.”

Key features of the app were described by the firm to include:

• Interactive tiles that allow clients to organize a dashboard of content based on the asset classes, securities, currencies and analysts that are of interest to them
• A Watchlist that allows clients to “watch” content without subscribing to it
• A Workbook that allows clients to save their favorite content for easy access in the future
• Seamless synchronization with Barclays Live on the desktop, where clients can view their tiles on the Watchlist and access their folders in the WorkbookAnnotating and storing content for offline access
• “Live” content, including real-time FX prices from BARX
• Financial forecasts from Barclays’ fundamental analysts on more than 2,500 companies under coverage
• Access to market data across rates, securitized products, credit and Barclays’ indices, as well as popular analytic tools from Barclays Live, including CHART, Credit Center and TRENDS
• Ability to receive messages from Barclays’ analysts and sales teams and create daily summary emails with desired content.

A snapshot of the updated app excerpted from Barcap.com is provided below, and looks much different than the screenshots still on iTunes (around time of publication) and references that iOS version 6.0 and higher is required: