CNBC: Business & Stock News

Review by eFreeware

If you follow markets and want one app that covers both the headlines and the numbers behind them, CNBC is built for exactly that. It combines breaking business news, real-time quotes and television programming in a single Android app, and it has been doing so for a long time: the app first appeared in March 2010 and now sits past five million installs with a 4.5 average from more than 113,000 ratings.

What you get for nothing is a broad package. News alerts arrive as stories break, watchlists track the companies you care about, and charts and trading data run through the day, including before the opening bell and after the close. Clips and full episodes play on phones and Android TV.

The app is free to download and carries advertising, and there are paid subscriptions layered on top for people who want more than the free experience offers. I would think of it as a news desk, a quote tracker and a television feed sharing one icon on your home screen.

Following your own stocks, not just the index

The part I would reach for most often is the watchlist. You build a list of the companies you want to follow and the app keeps real-time quotes and global market data in front of you through the trading day. Because the lists are customizable, you can keep a handful of holdings on one screen and a wider set of names you are merely curious about on another.

Charts come with adjustable time frames, so the same stock can be viewed over a short window or a much longer one without leaving the app. Trading data extends to pre-market and after-hours sessions, which matters if earnings or overseas news move a stock outside regular hours and you want to see how it is reacting rather than waiting for the next open.

Cryptocurrencies are covered alongside stocks, so a mixed portfolio does not require a second app for those quotes. The developer describes the news and market data as accurate and actionable, a claim worth treating as marketing rather than a promise, but the underlying feature set is the standard one you would expect from a finance app of this scale.

News that arrives before you go looking for it

Alerts are the other half of the proposition. Breaking news and stock notifications are pushed to your phone, which means you can put the app down and still hear about a market-moving story shortly after it lands. Coverage runs around the clock across business news, economic analysis, personal finance, investing, technology, politics, energy and health care, with commentary from named contributors alongside the reporting.

That breadth is the appeal. Rather than checking several sources through the day, you get a single stream that mixes company news, macro developments and opinion pieces. If your interest is narrower, say one sector or one portfolio, the volume of alerts is something to manage deliberately once you have the app set up.

The developer also runs daily live meetings with Jim Cramer and his team through the Investing Club, along with monthly hour-long sessions that include audience questions and guest experts. Those sessions sit behind the Investing Club subscription rather than in the free news feed.

Watching CNBC without a television nearby

Video is treated as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. You can watch the live stream, individual clips and full episodes on a phone, and the app also runs on Android TV, where you can search for topics and shows using your voice or the remote. That makes it a reasonable fit for a living room setup as well as a pocket screen.

There is a split in how the video is accessed. Clips are free to watch, while live streaming of full episodes requires signing in with a cable or satellite subscription. That is the familiar TV Everywhere arrangement, and it means the free tier gives you highlights and segments rather than the full channel.

The paid CNBC PRO tier adds more: analyst calls released early, the Pro Playbook before trading starts, real-time alerts and analysis on global investing news, exclusive stories from investors, analysts and industry figures, live Pro Talks with audience questions, and special reports such as earnings playbooks and quarterly guides. It also includes live TV streaming and on-demand full episodes, though the developer notes that this part is limited to the United States. Daytime shows named in that package include "Squawk Box," "Mad Money," "Closing Bell," "Halftime Report," "Power Lunch" and "Fast Money."

What you need before the first alert lands

Getting started is mostly about deciding how much you want to pay for. The app itself is a free download, supported by advertising, with in-app purchases available. You can use the news feed, the watchlists and the market data without paying anything; the subscriptions are there for people who want the analyst material, the live sessions or the full television stream.

For the live episode streaming that comes with a cable or satellite login, you will need credentials from a participating provider. For the CNBC PRO streaming element, the developer specifies the United States as the territory. Everything else, including the news coverage, quotes and charts, is part of the app.

One item worth knowing before you install: the app includes Nielsen measurement software, which the developer says contributes to market research in the way television ratings do. The app carries a Teen content rating, and a privacy choices page covers how data is handled.

An investor's tool more than a casual reader's

The people best served here are those who already follow markets and want the news and the numbers in one place. If you hold individual stocks, watch sectors closely, or simply want to know why an index moved before you read about it later, the combination of alerts, watchlists and intraday data covers the basics well.

The subscriptions set the ceiling on what the free version does. Analyst calls, Pro Talks, special reports and the Investing Club material are all paid additions, and the full live channel depends on a TV provider login. If your interest is the free news feed and a few quotes, none of that stands in your way.

Android TV support widens the audience a little, since the same app can serve a phone during the day and a television in the evening. Between the two, I would expect most users to settle into a routine of glancing at a watchlist in the morning, letting alerts handle the rest, and turning to video when a story deserves more than a headline.

A dependable daily read for market watchers

CNBC does one job and does it at scale: it keeps business news, market data and television in one Android app, free to download with advertising and optional subscriptions. The watchlist and chart tools are the practical core, alerts handle the rest, and the video side ranges from free clips to a full stream for those with a provider login or a PRO subscription.

It suits investors, traders and anyone whose work or savings depend on knowing what markets are doing. If you want a lightweight headline reader, this is a bigger machine than that, and the subscription pitch runs through the experience. For everyone else, it is a straightforward install: the app is current, widely used, and covers the ground it promises.

What's new

This release includes backend app improvements. We welcome your feedback about our latest update at [email protected]