News in the Bloomberg is powered by live updates from the official Bloomberg.com website. The app receives news throughout the day for both US and International markets. Beyond just finance, the Bloomberg goes beyond business and offers seven-panes of news features that also include the likes of health care, featured articles, opinion, politics, technology, US sports and international sports.

Audio podcasts are brilliantly integrated into the app. Bloomberg features free downloads to high quality 10-25 minute financial podcasts. Downloading podcast is quick and when I tried, took less than a minute over my home WiFi network. The best part, the Bloomberg app has an integrated podcast player that allows you to listen to audio commentary while having the freedom to browse your personal stock portfolio, read news, and explore the many features of the app.

The only downside that prevented a 5-star rating for Bloomberg is the hideous stock market terminal design. I’m sure when Bloomberg first thought about how they would design their website, the idea of designing the Bloomberg website like a stock terminal sounded like a creative and clever idea. However, having to read white and orange text on a black background grows old, quick.

However, the Bloomberg app is executed so well and offers so many features – we won’t let Bloomberg’s graphical decisions take away from the app. On a positive note regarding design, Bloomberg.com is actually revisiting it’s design and looking to switch for a much more modern and easier on the eyes design. Hopefully, the Bloomberg.com makeover will come soon to the iPad version.

As far as news and finance apps goes, Bloomberg is definitely the best app available in it’s industry. We can only hope the other news publishers can follow.