IB TWS for iOS - FAQs

  iPhone iPad
Number of Watchlist Rows 50 100
Number of Watchlists 12 15
Positions unlimited 250 (sorted by size)
Active (Working) Orders 100 (sorted by time) 100 (sorted by time)
Trades 100 (sorted by time) 100 (sorted by time)

For the iPad:

  1. Open the App Store.
  2. In the Search field enter IB TWS and click Search.
  3. Click the application description to install the app to your iPad.

For the iPhone/iPod Touch:

  1. Open the App Store.
  2. Tap the Search tab, enter iTWS and tap Search.
  3. Tap the description, and from the description page tap the Free icon. It becomes the Install icon.
  4. Tap Install to install the app to your iPhone/iPod Touch.

Use the Search facility, which you bring up by hitting the round "Home" button. Hit Home once if you're on your home screen, or twice if you're currently not on your Home screen. Enter "IB TWS" and hit Search.

If the application is still not found, reboot your device by holding down the Home and power buttons together until the device shuts down. Then hold the power button to re-power the device.

In some cases, the application can get "stuck" in a state where it's only half installed. Try going to the app store and re-installing.

If you still cannot get the IB TWS app, please call Apple support for assistance.

When you log in to your IB TWS application, all other TWS sessions will automatically be logged out. In a case where you are logged into TWS and lose your internet connection, you do not have to wait for TWS to time out; when you log into IB TWS the existing session is logged out. Note that IB TWS provides more limited trading capabilities than the full internet version of TWS.

Several account types are not yet supported in IB TWS, including institutional accounts, G-accounts (guaranteed dollars) and OATS-reportable accounts. If you have any of these account configurations you will not be able to trade your IB account through the IB TWS application.

Yes. From the Text Message page of the alert, enter the email address where you would like the alert sent. This address will be used going forward for all alerts unless it is deleted or changed. If you do not enter an email address, your alert will be sent as a text to your mobile device.

Please submit your request to IB via the IB TWS platform-specific section of the New Features Poll for consideration.

The current version of IB TWS supports the following:

  • Order Types: Limit, Market, Relative, Stop, Trailing Stop, Stop Limit
  • Times in Force: Day, Good Till Cancelled (GTC), Outside Regular Trader Hours (outside RTH)
  • Products: Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Forex, Futures Options, CFDs, Warrants

We use your phone information for the following reasons:

  • To associate free Alerts with the user, so when you open free alerts you will see the alerts you created in a previous session.
  • To route you to the geographically closest servers (we have servers on three continents).
  • To pre-populate the default email address with email to the SMS gateway. This currently applies only to AT&T and Verizon phones.

You may be behind a corporate firewall. Please open port 4000 for unproxied TCP/IP communication from your device.



If the recommendations on this page have not solved your problem, please email iTWS@interactivebrokers.com with a detailed description of the issue you are having, including the following information:

  • IB TWS for iOS problem statement in the subject line, for example: IB TWS for iOS login error message.
  • Your TWS account number.
  • Mode of connection (Wi-Fi or Cellular).
  • The version of iPhone you are using.