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   Do You Use It? Apple's Weather Leads a Wide Array of Popular Alternatives

   Adam Engst

   Tonya and I pay a lot of attention to the weather because of the time
   we spend running, biking, and participating in other outdoor activities
   that require planning ahead. I've always wondered if we are unusual and
   normal people aren't nearly as involved. Who knows about 'normal
   people,' but I do have the ability to ask TidBITS readers, so I
   prepared a pair of polls.

   The [1]first poll asked how people checked the weather on their
   iPhones, offering the choice of Apple's default Weather app, a
   third-party app, or a non-iPhone approach. I was gratified to see that
   only 2% of respondents didn't use their iPhones for weather info'at
   least Tonya and I aren't outliers among TidBITS readers. The poll also
   asked respondents to share what third-party apps they used.

   After I'd collected and tallied enough suggestions, I built the
   [2]second poll, which let respondents vote for multiple apps. I kept
   Apple's Weather app in the mix because quite a few people reported
   using it alongside other apps, but the first poll allowed only one
   answer. This time, Apple's Weather garnered 75% of the votes, implying
   that lots of people use it to supplement whatever other app they use.

   After that, the top apps were [3]Weather Underground, with 25% of the
   votes, [4]CARROT Weather with 19%, [5]The Weather Channel with 18%,
   [6]AccuWeather with 15%, [7]WeatherBug with 13%, and [8]Windy and
   [9]MyRadar, both with 11%. No other apps drew more than 5% of the
   votes, which is not to say that there's anything wrong with them, just
   that they're less commonly used by TidBITS readers. Links to all the
   rest are in [10]the poll itself.

   The elephant in the room in any discussion of iPhone weather apps is
   [11]Dark Sky. Over 10% of the comments in both polls mentioned the
   now-retired Dark Sky (following Apple's acquisition; see '[12]Dark Sky
   Fading; iOS 16's Weather Brightens,' 19 September 2022), all
   positively. TidBITS readers liked Dark Sky a lot, and many feel that
   Apple's Weather still lacks the features and interface niceties they
   appreciated in Dark Sky. Sad, but apart from [13]sending feedback to
   Apple, there's nothing to be done about it.

   I was astonished at the variety of ways people acquire weather
   information, and even my second poll fell short in documenting them
   because I focused on general-purpose weather apps that function
   anywhere. Once I started to drill into the hundreds of suggestions, I
   found they clumped into four categories:
     * Location-specific apps: Weather is local to each of us, and many
       people rely on country-specific apps, often those published by
       national weather offices.
     * Focused weather apps: What aspects of the weather you care about
       varies, and readers recommended numerous apps for astronomers,
       sailors, and pilots. Plus, millions of people have become far more
       interested in air quality over the past few months of widespread
       wildfire smoke, and while most weather apps report on air quality,
       plenty of people prefer specific apps.
     * Weather station apps: A handful of respondents said the apps they
       preferred were those that reported on data gathered by their
       personal weather stations.
     * Websites: Although apps tailor their interfaces to the iPhone
       screen and interaction model, some respondents said they prefer
       particular websites for the quality of their data.

   Let's dive in.

Location-Specific Apps

   TidBITS readers hail from around the world, so it shouldn't be
   surprising that they recommended numerous apps primarily of interest to
   iPhone users in particular countries. Australians particularly liked
   their local apps, but the app I regret not including in the second poll
   is [14]Yr, published by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. When I
   built the poll, I hadn't realized that it covers areas outside Europe,
   but it also offers weather information and forecasts for other parts of
   the world. Many people spoke glowingly about it, with one person
   suggesting it was worthwhile partly because its European global weather
   model has a finer resolution and is better at large-scale weather
   patterns. Recommended apps by country are as follows, and note that
   many may work for nearby countries as well.
     * Australia: [15]BOM Weather (Australia's official app), [16]Oz
       Weather Plus, [17]Rain Parrot, [18]WillyWeather
     * Belgium: [19]KMI-IRM
     * Canada: [20]WeatherCAN
     * France: [21]Météo-France
     * Ireland: [22]Met Ãireann Weather Ireland
     * Italy: [23]iLMeteo
     * Netherlands: [24]Buienradar, [25]Het Weer in Nederland,
       [26]WeerPlaza
     * New Zealand: [27]MetService
     * Norway: [28]Yr
     * Sweden: [29]Blixtvakt (lightning), [30]SMHI Väder
     * United Kingdom: [31]BBC Weather, [32]Met Office Weather Forecast,
       [33]XCWeather

Focused Weather Apps

   While everyone needs a general weather app, those with particular
   professions or hobbies often turn to focused weather apps.
     * Astronomy: [34]Astrospheric, [35]Clear Outside
     * Aviation: [36]ForeFlight Mobile EFB
     * Sailing: [37]NVS Explorer (iPad), [38]SailFlow, [39]Tide Graph,
       [40]WindAlert, [41]Windy

   Plus, there are weather apps that focus on just a specific aspect of
   the weather, such as air quality or lightning strikes. Some of these
   duplicate entries above.
     * Air quality: [42]EPA AIRNow, [43]IQAir AirVisual, [44]Local Haze,
       [45]Paku for PurpleAir
     * Lightning: [46]Blixtvakt (Sweden), [47]My Lightning Tracker Pro,
       [48]WeatherBug
     * Storms/Hurricanes: [49]Hurricane Tracker, [50]RadarScope, [51]Storm
       Radar, [52]Yr
     * Tides: [53]NVS Explorer (iPad), [54]Tide Graph
     * Wind: [55]PredictWind, [56]SailFlow, [57]WindAlert, [58]Windy

Personal Weather Stations and Apps

   Unsurprisingly, some TidBITS readers are so involved in the weather
   that they run their own personal weather stations.
     * [59]Ambient Weather Smart Weather Station
     * [60]Davis Professional Weather Stations
     * [61]Netatmo Smart Home Weather Station
     * [62]Tempest Weather System

   A few people also mentioned that they prefer using weather apps that
   display data from a multitude of personal weather stations.
     * [63]SmartMixin Weather
     * [64]Weather Mate Pro
     * [65]Weather Underground

Websites

   As good and convenient as iPhone apps are, many poll respondents still
   prefer to use websites on their Macs. Weather sites can often provide
   more expansive views of data and maps, and specialized sites offer
   information that no one has yet encapsulated in an app.
     * [66]AccuWeather
     * [67]Air Sports Net Aviation Weather Report and Forecast
     * [68]AirNow
     * [69]Aviation Weather Center
     * [70]AWEKAS (aggregates personal weather stations)
     * [71]Citizen Weather Observer Program
     * [72]Clime
     * [73]DeepZoom (tides)
     * [74]Fog Today (San Francisco Bay Area fog)
     * [75]Forecast Advisor (rankings of weather services)
     * [76]Merry Sky
     * [77]Météo France (France)
     * [78]National Hurricane Center
     * [79]PWSWeather (aggregates personal weather stations)
     * [80]Storm Prediction Center
     * [81]Tenki.jp (Japan)
     * [82]The Weather Channel
     * [83]Weather Underground
     * [84]Windy
     * [85]US National Weather Service

   Phew! I hope all these suggestions give you ideas for enhancing your
   awareness of your local weather conditions.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-apples-weather-app-on-the-iphone/23636?u=ace
   2. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-iphone-weather-apps/23835?u=ace
   3. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather-underground-local-map/id486154808?platform=iphone
   4. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/carrot-weather-alerts-radar/id961390574?platform=iphone
   5. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather-the-weather-channel/id295646461?platform=iphone
   6. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/accuweather-weather-alerts/id300048137?platform=iphone
   7. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weatherbug-weather-forecast/id281940292
   8. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/windy-com-weather-radar/id1161387262
   9. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myradar-weather-radar/id322439990
  10. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-iphone-weather-apps/23835?u=ace
  11. https://tidbits.com/tag/dark-sky/
  12. https://tidbits.com/2022/09/19/dark-sky-fading-ios-16s-weather-brightens/
  13. https://www.apple.com/feedback/weather/
  14. https://apps.apple.com/jo/app/yr-no/id490989206
  15. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/bom-weather/id1100096880?platform=iphone
  16. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/oz-weather-plus/id731781859
  17. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/rain-parrot/id911872373
  18. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/willyweather/id592978502
  19. https://apps.apple.com/lu/app/kmi-irm-weather-for-belgium/id393832976?platform=iphone
  20. https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/weathercan/id1334221563
  21. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/m%C3%A9t%C3%A9o-france/id376197239
  22. https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/met-%C3%A9ireann-weather-ireland/id592109880
  23. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/meteo-by-ilmeteo-it/id338851554
  24. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/buienradar-weer/id621542526
  25. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/het-weer-in-nederland-weer/id537631710
  26. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weerplaza-complete-weer-app/id444729415
  27. https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/metservice/id525900888
  28. https://apps.apple.com/jo/app/yr-no/id490989206
  29. https://apps.apple.com/se/app/blixtvakt/id963589450?l=en&platform=iphone
  30. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/smhi-v%C3%A4der/id437447379
  31. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bbc-weather/id649420946
  32. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/met-office-weather-forecast/id1068146838
  33. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/xcweather/id1093480930
  34. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/astrospheric/id1166046863?platform=iphone
  35. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clear-outside/id921555752
  36. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foreflight-mobile-efb/id333252638
  37. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nvs-explorer/id373563865?ls=1
  38. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sailflow/id555309964?platform=iphone
  39. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tide-graph/id288420737?platform=iphone
  40. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windalert/id317992025?platform=iphone
  41. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windy-app-windy-weather-map/id997079492?platform=iphone
  42. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/epa-airnow/id467653238?platform=iphone
  43. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iqair-airvisual-air-quality/id1048912974
  44. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/local-haze/id1278998405
  45. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/paku-for-purpleair/id1534130193?platform=iphone
  46. https://apps.apple.com/se/app/blixtvakt/id963589450?l=en&platform=iphone
  47. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-lightning-tracker-pro/id1175031995
  48. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weatherbug-weather-forecast/id281940292
  49. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hurricane-tracker/id327193945
  50. https://apps.apple.com/gh/app/radarscope/id288419283?platform=iphone
  51. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/storm-radar-weather-tracker/id1216396545?platform=iphone
  52. https://apps.apple.com/jo/app/yr-no/id490989206
  53. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nvs-explorer/id373563865?ls=1
  54. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tide-graph/id288420737?platform=iphone
  55. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/predictwind-marine-forecasts/id477048487
  56. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sailflow/id555309964?platform=iphone
  57. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windalert/id317992025?platform=iphone
  58. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windy-app-windy-weather-map/id997079492?platform=iphone
  59. https://ambientweather.com/
  60. https://www.davisinstruments.com/pages/weather-stations
  61. https://www.netatmo.com/smart-weather-station
  62. https://weatherflow.com/tempest-home-weather-system/
  63. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/smartmixin-weather/id1257840938?l=true&platform=iphone
  64. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather-mate-pro-forecast/id608515289
  65. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weather-underground-local-map/id486154808?platform=iphone
  66. https://www.accuweather.com/
  67. https://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/
  68. https://www.airnow.gov/
  69. https://www.aviationweather.gov/metar
  70. https://www.awekas.at/wp/?lang=en
  71. https://www.weather.gov/cle/CWOP
  72. https://climeradar.com/
  73. https://www.deepzoom.com/
  74. https://fog.today/
  75. https://www.forecastadvisor.com/
  76. https://merrysky.net/
  77. https://meteofrance.com/
  78. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
  79. https://www.pwsweather.com/
  80. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/
  81. https://tenki.jp/
  82. https://weather.com/
  83. https://www.wunderground.com/
  84. https://www.windy.com/
  85. https://mobile.weather.gov/

   Hidden links:
  86. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/09/DYUI-Apple-Weather-results.png
  87. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/09/DYUI-iPhone-weather-apps-results.png

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