Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

[robertgarven]

The calendar has turned to January 1 and Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users starting today.

Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this month, Apple shared a support document with information on how Dark Sky users can use the Weather app, which now offers "hyperlocal" forecasts, including next-hour precipitation, hourly forecasts for the next 10 days, high-resolution radar maps, and severe weather notifications.

To use Dark Sky features in the Weather app, your device must be updated to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS Ventura. Some of the features are currently only available in select countries, as outlined in a separate Apple support document.

Apple will also be shutting down Dark Sky's API for third-party weather apps on March 31, and introduced its own WeatherKit API as a replacement.

Article Link: Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

The calendar has turned to January 1 and Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users starting today.

Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this month, Apple shared a support document with information on how Dark Sky users can use the Weather app, which now offers "hyperlocal" forecasts, including next-hour precipitation, hourly forecasts for the next 10 days, high-resolution radar maps, and severe weather notifications.

To use Dark Sky features in the Weather app, your device must be updated to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS Ventura. Some of the features are currently only available in select countries, as outlined in a separate Apple support document.

Apple will also be shutting down Dark Sky's API for third-party weather apps on March 31, and introduced its own WeatherKit API as a replacement.

Article Link: Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

This was the best weather app of all time it had so many cool features like when you look at the map, you could zoom out and you’ll see the entire earth which you could spin around and see weather all over the world instantly the graph showing the rain was always really accurate And a very cool feature. There’s nothing I like about the weather app I’m a lifelong Apple user, but it seems like they destroy about everything I ever liked…. Shame on whoever started this for selling out its a betrayal of all your customers.

 

[einsteinbqat]

Unlike Dark Sky, Apple Weather app = absolutely no way to view the dew point.

 

[scoobydooxp]

RIP, Dark Sky; you will be missed.

I knew last night was coming, so I have been trying to use the new Apple Weather.app, but it needs to be more accurate. I have reported incorrect weather over 20 times in the past month, and the app still needs to be more precise. Last night it was in the high 30s and raining, but Weather.app reported it was snowing.

 

[FNi]

Apologies if this has already been asked/answered, but are there any alternatives with a focus on hourly rain forecast? Happy to pay if the data is good.

 

[bigtuna1]

The calendar has turned to January 1 and Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users starting today.

Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this month, Apple shared a support document with information on how Dark Sky users can use the Weather app, which now offers "hyperlocal" forecasts, including next-hour precipitation, hourly forecasts for the next 10 days, high-resolution radar maps, and severe weather notifications.

To use Dark Sky features in the Weather app, your device must be updated to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS Ventura. Some of the features are currently only available in select countries, as outlined in a separate Apple support document.

Apple will also be shutting down Dark Sky's API for third-party weather apps on March 31, and introduced its own WeatherKit API as a replacement.

Article Link: Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

Did they change the end date? This is what my app shows …
View attachment 2135141

CRAP Now no live weather radar map? Not that we need in California but it will be missed.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I have used Dark Sky for years. Even yesterday I was getting alerts for rain on my Apple Watch (6), but I have not been able to get rain alerts for the Apple Weather App, even though I have that enabled.

Have others been able to get the "rain alerts" to work with Apple Weather?

Sometimes. It seems more reliable in 16.2 but then again everything does compared to 16.0.

But that’s the whole point isn’t it, it has to work close to 100% of the time to be useful. If you can’t ever be sure it’s working what good is it?

 

[coachEB]

Apple weather fails. It does not give you an hourly chance of precipitation. What’s up with that

 

[coachEB]

Apologies if this has already been asked/answered, but are there any alternatives with a focus on hourly rain forecast? Happy to pay if the data is good.

That’s my beef. Apple didn’t take the most important info from DS. Fail.

 

[tivoboy]

Apple weather fails. It does not give you an hourly chance of precipitation. What’s up with that

Well, it DOES give an hourly % chance of precipitation, but really only for the next 20 hours or so just below the main current temp.. then, it gives a daily % chance for upcoming days, but indeed NO HOURLY for upcoming days outside of 20 hours.

 

[coolfactor]

I occasionally open the Weather app, but my go-to remains the Weather Network app (Canadian-based). They have a fantastic team of volcanologists... no, hypnotherapists... oh wait, meteorologists! Gives it that human touch that is missing in the Weather app and others.

 

[Michael Scrip]

That’s my beef. Apple didn’t take the most important info from Dark Sky. Fail.

Exactly.

That was the main reason I used Dark Sky... rain forecasting.

Even the name... Dark Sky... was referring to rain clouds moving in.

It's crazy how Apple bungled this.

🤔

 

[michaelant]

I use Hello Weather which sources their data from Dark Sky. What will happen?

Seems pretty obvious. Goodbye Weather.

 

[madler]

I was bemoaning the loss of Dark Sky. However once I was dragged kicking and screaming into using the new Weather app, and I figured out where everything is, I actually like it better than Dark Sky! I don’t know why others are complaining about stuff being hidden, or taking too many presses. It all seems easy to find and quite accessible to me.

 

[Msullivan91]

What’s the downside to Apple leaving the dark sky app on for users that have bought and used the app for years. I would assume the app doesn’t really need that much support. Anyways end of an era. Sad to see a hall of fame app go.

 

[JamesHolden]

At the very least they could have put in a "Dark Sky" theme that looks just like the old app. This would have made fans happy, while allowing them to retire the app itself.

Agreed! Dark Sky had a great functional UI, much better than the new Weather app. Why mess with a good thing?

 

[mikext]

Isn’t carrot weather subscription-based “rentware”? If it is, I don’t want any part of that.

I really like Carrot but hate that so many apps do subscriptions now. It's almost always a dealbreaker for me.

 

[JamesHolden]

I was bemoaning the loss of Dark Sky. However once I was dragged kicking and screaming into using the new Weather app, and I figured out where everything is, I actually like it better than Dark Sky! I don’t know why others are complaining about stuff being hidden, or taking too many presses. It all seems easy to find and quite accessible to me.

I hope to have that aha moment with Weather. Still hasn’t happened. I’m not a fan, in general, of hide and seek UIs and that’s unfortunately the direction Apple has taken since the introduction of iOS 7. Dark Sky’s UI wasn’t fancy, but it was very functional.

The Weather app requires at least one extra tap for just about everything. The main screen has also been dumbed down in a big way (which wouldn’t bother me as much if other problems were addressed). I loved being able to tap the day and see a list of hourly data points in Dark Sky. With Weather, I have to tap the day, which opens another screen. To get hourly information, I have to scrub my finger across a (useless eye candy) graph. To change whatever information is displayed, I have to tap a menu, select an option, and then scrub my finger back across the graph.

I don’t see how this is remotely an improvement over Dark Sky’s very functional UI that managed to put everything on one screen and didn’t require a lot of extra taps. Just being able to have a 24 hour List view when I tap a day instead of the graph would be a huge step in the right direction. I also think Apple should return to Dark Sky’s button bar for selecting what gets displayed. Or at least give the user that option. I want to see the time of day that interests me and quickly tap through different forecast points. I want it to be fast and functional. That’s why people loved Dark Sky.

 

[JamesHolden]

I really like Carrot but hate that so many apps do subscriptions now. It's almost always a dealbreaker for me.

I don’t mind subscriptions. I actually think it’s a much better model for both user and developer. It‘s more stable. The developer gains a steady revenue stream while the user benefits from better support and consistent development. It should be win-win.

The problem I have is when a developer over-values their app, which many, unfortunately, do. I have no problem paying a reasonable annual fee for an app. Take the parcel tracking apps Deliveries (RIP) and Parcel. Both are priced very fairly, a few dollars per year. A weather app should be priced similarly. Paying several dollars per month for a weather app is absurd.

 

[tivoboy]

What’s the downside to Apple leaving the dark sky app on for users that have bought and used the app for years. I would assume the app doesn’t really need that much support. Anyways end of an era. Sad to see a hall of fame app go.

They could have maintained it for 200K a year.

 

[dk001]

I was bemoaning the loss of Dark Sky. However once I was dragged kicking and screaming into using the new Weather app, and I figured out where everything is, I actually like it better than Dark Sky! I don’t know why others are complaining about stuff being hidden, or taking too many presses. It all seems easy to find and quite accessible to me.

Maybe because I cannot count on it.
Far to often it has been incorrect.

 

[pmbooks]

The calendar has turned to January 1 and Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users starting today.

Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this month, Apple shared a support document with information on how Dark Sky users can use the Weather app, which now offers "hyperlocal" forecasts, including next-hour precipitation, hourly forecasts for the next 10 days, high-resolution radar maps, and severe weather notifications.

To use Dark Sky features in the Weather app, your device must be updated to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS Ventura. Some of the features are currently only available in select countries, as outlined in a separate Apple support document.

Apple will also be shutting down Dark Sky's API for third-party weather apps on March 31, and introduced its own WeatherKit API as a replacement.

Article Link: Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

Anybody know if there's a way to see the time machine feature from Dark Sky (past weather)?

 

[pmbooks]

Yes. Apple took DarkSky, took small parts of it, added it to the below avg weather app, and then tossed the rest away. This is classic Apple from ~2017 on -- water down offerings, get them out to people ASAP, fix the quality issues if people cry loudly enough later.

If Dark Sky had bought Apple they could have taken small parts of the weather app (10-day, for example) to add to their own and then toss the rest away.

 

[mikext]

Anybody know if there's a way to see the time machine feature from Dark Sky (past weather)?

I don't think it's available on the default Weather app, but the Carrot weather app has a time machine feature under their premium subscription plan.

 

[Bawstun]

I hope to have that aha moment with Weather. Still hasn’t happened. I’m not a fan, in general, of hide and seek UIs and that’s unfortunately the direction Apple has taken since the introduction of iOS 7. Dark Sky’s UI wasn’t fancy, but it was very functional.

The Weather app requires at least one extra tap for just about everything. The main screen has also been dumbed down in a big way (which wouldn’t bother me as much if other problems were addressed). I loved being able to tap the day and see a list of hourly data points in Dark Sky. With Weather, I have to tap the day, which opens another screen. To get hourly information, I have to scrub my finger across a (useless eye candy) graph. To change whatever information is displayed, I have to tap a menu, select an option, and then scrub my finger back across the graph.

I don’t see how this is remotely an improvement over Dark Sky’s very functional UI that managed to put everything on one screen and didn’t require a lot of extra taps. Just being able to have a 24 hour List view when I tap a day instead of the graph would be a huge step in the right direction. I also think Apple should return to Dark Sky’s button bar for selecting what gets displayed. Or at least give the user that option. I want to see the time of day that interests me and quickly tap through different forecast points. I want it to be fast and functional. That’s why people loved Dark Sky.

Apple’s software designers have been lacking for so long now, they still haven’t figured out how to make Apple Music intuitive.

 

[RaceJunkie]

I wouldn't mind the weather app if I could get it to do two things.
1. Add and actual address as a location vs a city - (loved this about DS)
2. Show % of chance rain by the hour.