Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple's Dark Sky Weather App Gains Improved Location Search and Other New Features

I like Dark Sky for the next hour forecast, but their longer-term forecast is sometimes laughably wrong where I am (Northeast US). The temperature predictions are sometimes 10+ degrees F off from Weather.com, WeatherUnderground, and AccuWeather. Likewise, it gets the rain / no rain prediction wrong, when every other app gets it right. And it's not usual variance, it's situations where the other apps are clustered around one prediction, and DS is way out there out of the norm. Until they address this in their underlying data, I cannot trust it for anything other than 1-hour forecast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HouseofG
Dark Sky has been my go to for a while. Great precipitation accuracy in SE Michigan at least, which is really important to me as a cyclist. I switched from Wunderground a while ag because I love the Dark Sky UI, and I'm REALLLLLY hoping Apple either keeps it as-is or rolls both the technology and the UX into its own app. The iOS weather app has always been terrible for anything but the temperature, which is usually a "pop outside and check" thing anyway if I'm deciding how I should be dressed for a long time outdoors.
 
Since getting the new watch (6), the location used by the watch compilation is completely off (20 miles away). As long as it was generally the same weather I’d be fine, but temps are off 10 degrees sometimes and precipitation is very different a lot from where I live (close to Lake Michigan vs further inland). I’ve got location allowable and all. Can’t figure it out. Was hoping this update might fix that, but doesn’t seem to.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple in March purchased popular iOS weather app Dark Sky, and has begun integrating the Dark Sky features into iOS with the release of iOS 14. The Dark Sky app, priced at $3.99, continues to be available, and today Apple released an update for the app.

Dark-Sky-App-Featured.jpg

Dark Sky version 6.8.5 features a new extra large watch complication to be used with watchOS 7, and it includes improved location search with more suggested and relevant results to make it easier to find just what you're looking for.

There's also a new location icon to indicate when Precise Location has been disabled in the iOS 14 Privacy settings, and there's a fix for an issue that could cause a duplicate forecast page after moving it from Recent Searches to Saved.

Apple in iOS 14 introduced real-time minute-by-minute precipitation readings for the Weather app, which is something that Dark Sky specializes in. The Weather app also now supports severe weather events and provides details on when there will be a significant shift in weather coming up.

Article Link: Apple's Dark Sky Weather App Gains Improved Location Search and Other New Features
Click to expand...
I need tide charts, Central America and So. Amer. Moon rise/set. I’d pay for current chart integration with iSailor. Innovation is an Apple Island stranded if not 3rd party API integration friendly.
 
I’ve never messed with Dark Sky, but I really like MyRadar. It has a one time pay option and works with Apple Watch. It does the precipitation notices and has many of the other things as well. I like the radar being front-and-center, with wind and front lines turned on. If things look dicey, I just go to the local weather for the best guidance for severe weather and forecasts.

Just a heads up for the Android folks worried about seeking an alternative.
 
Here’s the extra large complication for those who were wondering
 

Attachments

  • EE2EEA5B-D717-45CB-A7B9-9BA10296C0E7.jpeg
    EE2EEA5B-D717-45CB-A7B9-9BA10296C0E7.jpeg
    342.1 KB · Views: 104
  • Like
Reactions: Superdrive
Drew Johnston said:
I have been using DarkSky for years now, but hate that you can't get the app in Canada... Always says not available in my country, so I am forced to use the website version.
Click to expand...
Have you tried creating a US App Store account and getting it that way? I has several foreign accounts back when Apple has country specific freebies.

Now if they just would make sure the complication properly displayed the data without having to open the app to refresh it periodically.
 
I know this may sound strange, but Yahoo weather for the iPad is a really good weather app with widget. It also tends to be more accurate than the Apple weather app.
 
I wish they could get the watch complication to update reliably. It will work for a while and then stop updating until you open the app on the phone. Even then it may not update. I like dark sky and I hope apple can get it integrated into their OS better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jlc1978 and Pirate!
I was expecting Dark Sky to be part of the AppleOne bundles, and also available as a stand-alone subscription. I guess it could still happen.
 
What does the extra large complication look like and what face do I need to use it? I can’t find any info online
 
Nice to see the update to the standalone Dark Sky app. As a fan of Dark Sky's interface and detailed weather data, I'm relieved that the app will remain function for a while longer.

When Apple acquired the app and the API, and then announced that they would immediately remove the Android app and terminate the API support a few months thereafter, I thought that Apple would soon remove support for the Dark Sky app perhaps as soon as the iOS 14 release. But, iOS 14 has come out without huge changes to the native Weather app, and for now Dark Sky's assimilation into the Apple mothership has been kicked further down the road.

Still holding out hope that when Apple begins adding Dark Sky's features to the Weather app, they will continue to keep the standalone Dark Sky app available.

FWIW, I don't think there's any bad time to buy a $4 app. The app has a great functionality, and provides more useful data than the iOS Weather app. The app is a bargain for what it does, with no intrusive ads. Even if Apple announces that they will merge Dark Sky's data into the default Weather app, I doubt that they will terminate the functionality right away. Based on what we saw from Android, Apple would much more likely remove it from the app store first, and then sunset the app support at a later date.
 
zorinlynx said:
If they were going to keep developing the app why did they kill it for android users? Their money is just as good as ours. :/

Still annoyed my Android friends lost a good app.
Click to expand...

Valid point. There must be some iOS integration Roadmap we are not aware of yet. Android users lost a great Weather App.
 
dogslobber said:
Why does this cost money?
Click to expand...
Quality app with no ads and no subscription fees. Worth every penny of the $4 I paid five years ago.

Even with apps where you pay no money, there's no such thing as "free" because they're shoving ads in your face and/or trying to nag you into upgrading to some "pro" subscription.
 
Dark sky has rain notifications which is the Big reason I use it be the iOS weather app. Wish apple would release notifications for the weather app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back