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Apps AW Weather Apps

maka344

maka344

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 4, 2009
2,146
1,316
London, UK
ive been using Carrot as I like the complications - they are a little more informative than just "Clear".

However, I've noticed (annoyingly) that the weather data seems to be different to Apple's weather app - sometimes by a good few points, other times just a point or two in C.

So, which apps are the most reliable? Carrot will sometimes say HI 15 LO 9 and a few hours later change to HI 16 whereas the Apple App is stating HI 17.

What's your experience? I just want accurate data in a presentable form.
 
maka344 said:
ive been using Carrot as I like the complications - they are a little more informative than just "Clear".

However, I've noticed (annoyingly) that the weather data seems to be different to Apple's weather app - sometimes by a good few points, other times just a point or two in C.

So, which apps are the most reliable? Carrot will sometimes say HI 15 LO 9 and a few hours later change to HI 16 whereas the Apple App is stating HI 17.

What's your experience? I just want accurate data in a presentable form.
Click to expand...

They each use different weather providers, and update their forecasts throughout the day. You'll just have to see which had a better track record for your locale and decide based on that.

I will say this: the developer of Carrot Weather is completely accessible (in the thread in this forum decided to the Carrot Weather app). If you post a question to him there he will get back to you within a few hours, generally. In addition, he has incorporated several suggestions people have made into the app. So, if you want an app where you have some ability to shape its future, Carrot is the one for you.
 
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I'm a big fan of Dark Sky, seems accurate and the rain prediction warnings have proven handy. Plus their complication is pretty informative.
 
Beaverman3001 said:
I'm a big fan of Dark Sky, seems accurate and the rain prediction warnings have proven handy. Plus their complication is pretty informative.
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Agreed. And Dark Sky is always being updated by the developers and is one of the few weather applications that runs efficiently on the Apple Watch without compromising the battery.
 
Relentless Power said:
Agreed. And Dark Sky is always being updated by the developers and is one of the few weather applications that runs efficiently on the Apple Watch without compromising the battery.
Click to expand...

Is Dark Sky better on the battery than Carrot? Dark Sky isn't cheap and I'm not what the watch complications are like?
[doublepost=1489249798][/doublepost]So I downloaded Dark Sky and it seems decent. It's showing the same data as Carrot and the Apple App seems to be out by a point or so.

However, I like the Carrot weather symbols on the watch rather than just text.
 
You want accuracy? I'll give you a report on accuracy!

http://forecastwatch.com/static/Three_Region_Overview_2010_201606.pdf

There is another report out there somewhere that provides more detail about areas within each region. But, this report should help.

I seem to favor WeatherUnderground's data in my area. I like the watch interface too. Dark Sky is there too so if I'm not outside or near a window, I will know if it's going to rain. Love that app!
 
maka344 said:
Is Dark Sky better on the battery than Carrot? Dark Sky isn't cheap and I'm not what the watch complications are like?
[doublepost=1489249798][/doublepost]So I downloaded Dark Sky and it seems decent. It's showing the same data as Carrot and the Apple App seems to be out by a point or so.

However, I like the Carrot weather symbols on the watch rather than just text.
Click to expand...

You're correct, Dark Sky is not cheap. Although I feel it's one of the better weather applications out there for a while now. And I have not used Carrot before, but there are plenty of positive reviews on it.
 
Relentless Power said:
You're correct, Dark Sky is not cheap. Although I feel it's one of the better weather applications out there for a while now. And I have not used Carrot before, but there are plenty of positive reviews on it.
Click to expand...

For some reason I thought Dark Sky was £9.99 - I've just purchased it at £3.99. It seems decent but lacks weather icons for watch complications unlike Carrot.

Both Dark Sky and Carrot seem to be accurate as each other and the Apple stock app is out by a point or so.
 
maka344 said:
For some reason I thought Dark Sky was £9.99 - I've just purchased it at £3.99. It seems decent but lacks weather icons for watch complications unlike Carrot.

Both Dark Sky and Carrot seem to be accurate as each other and the Apple stock app is out by a point or so.
Click to expand...

Carrot uses Dark Sky for its forecast data (look in settings and at the bottom it says "powered by Dark Sky") – so it should report the same. The difference in temperature may be due to 'feels like' as opposed to actual temperature?
 
Hicks. said:
Carrot uses Dark Sky for its forecast data (look in settings and at the bottom it says "powered by Dark Sky") – so it should report the same. The difference in temperature may be due to 'feels like' as opposed to actual temperature?
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. So actually, I just wasted £4 for the same data via a different app.

It's definitely not feels like vs actual. Dark Sky and Carrot are always slightly different to the Apple Weather App.
 
maka344 said:
ive been using Carrot as I like the complications - they are a little more informative than just "Clear".

However, I've noticed (annoyingly) that the weather data seems to be different to Apple's weather app - sometimes by a good few points, other times just a point or two in C.

So, which apps are the most reliable? Carrot will sometimes say HI 15 LO 9 and a few hours later change to HI 16 whereas the Apple App is stating HI 17.

What's your experience? I just want accurate data in a presentable form.
Click to expand...

Check out "Weather Live Free - Weather Forecast & Warnings" by Avalon Apps.
This is the free version which does have a small add but if you like it (which I do) then you can upgrade to the paid version for £3.99
Both the phone and watch app have tons of data.
 
So Carrot has proven not to be so great. I'm in Nice, France and Carrot is a constant 4-5c out compared to all other major apps. It's even proditing rain tomorrow when again, all the over apps are saying sunny/clear. I'm very disappointed as I love the complications (especially monotone) but I just cannot live with these descripencies on an app that I depend on.

Any other apps that offer the monotone complications?
 
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maka344 said:
So Carrot has proven not to be so great. I'm in Nice, France and Carrot is a constant 4-5c out compared to all other major apps. It's even proditing rain tomorrow when again, all the over apps are saying sunny/clear. I'm very disappointed as I love the complications (especially monotone) but I just cannot live with these descripencies on an app that I depend on.

Any other apps that offer the monotone complications?
Click to expand...

Ive tried them all, as Im a pilot, and key a keen eye on weather. Dark Sky is constantly inaccurate in Chicago, and anything past 48 hours is always unreliable when it comes to its forecast.
Carrot, same issue as dark sky above. Only + with carrot is the widget on watch updates frequently; if this wasn't the case, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

I am now using Weather Bug. Find it very accurate. As I travel weekly all over the US, it always is finding the local weather station where I am (Whether New Orleans, Portland OR, Seattle, LA, or Miami), and seems to be pretty accurate. Best of all its free. Paid + Not reliable, no thanks. Free + Reliable, cheers!
 
Dark Sky and forecast.io is awful. It always shows rain for every day in the long range forecast. Weather underground is very accurate, but their app sucks. Their widget always shows thunderstorms to continue when it's nice out, and when it's raining it says dry conditions to continue. Plus I don't ever get alerts from them. Weather channel is a good app, and has lots of alerts, also including immediate precipitation forecast which dark sky started. But it only pushes alerts for severe weather, not for advisories. I like to see advisories as well since they are sometimes very important. AccuWeather used to be very inaccurate, but lately has been very good. The current layout sucks, but they have said they will change it back to the way it used to be. I get all the alerts I want from them, and they are quick to push them. The 2 hour wheel of upcoming weather is terrific.

In the end, I use TWC and AccuWeather on my phone, and have the AccuWeather complication as the center of my watch.
 
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harlenmm77 said:
Dark Sky and forecast.io is awful. It always shows rain for every day in the long range forecast. Weather underground is very accurate, but their app sucks. Their widget always shows thunderstorms to continue when it's nice out, and when it's raining it says dry conditions to continue. Plus I don't ever get alerts from them. Weather channel is a good app, and has lots of alerts, also including immediate precipitation forecast which dark sky started. But it only pushes alerts for severe weather, not for advisories. I like to see advisories as well since they are sometimes very important. AccuWeather used to be very inaccurate, but lately has been very good. The current layout sucks, but they have said they will change it back to the way it used to be. I get all the alerts I want from them, and they are quick to push them. The 2 hour wheel of upcoming weather is terrific.

In the end, I use TWC and AccuWeather on my phone, and have the AccuWeather complication as the center of my watch.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply. It was detailed and a great help.

Apple uses The Weather Channel for its feeds thus, the Apple App should be accurate.

I just want an accurate weather app. I was pretty happy with Carrot until I traveled to France this weekend and it was up to 5c out and showing 60% chance of showers - which was just totally wrong.

I'll try Accuweather and the complication too
 
harlenmm77 said:
Dark Sky and forecast.io is awful. It always shows rain for every day in the long range forecast. Weather underground is very accurate, but their app sucks. Their widget always shows thunderstorms to continue when it's nice out, and when it's raining it says dry conditions to continue. Plus I don't ever get alerts from them. Weather channel is a good app, and has lots of alerts, also including immediate precipitation forecast which dark sky started. But it only pushes alerts for severe weather, not for advisories. I like to see advisories as well since they are sometimes very important. AccuWeather used to be very inaccurate, but lately has been very good. The current layout sucks, but they have said they will change it back to the way it used to be. I get all the alerts I want from them, and they are quick to push them. The 2 hour wheel of upcoming weather is terrific.

In the end, I use TWC and AccuWeather on my phone, and have the AccuWeather complication as the center of my watch.
Click to expand...

Storm by Weather Underground is pretty accurate, updates well and (to me) has the benefit of rain and lightning notifications.
 
maka344 said:
I'll try Accuweather and the complication too
Click to expand...

Been raining/thunderstorm here downtown Chicago for last 15 minutes, Accuweather reports partly cloudy (as they are getting the weather from Chicago O'Hare Airport, 12 miles west of me). Far from "accurate" for me. Shame I paid for the premium last year...
 
I actually started using weather-bug again. Seems pretty good so far. I have carrot and dark sky and they are both crappy lately. Both have different temps compared to the stock weather app. Drives me crazy.
 
GIZBUG said:
Been raining/thunderstorm here downtown Chicago for last 15 minutes, Accuweather reports partly cloudy (as they are getting the weather from Chicago O'Hare Airport, 12 miles west of me). Far from "accurate" for me. Shame I paid for the premium last year...
Click to expand...

That's the big drawback of weather apps and why some work better for some people and not for others. Best thing to do is set up your own weather station at home and hook it up to weather underground. Doesn't get any more local than that.
 
Zerog46 said:
I actually started using weather-bug again. Seems pretty good so far. I have carrot and dark sky and they are both crappy lately. Both have different temps compared to the stock weather app. Drives me crazy.
Click to expand...

How often does the weatherbug complication refresh? I had tried it a few weeks ago and it didn't seem to refresh very often. I really wish the stock weather app offered both condition and temperature as a single small complication on the analog faces. The stock app is pretty accurate and updates frequently. But it's just plain silly that I have to use up two complication slots to get both when every 3rd party app can do it with one.
 
Zerog46 said:
I actually started using weather-bug again. Seems pretty good so far. I have carrot and dark sky and they are both crappy lately. Both have different temps compared to the stock weather app. Drives me crazy.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried Carrot, but it seems it also uses Darksky.net, which I find maddeningly inaccurate. I have tried Dark Sky several times over the years, because people raving about how accurate it is, only to be disappointed time after time. Temp is generally off and rain stop/start almost never correct.

I downloaded Weather Live Free as was suggested in an earlier post, but aside from the annoying adds, it keeps trying to sell me other apps, that I have zero interest in. Do both of these annoyances cease if you pay the premium?
 
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