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Dark Sky iOS App, Website, and API Now Scheduled to Remain Available Until End of 2022
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It's been my assumption that Apple bought Dark Sky to use its weather data to replace the agreement it had with The Weather Channel. I'm assuming that's where Apple is getting its rain notifications and other weather data in iOS 15.
Countries where airplanes operate need accurate predictions.
World Area Forecast Center - Wikipedia
I’ve pretty much given hope on that. It seems like this would have been the year from them to bring Weather to iPad since they ostensibly re-wrote the entire app.
Hmmmm so while I like DarkSky, I have been using Carrot instead for a while now... and with the Interface Maker feature, I made it look similar to DarkSky.
But my problem is - Carrot uses DarkSky as a weather provide (I do not use Premium tiers) - so now I worry that default Carrot weather provider will not be as good as DarkSky is, when the API goes away.
But my problem is - Carrot uses DarkSky as a weather provide (I do not use Premium tiers) - so now I worry that default Carrot weather provider will not be as good as DarkSky is, when the API goes away.
I've been using Carrot for years. Accuweather has been far more accurate for me in California - so I usually use that weather source instead. Carrot has many weather sources to choose from. Granted, I pay for it so I'm not sure what the free version has for limitations.
I can't remember the site - this one? https://forecastadvisor.com - where you can see how accurate weather stations are in your area.
I love CARROT, especially with the overkill personality and profanities turned on. Kind of refreshing to have an app insult and swear at you!
It’s just that Dark Sky didn’t have the resources or incentive to adopt the open data published by other meteorological agencies. It’s not because ‘other countries are underdeveloped’.
True, but I know for a fact that, for instance, Canada’s radar network mostly just covers its urbanized regions and the hinterlands immediately surrounding them. The US has almost complete (I think it’s around 98%) coverage of the contiguous United States with dual-polarization Doppler radar, which is probably unique. Being able to see storms develop certainly helps to predict when rain is about to start. I think most aviation weather prediction focuses on the vicinity of airports (such as TDWR radar sites) or the broad sorts of system-scale weather you get from VOLMET or HF Weather Fax, not the sort of hyperlocal forecasts you’d need to predict precise rain arrival (unless, of course, you live within range of an airport’s weather radar site).Countries where airplanes operate need accurate predictions.
World Area Forecast Center - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I don't know why Apple bought Dark Sky. They're not using it. They still use TWC for their weather app. Now, they're going to shut it down completely?
That's Apple's plan as far as I know. I think iOS 14 uses some of Dark Sky's rain notifications right now. Don't ask me for proof, it's just what I've read here.
It also depends on the data from those meteorological agencies being accessible in a reliable, easy to use format. If, say, Botswana used some bizarre custom binary protocol for transmitting its weather data, that would be far less accessible than weather published in a well-documented ProtoBuf format or some common, documented format associated with GIS, which would be less accessible than good ol’ JSON or XML. And accurate data for Botswana is arguably less important than a country with significant user share of Dark Sky, thus removing incentive to try to support the format.
They're extending it another year despite (to me) iOS 15 having very strong indications that the iOS weather app integrates it.
Totally agree with this. I spend most of my time on my Mac, and if it weren't for the Dark Sky website, I'd be a frustrated user having to visit AccuWeather.com, like a peasant!
That said, there's so much overlap now between iOS and macOS that it seems totally feasible for Apple to release a weather app, but the lack of one on iPad for the last 10 years does not bode well. At least macOS has had a calculator app since the early 80s
I'm running iOS 15. TWC is still the source, and it still looks pretty much the same. Might have prettier graphics, but, so what. I like the DS app layout much better.
Doh! Well there goes my hopes. May be why they pushed it out another year? Interesting. I would have thought they'd have fast tracked that.
A widget does not provide the full functionality or data that an app does. The weather widget on macOS (or iPadOS) does not supply radar, long-range forecast or other features I have to use other apps or websites to get.
Couldn't agree more. There's been countless times I visited DarkSky.net and used the Precipitation Forecast feature to see if I was going to encounter heavy rain or snow for a long drive, or an outdoor event. You simply cannot do these things with a widget.
Apple has been slowly introducing Dark Sky’s features into the weather app and widget. iOS/iPadOS 14 added a visual graph showing upcoming precipitation, its timing (down to the projected minute), and intensity which comes directly from Dark Sky. The new features added to the iOS 15 weather app also come directly from Dark Sky. As others have noted though, Dark Sky has a very good iPad app and it would be nice if Apple finally added one. It’s odd that there’s a weather widget for iPad, so the underlying subsystem is there, just not an actual app - the widget opens The Weather Channel website.
Too bad. I still use the old Dark Sky widget on my phone and iPad. Looks much better than and new widgets which I am not a fan of.
They haven’t in 11 years, so I have very little hope. At least Carrot is a good third party option, but once dark sky shuts down Carrot can’t use it as a data source.
But granted, Apple’s own Weather app (on iOS14 anyway) on iOS doesn’t provide radar, either. It provides current conditions (temp, high temp, low temp, conditions, AQI in the US, sunrise and sunset, chance of precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, feels like temp, daily precipitation total, atmospheric pressure and visibility, and the current UV Index), hourly forecasts for the next 24 hours (time, condition icon, temp), a brief textual summary of the day, and a 10 day forecast featuring day, condition icon, chance of rain (if above 30%), low temp, and high temp.
By way of comparison, Dark Sky offers most of the same current condition info, the same hourly forecast (with the ability to switch the temperature to any of the current condition info categories), radar, a 7 day forecast with numerically precise rain probability figures, a rich set of notifications (including government severe weather notifications), hourly future forecasts beyond the extended forecast period (based on almanac figures and historical averages, I’d assume), and hourly historical figures for select locations.
Not all countries got it in their Store. For example, it's wasn't available here in Canada, yet it's website (darksky.net) still gives accurate micro-forecasting info to my location. And better than Apple's current offering.