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Dark Sky iOS App, Website, and API Now Scheduled to Remain Available Until End of 2022
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I'd be more happy about this if Apple's Weather app wasn't so crap. Using icons rather than more information-rich plots or other displays is wilfully unhelpful. As you can imagine in Scotland, the symbol typically displayed is a combined icon of sun, cloud, rain and lightening all mixed together often with a dash of wind. Useless - and if you are planning a trip to the highlands, possibly dangerous (yes I am aware of the Met Office's Mountain forecast, but newbies might not be). I don't care what happens on average during a day - I want to know the detailed timeline of prediction throughout the day, and having radar doesn't hurt either.
If this turns out to be another example of Apple ruining third-party software I will not be amused.
If this turns out to be another example of Apple ruining third-party software I will not be amused.
They have the resources to make a weather app on iPad, and they choose not to make one. I’m not sure what’s preventing them from doing that. Very strange.
I still use Dark Sky daily even though there have been many times where it went from "No rain in the next hour" to "Heavy rain in 2 minutes" while I was in the middle of my walk.
I uninstalled the original Weather app from my iPhone because it was atrocious and inaccurate. I think it was pulling data off Yahoo or something, but it was almost always out of date living in a volatile weather city like NYC.
Dark Sky has always been more consistent as it pulls data from towers nearby, and the radar/globe was super helpful to see how the weather patterns shift in the very near future.
Here's hoping that Apple doesn't butcher the "new" Weather 1st party app as they normally do
Dark Sky has always been more consistent as it pulls data from towers nearby, and the radar/globe was super helpful to see how the weather patterns shift in the very near future.
Here's hoping that Apple doesn't butcher the "new" Weather 1st party app as they normally do
That's what I thought. Thanks for confirming it. Definitely saw Dark Sky's precipitation projections in the weather app. I wonder if their contract with TWC still has some years left on it? Maybe why they're not in a hurry?
Before Apple acquired Dark Sky it's rain starting, stoping, and next hour forecasts were very accurate. I thought they used the personal weather station data to refine the forecast for your location. Since Apple, it's not so accurate anymore as it looks as if they only use the official stations' information, so it's no better than any other of the many apps. I still use it, but Apple really downgraded to Dark Sky.
I’ve pretty much given up my hope the app would ever show up in the Canadian store. Hopefully Apple will expand its weather app with Dark Sky features for here
Out of curiosity, what would you want to see in an iPad calculator app? A port of the iPhone calculator app would seem comical, so it’d have to be something new.
The only thing I could think would be a Wolfram Alpha type deal where you could do complex math and computation, perhaps with good Apple Pencil support to be able to sketch formulas and equations on a page and have them be picked up and converted into text?
I would be fine with the iphone calculator, since it has a scientific mode. It doesn’t need to take up the whole screen. I’d probably typically use it as a slideover. Of course, if interactive widgets were supported, it could just live on the springboard.
I noticed this too. It actually started becoming less accurate just before they were bought by Apple. I think it had to do with them cutting back on their paid sources of (and frequency of accessing) weather data and started relying more on crowd-sourced reporting.
People in this thread are giving DarkSky waaaay too much credit. It is a beautiful app no doubt, but its entire claim to fame is the ability to offer hyperlocal forecasts such as "it's going to rain in 15 minutes" or "the rain will continue for another 5 minutes." That is all BS. It is great marketing wrapped up in a pretty package. A simple weather app on your phone can not give you a detailed hyperlocal forecast for your precise location. It just can't. You're just as well off to use a major app like Weather Underground or Accuweather.
I'm struggling to find more up to date rankings, but this article from ForecastWatch ranking forecasts from 2010-2016 show DarkSky was a bottom feeder: https://www.forecastwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/Three_Region_Overview_2010_201606.pdf. Even a more recent ranking I have seen (but now can't find) generally had it in the 3rd-5th spot.
This link will show you the service that has had the most accurate forecast historically for your zip code: https://www.forecastadvisor.com
Personally, I use 1Weather as my go to for temp checks and general 3-5 day forecasts...but thats only because I've used it for nearly a decade and the app was originally developed by a local company. For radar, it's RadarScope or bust. For 9 out of 10 people, though, the built in weather app is more than enough...regardless if it is using The Weather Channel data or now DarkSky. Saying that, NEVER trust apps for your severe weather information...ALWAYS use the National Weather Service for that information. The NWS is the only organization allowed to issue public weather alerts such as flood watch/warnings, thunderstorm watch/warnings, etc.
I'm struggling to find more up to date rankings, but this article from ForecastWatch ranking forecasts from 2010-2016 show DarkSky was a bottom feeder: https://www.forecastwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/Three_Region_Overview_2010_201606.pdf. Even a more recent ranking I have seen (but now can't find) generally had it in the 3rd-5th spot.
This link will show you the service that has had the most accurate forecast historically for your zip code: https://www.forecastadvisor.com
Personally, I use 1Weather as my go to for temp checks and general 3-5 day forecasts...but thats only because I've used it for nearly a decade and the app was originally developed by a local company. For radar, it's RadarScope or bust. For 9 out of 10 people, though, the built in weather app is more than enough...regardless if it is using The Weather Channel data or now DarkSky. Saying that, NEVER trust apps for your severe weather information...ALWAYS use the National Weather Service for that information. The NWS is the only organization allowed to issue public weather alerts such as flood watch/warnings, thunderstorm watch/warnings, etc.
Here's what I don't understand. Apple could have easily written their own version but they decided to buy it instead. Was it really cheaper to buy it than build it?
Dark Sky's accuracy for where I live is poor. Even with the official Weather App - my wife has gotten several rain warnings with a 100% clear sky. lol.
Oh my... looking at the recent comments of 1Weather - looks like it got bought out and destroyed by someone - that's sad.
I have been begging for and hoping that Carrot finally implements NOAA as a weather source. It's on the to do list.
I would like to see Apple release a weather station that would send crowd sourced weather info to Apples servers.
Of course because its Apple we are talking about they could release WeatherPOD SE, WeatherPOD and WeatherPod Pro.
I have always wanted a Weather Station but the avaible options seem to be clunky regardless of price.
Of course because its Apple we are talking about they could release WeatherPOD SE, WeatherPOD and WeatherPod Pro.
I have always wanted a Weather Station but the avaible options seem to be clunky regardless of price.
I think it was Jobs that said they wouldn’t do a calculator app for the iPad because he thought taking the phone app on a tablet would look dumb.
Apple also bought and killed HopStop—an app and website widely used in NYC for subway navigation. They proceeded to offer none of the features of that app for the better part of a decade—long after competitors offered similar train tracking.
I just don’t understand buying and killing widely-loved services only to offer a half-hearted rendition of the feature sets.
Dark Sky is truly great (although less so than a few years ago).
I just don’t understand buying and killing widely-loved services only to offer a half-hearted rendition of the feature sets.
Dark Sky is truly great (although less so than a few years ago).
The big picture is that Apple is basically trying to kill the entire market for third party weather apps, presumably because Apple has decided that they can’t be trusted.
Just like how there really is no reason for anyone to have to download a flashlight app because Apple has not only provided one with iOS 7 but even went so far as to bake it into control centre (something no other app developer can do).
It’s a pro-consumer move made at safeguarding our data and user privacy by giving us a strong reason to never need to download a third party weather app ever again.
Maybe Apple is working behind the scenes building the next weather implementation using Dark Sky.
I sure hope so. I really thought it would be implemented in iOS 15.
Also, I really like Carrot Weather for its Watch app. But, I set Dark Sky for the source in that app. That’s going to end. ☹️
Now that I’m thinking about that…the stock weather app on the Watch…SUCKS! Like…REALLY SUCKS! Apple needs to work on that.
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Take a look at "MyRadar." It has an excellent watch app with live radar and accurate impending weather alerts.
MyRadar Accurate Weather Radar
Thanks to everyone for making MyRadar so successful, with over 50 million downloads! MyRadar is a fast, powerful, easy-to-use weather app that displays animated weather radar around your current location and to quickly show what weather is coming your way. Just start the app; your location...
apps.apple.com
You can download a free one from the App Store in less than 1 minute. It’s not been a huge burden to me, I’ve had one on my iPad forever now…