Miss Dark Sky? Here Are 5 Top Weather Apps for iPhone

[ajf.350d]

Anybody from the UK reading this? A big issue with a lot of these apps is that they use third-rate weather services that don't have the accuracy, knowledge or reputation of the Met Office. Are there any weather apps (aside from the Met Office's own) that use Met Office data? Even the BBC doesn't nowadays.

My experience is the Met Office is often the least accurate for me!
it very much depends on where you live though I think.
My personal favourite is WeatherPro from Meteo Group - they do the BBC weather.
Locally to me it always seems to be the most accurate and the layout is clear and concise.
I do however use Carrot as well, with Apple Weather api currently set.

 

[bodonnell202]

Canada here - I typically use the Weather Network app as the forecasts seem to be more accurate than the stock Apple app for my location.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Its name is just 'Carrot' or 'Carrot Weather' unless you think Apple's app is named 'Weather Weather App'.

Ok well, it just reminds me of buying carrots 🥕 honestly. Doesn’t remind me anything about the weather. I’m struggling with accepting the “carrot” name. Just makes me hungry. No lie!

 

[coumerelli]

I just want the dark sky features to be FULLY integrated into apple weather so I can finally have one weather app.


To pick a day and hour and check

-Cloud cover which apple weather doesn't to see if you should have a picnic or if you are vitamin d deprived.

-Rain percentage PER HOUR

-Suhine per HOUR


It might not be totally accurate but it sure helps plans if you're going to walk/drive, have a picnic, meet someone outside, get some sunshine, plan a beach day, etc.

I use Weather Mate Pro for all these reasons. AND these features are available on the Apple Watch in a complication.

‎Weather Mate Pro - Forecast

‎Meet Weather Mate. The most hyperlocal, accurate and beautiful weather app on the app store. It combines cutting edge weather forecasting with beautifully crafted UI design to deliver the most accurate climate information suitable for both basic and advanced users. What differentiates Weather...

apps.apple.com

 

[WoodTableFromIkea]

No mention of privacy and data collection?

Probably the single best feature of Dark Sky, aside from being a great weather app all around, is that it actually respected user privacy and avoided unnecessary data collection. Literally the only app on this list that meets that requirement is the built-in Weather app.

Where are the alternatives for people who find the built-in offering to be inadequate, but don’t want their data monetized just to access a simple weather report?

If you're that worried about data collection, might aswell stop using technology all together?

Apple is a a company, and companies like y(our) data. I wouldn't find weird if Weather collects personal data (even though it says it doesn't).

 

[imola.zhp]

Somewhat off topic....

Years and years ago I bought a cheap Fire Tablet to place at the back-door. I installed Fully Kisosk Browser and set it to bring up windy(dot)com for radar in our area. A few months back it started showing outdoor temperature readings from Cheney, Kansas but radar is still centered on us in Memphis, TN.

Is anyone running into something like this? Any suggestions for an always-on radar display that also shows current temperature?

/ot

 

[kiranmk2]

Why 2 complications? Tapping on the the centre of the weather data circle toggles between temp, conditions and rain.

I liked seeing things at a glance and the Dark Sky complication gave me this in one corner of the infograph face

 

[CarAnalogy]

For some reason Carrot does not give me the same forecast as the direct source. For example if I choose Accuweather, and then check the Accuweather app, the Carrot reading is actually incorrect.

Also the Accuweather app is terrible.

According to the forecast accuracy website, The Weather Channel actually is the most accurate for my location, which is what Apple pulls from. But the rain notifications are still unreliable. Dark Sky worked better. Carrot notifications work too but again for some reason the actual weather is not accurate.

 

[iOS Geek]

I admit… I have old school NWS bookmarks set up for each of my weather locations.

Same here, actually. I'd download an app in a heartbeat if they were to make one. But the bookmarks will do!

 

[iOS Geek]

Screw the Weather Channel app. They have made people rebuy it a few times over the years.

They also BUTCHERED Storm Radar.

Storm!!! Dang, I miss that one...

 

[Stromos]

Why does the stock weather app have no/limited weather alerts!?

I have Weather Channel, Stock, Carrot installed.

In the past two weeks we have had several freeze and fog advisories.

I get a banner from Weather Channel, Carrot, Alexa (not even a weather app).

I open the Stock app and there is zero indication of bad weather advisories.

I’ve seen others point this out. What is the point of the stock weather app if you have to open it and decide if the weather is bad? Yes I have all notifications turned on including specific location severe weather alerts.

 

[OneBar]

If I were going to pay for a service in the US, it'd be RadarScope. It's still one of the best in the industry, to the point that all of our local storm chasers use it. That said, I predominately use Weather Radio which uses the same source as RadarScope but is free. Fairly sure they were using the Dark Sky source data as it changed at the end of December but is now working again. It hasn't had an update in forever but it's still just about as much as I need. I also have the Oklahoma only Mesonet app as they have several meteorological stations in each of our counties giving accurate data.

 

[MallardDuck]

Apple weather isn't an option because the weather forecasts are inaccurate - not sure how they managed to not integrate that piece of dark sky (which was the killer feature), but they did.

Missing weather underground. The paid version isn't too bad, and doesn't have tracking or ads.

 

[daved2424]

Anybody from the UK reading this? A big issue with a lot of these apps is that they use third-rate weather services that don't have the accuracy, knowledge or reputation of the Met Office. Are there any weather apps (aside from the Met Office's own) that use Met Office data? Even the BBC doesn't nowadays.

Erm, have you tried the Met Office app? They use data from… the Met Office.

Just re-read your comment. And I just tried the app. It’s still rubbish!

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've used Carrot Weather for years. The Apple Watch complications are the best in the business but it is expensive.

For Apple Watch: I love having sunrise/sunset on the middle complication on Modular - with a 5 day forecast. Not sure why no one else does this?!

I too have bookmarks for NOAA and find that to be extremely reliable and accurate.

Carrot's lightning map and other maps are great too. Love the custom notifications and ability to poll data from nearby weather stations.

Why does it cost? Because the weather APIs cost money and out of all the weather apps, Carrot does the best with notifications and keeping information up to date. If you aren't paying for it, your data/ads are.

 

[dwaite]

According to the forecast accuracy website, The Weather Channel actually is the most accurate for my location, which is what Apple pulls from. But the rain notifications are still unreliable. Dark Sky worked better. Carrot notifications work too but again for some reason the actual weather is not accurate.

I believe longer-term forecasts are generally straight-up source weather data. The short term forecasts (say < 1 hr) are based on custom modeling from things like realtime radar sources and local weather stations.

I suspect there will be model tuning over time, with companies like Apple either suggestion changes to the upstream weather models or doing longer-term forecasting themselves.

 

[Yptcn]

I have not seen the others, but I like Ventusky and all the overlays.

I didn’t know that one ! Going to test it but it looks great.

 

[zedsdead]

My biggest issue with losing dark sky was the interface and easy access to hourly forecasts. They were displayed so easy to understand and see.

Thankfully, Carrot recently released the "Inline" view, which replicates Dark Sky's interface. It's great.

 

[rubberfish]

Anybody from the UK reading this? A big issue with a lot of these apps is that they use third-rate weather services that don't have the accuracy, knowledge or reputation of the Met Office. Are there any weather apps (aside from the Met Office's own) that use Met Office data? Even the BBC doesn't nowadays.

Yeah. I use Met office, along with BBC and the default weather app

 

[mjs916]

I’m happy with Apple Weather. I walk my dog for around 2 hours a day and AW has proved very reliable in my location (I’d say to within 5 mins of telling me it is going to rain). Other aspects od the weather are less important to me

Dog walking goals. I need to be more active and the beginning of the year is a nice yard stick so I’m going to add an additional 15 mins on our walks this week.

I’m also happy with Apple Weather. I also have NOAA installed but only use it to track a storm every now and then.

 

[AppleiPhone4lyfe]

The WeatherBug app now supports Tempest home weather stations, so those can show up as locations in WeatherBug. One of the middle schools in my town has a WeatherBug station, but it stopped showing up as a WeatherBug location over a year ago. I contacted the school district's IT department and found out that the interface that connected it to the Internet had died. The teacher that had gotten the station installed years ago is no longer with the district, and the district decided it didn't want to spend the money to replace the hardware.

Now that WeatherBug supports Tempest, a Tempest station nearby is now reporting data.

Weird, if you live in NY, I believe you live in the same town as me! WeatherBug has always been the best weather application!

 

[Edsel]

Weather? I look out my window.

 

[VaderRulez]

🥕 App is too expensive tho.

I agree. It is because he has to pay for all the weather services.

 

[User 6502]

Apple bought Dark Sky because it was too good and too cheap. By killing it, they make more money off their cut of these ridiculous subscription alternatives.

I suspect this might indeed be the case. Even more reason never to subscribe to any weather app.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

Dark Sky was awesome. I'm still sour I can't use it anymore. I'm outdoors more than in so a reliable and consistent weather app is key for planning purposes. I've tried a few of the ones mentioned in the article, but it's been at least a few years now so maybe I'll try again.