Like a Wikipedia wormhole, once you start, you won’t want to stop Dark Sky sports one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing radars I’ve ever seen on an iOS app (or anywhere else for that matter), and it’s as much of a joy to use as it is to behold.īest for budding meteorologists: Seasonality Go If there’s no precipitation near you, the app will suggest an area where you’re sure to find some, giving you an excuse to play with its stunning interface. Always visible by way of a transparent layer just beneath the screen, it puts a whole new spin on weather apps (literally) by turning the radar into the forecast a 12-day span lets you follow storms and watch as they develop and dissipate, giving a greater understanding to just how hard it is to predict the weather.Īnd while most every other weather apps focuses on a few locales of your choosing, Dark Sky encourages you to explore parts of the world you’ll probably never visit. Instead of a map, Dark Sky lets you literally scan the globe by swiping and pinching to find the most intense weather spots. That is to say, I spend a considerable amount of time with it, even after it gives me the information I seek. It’s so good at what it does, I rarely need to open it anymore-notifications dutifully keep me apprised of when the wet stuff is on its way-but when I do, I find myself using it differently than any other weather app. Most of the time I check a weather app I want to know one thing: When is it going to rain? Dark Sky ($4) is the only app I’ve used that puts all of its efforts specifically into answering that exact question. Since it’s a scrolling app, they’re not so easy to ignore, but the rest of the interface is intact, save for ten less forecast days.)ĭark Sky isn’t nearly as much fun if it’s not raining, but don’t worry, it’ll direct you to someplace where it is.
#Noaa weather app for macbook free#
(A quick note: If you’re adverse to spending any money on a weather app and looking to grab the free version of Accuweather, just be aware that the inclusion of banner ads upsets the integrity of the interface quite a bit. But overall, it’s a fantastic weather app, and if you’re one of the people who ditched it out of frustration after its initial re-launch, you’d be well served to give it another shot. And if I really want to quibble, the purple-and-blue color scheme can be difficult to read in spots. We’ve become spoiled with instant-on apps, and Accuweather takes a moment to refresh its screen each time it’s launched, occasionally displaying incorrect information while it loads. My only real complaint is that it takes a second or two longer to load than I’d like.
Gesture-based and extremely accurate, it blows away any other app I’ve used for live tracking. Accessible on the main screen, it offers a forensic look at the next two hours, as it literally lets you know the exact moment you’ll need an umbrella on your 30-minute walk. Clicking on most segments expands them to show a greater level of information, including a very useful plain language description of the forecast.Īccuweather’s array of forecasting tools leave no stone (or cloud) unturned.īut what really sets Accuweather apart is its MinuteCast. Any warnings or advisories are positioned at the top of the screen, but scroll a bit down and you’ll find a wealth of customizable weather stats, from commonplace figures for visibility, pressure and dew point to more unique features like hourly precipitation forecasts to the phase of the moon. There’s a ton of information crammed into the app’s modular interface, but none of it gets in the way of the current temperature and conditions, clearly displayed against an animated representation of what’s going on outside your window. A quick scan of its reviews will show you that it still has its detractors, but Accuweather has continuously tweaked and refined its vision to deliver an app that’s both minimal and meticulous, drawing an utterly exhaustive picture of the sky above you.
Accuweather Platinum ($4) set off an avalanche of criticism when it got an extreme iOS 7 makeover, but a year later it’s all the better for it. This wasn’t an easy decision-and some of you will undoubtedly disagree with me. Accuweather’s good looks are nothing compared to its big, beautiful brain.
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