A look at Weather+ and more weather apps for your forecasting pleasure
There are dozens of weather apps available for iOS. Most of us are pretty interested in the weather, no matter where we live. It can affect our schedules, our driving and our recreation. In my case, I do both landscape and astronomical photography, so I'm all over the latest weather information and forecasts. It's probably the same for many of our readers.
Weather+ is on sale for US$0.99. It's a universal app, and a big one, at over 265 MB. The app's huge size comes about because there are a lot of videos that provide a background and give you a visual clue to the current conditions. As weather apps go, it's very pretty, but you have to decide if you want to let it gobble up all that storage.
The app has an impressive list of features. There's no limit to the cities that can show a forecast. You get the usual temperature, wind, humidity, precipitation and visibility details, a five day forecast, and the current time at each of your selected weather locations. You also get some control of how much detail to display.
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There are some negatives to Weather+. First, the clock is the dominant graphic on screen. I would think the current temperature would be more important in a weather app. While there is some support giving the user control of what's displayed, you can't get rid of the clock. There are also no sunrise/sunset times, something I think all weather apps should display. There are also no radar or satellite images, which is a shame because those are usually the most accurate indicator of what's happening with the weather.
Weather+ is very pretty, but it doesn't dig deeply enough for me; that said, it may provide enough information for most people. Check the gallery for some screen shots.
Of course everyone has their own likes and dislikes for weather apps. Here are some apps I like that generally meet my criteria for full and complete info.
WeatherBug for iPad and iPhone provides detailed current conditions, maps (with time lapse), extended forecasts and local webcams. The iPhone version had a nasty habit of crashing, but a just released update seems to have fixed it. The free version has ads, while WeatherBug Elite for iPhone is $0.99 and is ad-free.
The Weather Channel is free for the iPhone with ads, and a separate iPad version has the same features. The app provides lots of data, including near term and extended forecasts, radar maps with time lapse, severe weather warnings, sunrise/sunset times and a sharing feature.
AccuWeather is free for iPhone and iPad with ads, and $0.99 on the iPad with no ads. It provides current conditions, forecast, maps, severe weather warnings, the ability to store 15 locations and sunrise/sunset times, all wrapped in a pleasing on-screen presentation.
Seasonality Go. I've reviewed it before and liked everything but the high price. It's iPad only, with a very customizable screen, time lapse maps, detailed current conditions and forecast trends, and sunrise/sunset and moonrise/set times. These are all good features, but $9.99 is just too darned high a price.
Of course my requirements may be different than yours, so let me add a bit to the palette. If you're looking for a weather app that's pretty to look at, I really like these two.
Weather HD for the iPhone and iPad is $0.99 and has beautiful moving backgrounds that match the current weather; however, the big videos make for a big 228 MB download. It's somewhat customizable, but it provides no maps.
WeatherGeek Pro. If you're even more into weather than I am, this is the app for you. It's quite technical, with views of the atmosphere from several altitudes, animated maps, and lots of data from the best US and Canadian weather services. The app is $4.99 for either the iPhone or the iPad.
That's a quick trip through my weather world. You'll doubtless have favorites of your own, and you're welcome to share. Hope your forecast is a good one.
