TUAW Review: PinPoint Lightning wants to keep you alive

Wherever you live, lightning can be dangerous if you spend a lot of time outdoors. In the USA alone, an average of 58 people per year are killed by proximity to lightning strikes. PinPoint Lightning (US$5.99), a new app from MyWeather, LLC, hopes to reduce that number by providing push notifications of lightning strikes within 30 miles of your present location within seconds of a strike.

This app only provides lightning strike data for the USA and Canada, with information coming from the National Lightning Detection Network in the 50 states, and from Environment Canada in the Great White North. The strike data used by PinPoint Lightning is rather expensive, which explains the rather high cost of the app. For hikers, bikers, golfers, and anyone else who spends time working or playing outside, $5.99 is a small cost to pay for advance warning of nearby lightning activity.

TUAW received a review copy of the software, and PinPoint Lightning is an extremely well-done and functional app that does precisely what it is designed for. Read on for a full review of PinPoint Lightning.

After installing the app, you'll probably be disappointed unless there's a lot of storm activity going on nearby. Why? Because the app won't do anything until lightning strikes happen within a 30 mile radius of your location. I had installed the app on my iPhone 4 and forgotten about it thanks to clear, hot weather. However, a few days after the installation, I was surprised by my iPhone 4 vibrating and a loud "thunder" sounds emanating from the speaker on the phone.

A glance at the phone showed a standard push notification with the words "Lightning – Alert for your location" on it. Launching PinPoint Lightning, I was immediately given the rather impressive alert screen seen at the start of this post. PinPoint Lightning displays how long ago the lightning strike occurred, and how far away it was. During lightning storms, you might not want to have your phone constantly buzzing and making thunder noises, so you have the opportunity to turn off alerts for 30 minutes, 8 hours, or 24 hours.

On the lightning alert screen is a button that says "View Map." A quick tap shows you where the lightning strike occurred, at what time, and how far away it was. The point where the lightning strike was triangulated to be is highlighted on the map with a small lightning bolt icon. The maps, from Bing, are also useful for another function. If you're watching the map during a thunderstorm, it's possible to see a closeup view of the strike location on the map, complete with a street or road address if one is available for the location. After displaying the closeup for a moment, the map zooms out to a regional view.

You can set the map to show past strikes as well, which is important for determining the direction that a storm is taking. While neither of the storms that I've watched over the past weekend have come near my house, I can see how useful this could be to anyone enjoying the outdoors. When you get a warning, you can easily determine if the storm is heading your way well in advance of its arrival, and take cover or other appropriate action.

PinPoint Lightning can also overlay a radar loop on the regional map, which is useful in determining the direction that a storm is taking and if any precipitation is associated with the storm.

This app is also a must-buy for storm chasers, emergency responders, fire fighters, and anyone else who could benefit from advance warning of a severe electrical storm. As for me, I like to spend time outdoors hiking and walking, and I feel much safer knowing that PinPoint Lightning can warn me when it's not safe to continue my outdoor activities. Be sure to check out the photo gallery for more screenshots of PinPoint Lightning in action.