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Daily iPhone App: Haze weather app shows that minimalist doesn't have to be minimal

Haze is a new weather app that hit the App Store today. It's a fantastic example of how developers can incorporate a minimalist experience without sacrificing the depth of an app. On the surface, Haze appears to package only a few details about your weather into a colorful, animated screen. If you opened Haze and merely looked at it for a few minutes, you would likely delete it from your phone. Spend a few minutes tapping around, though, and I guarantee you will be impressed.

Haze launches with a simple UI that displays either your daylight hours, your current temp or chance of precipitation. You can swipe or tap at icons at the bottom to move from screen to screen. A background animation shows you the weather trend for tomorrow.

This barely scratches the surface of Haze -- a few gestures applied to the right part of the screen will unveil a wealth of weather data. For example, tapping on any of the weather parameters pops open the details for each one. With one tap, you can see the current temperature, as well as the high and low for the day, the wind details and the wind chill. Tap the temperature again and you are back to the basic temperature information.

Knowing the weather for today is useful, but being able to see an overview for next few days is crucial. Thankfully, Haze has cleverly hidden that information in the UI as well. Pull down at the top of the screen and you will see a five-day forecast. You can swipe left or right to change the forecast to show the upcoming daylight hours, future temperatures and the projected chance of precipitation. Pull down a little further and you can access the settings which will let you toggle sound, change the temperature units, pick a new theme and more.

Haze is an informative weather app that won't overload you with icons, tabs and slow-loading graphics. It's a fluid, fast and fun way to get a glimpse at your weather. The app is available for US$0.99 in the iOS App Store.