iPhone I need a real pro weather app...

[Macshroomer]

Without going into too much fragile person wilting detail, I need a real pro weather app that allows you to cache the forecasts for offline use. It would be great to have isobar maps, that level of info but it absolutely has to be able to be cached to at least a certain degree for offline use.

Is there anything like that out there at any price or is this just feature for games, movies and music offline?

 

[barbu]

I wonder if you’d be well served by an aviation app?

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I'm not sure what "real pro" means. Do you want all the raw National Weather Service data so you can make your own maps and graphics? Or do you want more than basic current temperature, humidity, wind speed, and rainfall? Caching data is not necessarily a "pro" thing. The question is not whether there is caching when offline (plenty of apps do that to some degree), but just how much data is cached - are you looking for weeks of historical data, or just the current conditions and forecast?

I use Wunderground as my primary weather app. I put the iPhone into Airplane mode and most recent data/forecasts are still available. Clearly, there's some caching, but some items, like current temperature are empty - if it's offline is it helpful to see "current temperature" if it's actually the temperature from several hours ago?

 

[Apple_Robert]

MyRadar, in addition to regular weather radar mapping also has Pilot mapping features, which would give you the detail you seek. I am not sure about offline caching, though. It is a very detailed weather app. I use it on my iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad Pro.

 

[Macshroomer]

While I was on back country job at 12,000 feet last Thursday, I had all my weather data try to re-set while in airplane mode. I use Weather Pro, My Radar, RadarScope,Dark Sky, Accuweather and iCSC for basic local / regional forecast and cloud cover data. I refreshed all my apps at 5AM that morning and then was out of cell range the entire time onsite on this job.

At 7PM when it was time to get to that data to make the call on a particular route, I had NO effing data at all, it all tried to refresh and I lost all of it! I am SO unbelievably sick of this toy garbage that everyone puts out that I have about had it with Apple and iOS and I have used their products in my line of work since 1992.

There is NO EXCUSE for this when they go out of their way to make sure you can listen to music, play games and watch movies offline. These are potentially life saving sets of information and I am totally fed up with this crap. Even the avalanche forecasting apps do not cache? Are you kidding me?? And yes, of course that temp reading from much earlier is valuable info, any info is good info and it seems Apple and these arm chair San Jose experts seem to think NO info is better than old info.

I’d pay a couple hundred dollars for an app and or device that will allow me to cache at least the basic data for Pete’s sake!!!

So once again, what weather apps allow you to at least cache basic weather forecast data for offline use?

 

[Apple_Robert]

While I was on an exposed ridge at 12,000 feet last Thursday, I had all my weather data try to re-set while in airplane mode. I use Weather Pro, My Radar, Dark Sky, Accuweather and iCSC for basic local / regional forecast and cloud cover data. I refreshed all my apps at 5AM that morning and then was out of cell range the entire time onsite on this job.

At 7PM when it was time to get to that data to make the call on a particular route, I had NO effing data at all, it all tried to refresh and I lost all of it! I am SO unbelievably sick of this toy garbage that everyone puts out that I have about had it with Apple and iOS and I have used their products in my line of work since 1992.

There is NO EXCUSE for this when they go out of their way to make sure you can listen to music, play games and watch movies offline. These are potentially life saving sets of information and I and the others who are on volunteer search and rescue teams are totally fed up with this crap.

I’d pay a couple hundred dollars for an app and or device that will allow me to cache at least the basic data for Pete’s sake!!!

So once again, what weather apps allow you to at least cache basic weather forecast data for offline use?

I understand the frustration. It isn’t Apple’s fault that there doesn’t seem to be many (if any) weather apps that support offline caching. That finger pointing should be at the developers.

Have you sent a suggestion email to the apps you listed?

 

[Macshroomer]

I understand the frustration. It isn’t Apple’s fault that there doesn’t seem to be many (if any) weather apps that support offline caching. That finger pointing should be at the developers.

Have you sent a suggestion email to the apps you listed?

I have routinely sent a note to all of them and have not got anything back. But I also don’t entirely agree that this is not on Apple as they can implement a method of going into airplane mode that globally prevents any app from trying to re-fresh. In fact I think it has gone back and forth between iOS updates, so they are aware but could care less.

 

[TiggrToo]

I have routinely sent a note to all of them and have not got anything back. But I also don’t entirely agree that this is not on Apple as they can implement a method of going into airplane mode that globally prevents any app from trying to re-fresh. In fact I think it has gone back and forth between iOS updates, so they are aware but could care less.

Well it's obviously not a priority for any developer, then.

Just because you personally see this as a major issue it doesn't mean everyone does.

Developers develop app features based upon need and apparently offline need isn't a requirement for most people.

And quit blaming Apple - it's got sod all to do with them, no matter how much you may want it to.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

The weather changes swiftly. If I developed a weather app that someone was going to "rely on" for their job, no way in hell I'd cache it for later use. Not if they were going to depend on it for business or personal safety. You've seen weather forecasts be wrong - like ALL the time, right? Even ones where they say something may happen in the afternoon of the day they say it. I'd tell you to get a freaking SAT phone and get data through that if you need it that bad.

 

[C DM]

Without going into too much fragile person wilting detail, I need a real pro weather app that allows you to cache the forecasts for offline use. It would be great to have isobar maps, that level of info but it absolutely has to be able to be cached to at least a certain degree for offline use.

Is there anything like that out there at any price or is this just feature for games, movies and music offline?

As a potential workaround (even though it might not be the most convenient thing or anything like that), if it's known when such offline use might be needed perhaps right before it a screenshot (or a few) can be taken and saved so that the information could be referred to later in an offline situation?

 

[Macshroomer]

I am going to have to resort to screen shots for some things but the way some of these apps work it will be pretty labor intensive to do that. And it is not just me who is totally fed up with this, many in the search and rescue communities are and again, it is a super simple ask, it’s not a lot of adjustment to be made.

It’s also a feature that many *normal* people would appreciate. So to the other posters above, stop trying to deflect and minimize how important this is. A lot more people than you may realize are wanting this feature.

And by the way, I am looking at other options to solve this and that includes super expensive and bulky sat phones, $50 a month subscriptions to Garmin Inreach that provide weather forecast data.

It’s just BS that both Apple and the developers have not accommodated what is truly a common sense approach to providing weather app data for offline use. Like I said, I am willing to pay for it.

It’s really stupid and there is truly no excuse. Full stop.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am going to have to resort to screen shots for some things but the way some of these apps work it will be pretty labor intensive to do that. And it is not just me who is totally fed up with this, many in the search and rescue communities are and again, it is a super simple ask, it’s not a lot of adjustment to be made.

It’s also a feature that many *normal* people would appreciate. So to the other posters above, stop trying to deflect and minimize how important this is. A lot more people than you may realize are wanting this feature.

And by the way, I am looking at other options to solve this and that includes super expensive and bulky sat phones, $50 a month subscriptions to Garmin Inreach that provide weather forecast data.

It’s just BS that both Apple and the developers have not accommodated what is truly a common sense approach to provision weather app data in a value based approach. Like I said, I am willing to pay for it.

I would pay for an app with such a feature. There is no doubt that such an app would be very helpful. The problem is the cost of development and maintenance of such an app versus the actual demand (read: actual app sales with subscription).

I don’t know if any of the current weather developers have looked at this need / cost ratio. If they have, they may have realized that the App Store may produce such a limited offering sales wise, that it would be cost prohibitive.

I don’t know either way. I am just offering up a realistic business side you may not have thought of.

I wasn’t minimizing your frustration earlier. I was just pointing out that I believe it was a little misdirected.

 

[TiggrToo]

It’s just BS that both Apple and the developers have not accommodated what is truly a common sense approach to provision weather app data in a value based approach. Like I said, I am willing to pay for it.

I can count the number of times I've needed offline access to today's weather in the last 10 years - and it's zilch.

The overwhelming vast majority of apps are consumer grade. It's most certainly not "BS" that there don't seem to be any that fits your need.

You've identified a potential solution so go they direction.

I need pro apps for my job and most of those pro app needs are not met on iOS. I accept that and move on with the alternative because I understand my needs are fairly targeted and not something that most developers would consider creating just because myself and ~27 other people might be interested.

 

[Macshroomer]

I can count the number of times I've needed offline access to today's weather in the last 10 years - and it's zilch.

The overwhelming vast majority of apps are consumer grade. It's most certainly not "BS" that there don't seem to be any that fits your need.

You've identified a potential solution so go they direction.

I need pro apps for my job and most of those pro app needs are not met on iOS. I accept that and move on with the alternative because I understand my needs are fairly targeted and not something that most developers would consider creating just because myself and ~27 other people might be interested.

It’s your opinion and I don’t accept that is the only way this can go.

 

[jagolden]

I am going to have to resort to screen shots for some things but the way some of these apps work it will be pretty labor intensive to do that. And it is not just me who is totally fed up with this, many in the search and rescue communities are and again, it is a super simple ask, it’s not a lot of adjustment to be made.

It’s also a feature that many *normal* people would appreciate. So to the other posters above, stop trying to deflect and minimize how important this is. A lot more people than you may realize are wanting this feature.

And by the way, I am looking at other options to solve this and that includes super expensive and bulky sat phones, $50 a month subscriptions to Garmin Inreach that provide weather forecast data.

It’s just BS that both Apple and the developers have not accommodated what is truly a common sense approach to providing weather app data for offline use. Like I said, I am willing to pay for it.

It’s really stupid and there is truly no excuse. Full stop.

if it’s so important to the “Search and Rescue” crowd, and it’s a simple thing to do (you say, are you a programmer?), then why don’t they hire a company to get an app written?
There, problem solved.
Or, is it possible to write a PDF/save to Books instead of trying to manage a multitude of screenshots?
Lot’s of ranting but no real explanation of just how useful hours-old information is.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

LOL - Bulky Sat phones? You haven't looked in to them then. I have a Sat phone for work as an emergency comm device. It's tiny. They are not in suit cases anymore. Seems the OP just wants to complain about something Apple and others should do nothing for.

Weather is important to me too. It's critical in my field. I've watched forecasts change by the minute and I only take what forecasters say with a grain of salt.

 

[Macshroomer]

I’m not a programmer, I am outdoor professional in the Colorado high country.

At least I gave it a shot, to see if anyone knew of anything but it seems like it’s an empty plate. You can judge me all you want but if you notice, I am not judging any of you so maybe you ought to consider that a bit?

I stand by my needs and my views on the apps and apple’s position as well.

 

[jschnee21]

I agree offline caching would be nice. But:

1) 12 hour old weather data is not very useful

2) take a screen shot before you go into a low signal area.

 

[C DM]

Without going into too much fragile person wilting detail, I need a real pro weather app that allows you to cache the forecasts for offline use. It would be great to have isobar maps, that level of info but it absolutely has to be able to be cached to at least a certain degree for offline use.

Is there anything like that out there at any price or is this just feature for games, movies and music offline?

Perhaps talking directly to some developers of some weather apps might result in something (like one of the more recent ones that seems to be in this section, https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...app-for-traveling-weather-on-the-way.2229771/).

 

[pacorob]

Some really good 'pro' weather apps of which some have offline feature are:

offline feature:
- BeWeather 3 (offline feature, source: Dark Sky + minute by minute rain forecast (in select countries) + radar)
- widget weather (offline feature, multiple sources: openweathermap.org and met.no, no radar though)

no offline feature but do have a lot of options and don't use much data:
- Partly Sunny (source: Dark Sky + minute by minute rain forecast in select countries)
- Forecast Bar (sources: Dark Sky, part of subscription: The Weather Company + minute by minute rain forecast, no radar)
- Hello Weather (sources: Dark Sky, - part of subscription: AccuWeather, AerisWeather, ClimaCell, The Weather Company + minute by minute rain forecast, radar but only looks back in the past?)
- Carrot Weather (sources: Dark Sky, - part of subscription: e.g. AccuWeather, AerisWeather, ClimaCell, MeteoGroup + has radar)

 

[Apple_Robert]

Some really good 'pro' weather apps are:
- Partly Sunny (source: Dark Sky + minute by minute rain forecast in select countries)
- Forecast Bar (sources: Dark Sky, part of subscription: The Weather Company + minute by minute rain forecast, no radar)
- Hello Weather (sources: Dark Sky, - part of subscription: AccuWeather, AerisWeather, ClimaCell, The Weather Company + minute by minute rain forecast, radar but only looks back in the past?)
- Carrot Weather (sources: Dark Sky, - part of subscription: e.g. AccuWeather, AerisWeather, ClimaCell, MeteoGroup + has radar)
- BeWeather3 (source: Dark Sky + minute by minute rain forecast (in select countries) + radar)

He needs a weather app that had good offline use. None of those apply.

 

[beachmusic]

What about Baron? https://www.baronthreatnet.com

 

[pacorob]

He needs a weather app that had good offline use. None of those apply.

My apologies I will update my previous post by specifying this further the reason that I responded earlier also had to do with the post before my post where people did indicate that weather constantly can change and therefore it is best to have the weather to be up to date without using alot of data (if you have a connection).

I do want to note that one in the list: BeWeather 3 does work offline.

Also I can add 'widget weather' which also works offline but doesn't have a radar though only upcoming hours/days forecast but really detailed.