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Universal The best Mac weather app, Forecast Bar, now available on iOS

Their app and subscription seemed a little pricey at first. But it's now my go to weather app....especially for the Apple Watch. Their background updates are very accurate and my location updates almost in real time as I drive. Of all the weather apps I use and pay for, using Forecast Bar over CARROT⁵ was a huge decision. But I've now made it my defacto weather app and watch complication. I complained about its price in the beginning and kind of got into it with the dev about it. But in the end, it's turned out to be the perfect weather app, exactly what I wanted. For me, the weather/location data updating frequently (15-30 mins) was a must. This app allows for it and it's even faster than CARROT⁵. Highly recommended.
 
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How is it different from leaving the Background App Refresh On? Is it not as frequent as the paid subscription for background updates?

dictoresno said:
Their app and subscription seemed a little pricey at first. But it's now my go to weather app....especially for the Apple Watch. Their background updates are very accurate and my location updates almost in real time as I drive. Of all the weather apps I use and pay for, using Forecast Bar over CARROT⁵ was a huge decision. But I've now made it my defacto weather app and watch complication. I complained about its price in the beginning and kind of got into it with the dev about it. But in the end, it's turned out to be the perfect weather app, exactly what I wanted. For me, the weather/location data updating frequently (15-30 mins) was a must. This app allows for it and it's even faster than CARROT⁵. Highly recommended.
Click to expand...
 
gaanee said:
How is it different from leaving the Background App Refresh On? Is it not as frequent as the paid subscription for background updates?
Click to expand...

I can't speak for exactly how it works, but from what I understand, the forecast company charges the dev for the constant pulling of weather data in the background. My guess is background refresh may update once an hour whereas paid subscription may do it 3-4 times. You would have to ask the dev for the specifics. But there is a noticeable difference between the two and having to manually refresh weather data or update my location gets to be a pain.

With the subscription, I can drive down the highway and look at the watch and it already will show the new location I'm in and it's respective forecast instead of having to refresh it manually. Like when I drive 35 miles to work, before subscription, my watch still may show my home location and weather even with background refresh on. However with subscription, it follows me the whole trip updating my location and weather data every few miles. Actually works very well.
 
I have been using this for a while in conjunction with a couple of other apps and while it is generally good for the "Now" conditions, the forecast is generally incorrect. Sadly as the layout has grown on me.
 
Forecast Bar requires subscription for iPhone app also? From the App store description it sounds like the iPhone app is one-time purchase and subscription is only for the Watch app, but now it's asking to subscribe even on the iPhone
It was advertised as free and while using it no where it mentioned about 7-day free trial period only, and now asking for subscription?? That's very sneaky. While subscription itself may not be bad but deceptively forcing it this way on the app which advertised as gone-free is a wrong business practice.


OfficialForecastBar said:
Since we launched Forecast Bar for Mac, it has been featured by Apple, Lifehacker, and Macworld (for Mac and iOS) and consistently receives high reviews from our users. Since then, we have heard loud and clear from our users that they would like to see Forecast Bar for their iPhone. For the last few months, we’ve been hard at work to deliver on that request. We are extremely excited to introduce Forecast Bar for iOS, a modern, fully-featured weather app powered by Forecast.io.

The app is available now in the iOS App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/forecast-bar-weather-powered/id1057030968?ls=1&mt=8

O4Y3mgo.jpg



Forecast Bar for iOS brings the best parts of our Mac app to iPhone, iPad and Watch with a redesigned touch-friendly interface:
  • An easy to read overview of the upcoming week’s weather
  • Simple to understand hour-by-hour weather breakdowns
  • Minute-by-minute rain forecasts powered by Forecast.io
  • Get a daily weather forecast delivered to you each morning
  • Precise location using GPS leading to even more accurate hyper-local weather
  • Animated radar provided by Aeris Weather
  • Automatic dark mode based on your screen brightness
  • Choose from a variety of community created Icon Sets and Background Packs
  • Time Machine to check weather up to 70 years in the future or past
  • Severe weather alerts provided by the U.S. National Weather Service
  • Share forecasts with friends and family through Twitter, Facebook, iMessage and more
  • Gorgeous images matching the weather which change the feel of the app
  • Give personal names to your locations (i.e. Mom’s House)
For iPhone 6S and 6S+:
  • Quick Actions to jump to recent cities, or to check weather at a new location
  • Peek and Pop to view details about the upcoming week
For Apple Watch:
  • A native watchOS 2 app and Glance
  • 30+ complications to customize (additional purchase required for background updates)
For iPad:
  • Multi-tasking support with Slide Over
  • Landscape and portrait orientation support
Get it now in the App Store! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/forecast-bar-weather-powered/id1057030968?ls=1&mt=8

We would greatly appreciate hearing your feedback and any thoughts you have on the app! You can also learn more about Forecast Bar for Mac and Forecast Bar for Apple TV at our website: http://forecastbar.com
Click to expand...
 
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So I went ahead and took the plunge on a 1 year subscription with Apple Watch. So far it seems to be a pretty solid app. Question about the AW complication though. I have it set to Temp and Icon but it is showing the temp + 19H and a rain drop icon. It's currently raining. What does this mean?
c403ebb15818533b38738b7b5ce4a9b3.jpg
 
Go into your settings for the app on the phone, there it will show you all the possible complications settings for the watch face.
 
dictoresno said:
Go into your settings for the app on the phone, there it will show you all the possible complications settings for the watch face.
Click to expand...
Yes, I've done that and the complication is set to "Temp + Icon" but it doesn't explain what the 19H means. My best guess is that it means it will rain for the next 19 hours. If so this appears to be an undocumented feature of the complication.
 
Cogsworth said:
Yes, I've done that and the complication is set to "Temp + Icon" but it doesn't explain what the 19H means. My best guess is that it means it will rain for the next 19 hours. If so this appears to be an undocumented feature of the complication.
Click to expand...

That's correct. It shows how long it will have precipitation in the forecast.

Hope you are all enjoying Forecast Bar, we have more improvements on the way for our subscribers!
 
I tried contacting support but didn't get an answer...how do rain notifications from Apple Watch work? I have followed the instructions but have never gotten a notification. Precipitation Alerts are turned on under "Retrieve From Watch" and on the AW I am using the complication and Forecast Bar is kept in the dock. Location Services and Notifications are enabled. Of course going into summer here in California it will be a long time before I can test it out again...
 
Cogsworth said:
I tried contacting support but didn't get an answer...how do rain notifications from Apple Watch work? I have followed the instructions but have never gotten a notification. Precipitation Alerts are turned on under "Retrieve From Watch" and on the AW I am using the complication and Forecast Bar is kept in the dock. Location Services and Notifications are enabled. Of course going into summer here in California it will be a long time before I can test it out again...
Click to expand...
Despite a few suggestions from the developer I never managed to get them to work, there’s been an update since I contacted them but that didn’t help.
 
markl9 said:
Despite a few suggestions from the developer I never managed to get them to work, there’s been an update since I contacted them but that didn’t help.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, I will probably just keep Dark Sky installed for precipitation alerts. I like Forecast Bar just wish the alerts worked properly.
 
Dark Sky has been my default weather app for years. However, I gave Forecast Bar a quick spin and I'm pretty impressed. I do like the customization within the app. I'm still comparing how accurate it is to Dark Sky before I pay for the additional features. But I'm impressed thus far. Definitely a quality app.
 
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