Weather: Apple vs Any Third Party

[H3LL5P4WN]

The several of us having issues with the Apple Weather widget in the iOS 11 betas are often met with a "first world problem" or "switch to ____" type of response and it got me thinking.

Par of the reason I've stuck with the official app's widget is that I am under the impression that since Apple's Weather implementation is baked into the OS, it's battery and GPS usage are going to be far slimmer than a third party. Am I correct in this thinking, or is Apple's just as battery sipping as say, Dark Sky or WU Storm?

 

[C DM]

In my experience they are all more or less about the same (some details as far as them using location services or just using saved locations can certainly play some role though).

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Thanks. I just tried the Be Weather app and I'm very impressed with the configurability. I can't tell if the watch complication is working as we'd expect it to or not, however.

 

[Sital]

I would go with the weather app/widget that is most accurate for your locale (and they can vary a good bit), not necessarily the one with the most bells and whistles or the hot new app.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I would go with the weather app/widget that is most accurate for your locale (and they can vary a good bit), not necessarily the one with the most bells and whistles or the hot new app.

I had never thought they’d differ wildly based on location; I just figured variances would be due to the app’s weather provider.

 

[Sital]

I had never thought they’d differ wildly based on location; I just figured variances would be due to the app’s weather provider.

For the most part they're in the same ballpark, but I've had some weather apps be off on temperature by as much as 8-10 degrees. I also had one tell me it was sunny out when it was snowing.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

For the most part they're in the same ballpark, but I've had some weather apps be off on temperature by as much as 8-10 degrees. I also had one tell me it was sunny out when it was snowing.

LMFAO

 

[pacorob]

Thanks. I just tried the Be Weather app and I'm very impressed with the configurability.

BeWeather 2 widget (and app) are really good indeed with so much options and details.
Some other weather widgets (and apps) I like are Partly Sunny and Widget Weather.

See also a whole list of weather widgets and apps in this topic.

 

[Bart Kela]

I had never thought they’d differ wildly based on location; I just figured variances would be due to the app’s weather provider.

My primary weather app is Weather Underground because they have multiple weather stations in larger towns.

Some cities (like San Francisco) are notorious for having a wide range of microclimates. It could be 67 degrees, cool and foggy at the beach yet 87 degrees, warm and sunny in the Mission or in SOMA by the ballpark.

If you used the built-in iOS weather map (which uses data from The Weather Channel), there is only one listing for San Francisco and no indication where the weather station is located.

On the Weather Underground app, you can choose the weather station.

Besides, the built-in app provides very rudimentary information. No details like hourly precipitation forecast, radar maps, pollen count, etc.

If you care about the weather, you're probably using a dedicated third-party app.

I've turned off Background App Refresh for all the weather apps on my phone; it doesn't use any battery of bandwidth while I'm not using it.

 

[C DM]

My primary weather app is Weather Underground because they have multiple weather stations in larger towns.

Some cities (like San Francisco) are notorious for having a wide range of microclimates. It could be 67 degrees, cool and foggy at the beach yet 87 degrees, warm and sunny in the Mission or in SOMA by the ballpark.

If you used the built-in iOS weather map (which uses data from The Weather Channel), there is only one listing for San Francisco and no indication where the weather station is located.

On the Weather Underground app, you can choose the weather station.

Besides, the built-in app provides very rudimentary information. No details like humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall totals, hourly precipitation forecast, radar maps, sunrise/sunset times, etc.

If you care about the weather, you're probably using a dedicated third-party app.

I've turned off Background App Refresh for all the weather apps on my phone; it doesn't use any battery of bandwidth while I'm not using it.

I believe the built-in app gets data from Weather Underground now. At the same time, Weather Underground has been owned by The Weather Channel for a little while now.

 

[flyingspur]

I have long used BeWeather with great results, with the hyper-local individual weather stations.

Since 2016 and the buyout of The Weather Company, The Weather Channel & Weather Underground, by IBM, the
default Apple weather app has greatly improved. Now Weatherunderground and TWC apps are sourcing
data from IBM Watson also.

Appears good things are happening with BeWeather and Apple WX app or really any wx app using IBM Watson data.
Looking at both TWC app on iOS and Android you can see Watson feeding them. I have compared the, when it will
rain, and it is spot on within a minute for example. Now if Apple will update and improve the app.

 

[Zaft]

Beweather 2, the best IMO.

 

[Bart Kela]

I believe the built-in app gets data from Weather Underground now.

Well, the icon in the lower left corner of the built-in weather app still says Weather Channel. If you press that icon and you have the Weather Channel app installed, it will open that app.

At the same time, Weather Underground has been owned by The Weather Channel for a little while now.

As noted above, it appears that both are now owned by IBM. They seem to be operated as separate entities though.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

My primary weather app is Weather Underground because they have multiple weather stations in larger towns.

Some cities (like San Francisco) are notorious for having a wide range of microclimates. It could be 67 degrees, cool and foggy at the beach yet 87 degrees, warm and sunny in the Mission or in SOMA by the ballpark.

If you used the built-in iOS weather map (which uses data from The Weather Channel), there is only one listing for San Francisco and no indication where the weather station is located.

On the Weather Underground app, you can choose the weather station.

Besides, the built-in app provides very rudimentary information. No details like hourly precipitation forecast, radar maps, pollen count, etc.

If you care about the weather, you're probably using a dedicated third-party app.

I've turned off Background App Refresh for all the weather apps on my phone; it doesn't use any battery of bandwidth while I'm not using it.

Your first couple of points regarding WU are actually pretty nifty.

I do have to clarify on your comment about caring about weather. When it comes to the widget and watch app, I literally only use those for quick-glance information, under the assumption that they're accurate. When I want to plan something, I absolutely load the full and and go from there.

With Background App Refresh turned off, I'd have to imagine that the widgets wouldn't have up to date data, or would take a while to refresh when you do access them.

 

[C DM]

Well, the icon in the lower left corner of the built-in weather app still says Weather Channel. If you press that icon and you have the Weather Channel app installed, it will open that app.


As noted above, it appears that both are now owned by IBM. They seem to be operated as separate entities though.

You are right. I think what I was recalling could have been just about the Weather widget, that when you have it enabled then at the bottom of the Today screen it will mention that the data is coming from Weather Underground. But even with that it seems like that might have been in iOS 10, as in iOS 11 even that references The Weather Channel.
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Beweather 2, the best IMO.

Probably wishful thinking on my part that they might update the free version at some point at least to use the updated look and feel for widgets since iOS 10.

 

[Bart Kela]

Yeah, I don't rely on the widgets, it's better to fire up the app which will force it to load the latest data.

Sometimes, there's a bad/missing data from a malfunctioning weather station so it's still wise to take this information with a grain of sand.

The most reliable weather stations tend to be the ones with the biggest visibility: TV stations, government agencies, airports, etc., basically sources that are expected to provide reliable weather data 24x7, not some hobbyist.

 

[lexvo]

I like the weather underground system, but I think their app is half baked. For example if you set the wind strength to Beaufort, it shows the wrong numbers and this has been for a long time. It also often says “Rain starts in {time}”. The temperatures on the small map are not always right (when you select the map the temperatures are correct). Refresh is sometimes a bit jumpy. Wind strength is sometimes zero in the hourly view. And so on.

So in my opinion don’t use the official app but a different app that uses weather underground data.

 

[jjk454ss]

Anyone using Hello Weather? I had been using WU, or Dark Sky. But I’m kind of liking Hello Weather. It has a great interface, you can select from I think five different sources for the weather info. I did just get it a couple days ago though, so I haven’t done a lot of testing or comparison. And I don’t think they have a watch app which I kind of would like.

 

[GIZBUG]

I would go with the weather app/widget that is most accurate for your locale (and they can vary a good bit), not necessarily the one with the most bells and whistles or the hot new app.

Forecastadvisor.com to find which weather service is accurate for your area.

 

[swissglide]

Weather Underground is dead, the Wether Channel purchase predictably ruined a formerly great app. It's now riddled with crapware widgets, crashes regularly, has caching issues on images, and even goes as low as to show full screen video ads with autoplay sound to users who bought a no ads subscription.

 

[C DM]

Probably wishful thinking on my part that they might update the free version at some point at least to use the updated look and feel for widgets since iOS 10.

Well, sort of unexpectedly the free version of BeWeather 2 got an updated after all these years.

 

[FirePak]

Hello weather is great!

 

[sean000]

I’ve been a Dark Sky user for a couple of years, and it’s pretty accurate even here in the Pacific NW where you need immediate and local information since there are so many micro climates and things change quickly.

Dark Sky is my go to for iOS, but I tend to use Carrot for the Apple Watch. I like the Carrot complication options more. The iOS app for Carrot is a little busy for my taste, but the snarky commentary can be amusing.

 

[jjk454ss]

Hello weather is great!

I agree, definitely my new favorite weather app. I really love with the paid version that you can choose the weather source so you have the most accurate in your area. Great interface, and the developer is very quick to respond as well which is awesome.

 

[lexvo]

I tried the free version of Beweather, but I am not impressed.
1) when you select a weather station you can’t zoom in on the map, this makes selecting a specific station in a city awkward
2) it has a nice per hour weather forecast, but if you scroll through you can’t see which day you’re looking at
3) the app crashed several times, for example just tapping a few times above the map makes the app crash
4) it has no short time rain forecast in my region (but I knew that)