Dark Sky has been one of the most popular mobile apps of the past six years. It has undoubtedly been my favorite weather app since 2016 and has lived on my devices since then. But a new year brings a new death, and Dark Sky is officially…gone.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
There are many fond memories of Dark Sky; the user interface, design, flow, and simplicity made it the best weather app for mobile devices. In 2016 I had an opportunity to ask Adam Grossman, the app developer, a few questions. You can read that interview here. Times were interesting for the app as it boasted versions for both Android and iOS.
But fast forward to 2020, Grossman made a move many users would not appreciate; he sold his work to Apple. Apple officially purchased Dark Sky around April 2020 and removed the app from the Android platform shortly after that, making it an exclusive iOS app. Most of us in the tech world felt that this meant the end of the app as we knew it, and that announcement came in June 2021.
So here we are in 2023, and the grave has been filled with the remains of a once-great app. Apple is trying to take the heart and soul of Dark Sky and incorporate it into the native Weather app on iOS, and there have been some decent updates, but we’re not convinced they can bring that special thing back.
Here are some of the new features in the Weather app that you once enjoyed on Dark Sky if you’re interested in giving the native app another go. You can find more on the native Apple Weather app here.
- Apple Weather forecasts precipitation at your location for the next hour down to the minute. This is available as a chart, a high-resolution map overlay, and notifications.
- Forecasted weather conditions include temperature, precipitation amounts, humidity, dew point, wind speed, barometric pressure, Feels Like temperature, and visibility. To view hourly forecasts, tap a condition in the location view or tap a day and select the condition you want to view.
- Apple Weather provides a variety of overlays, including precipitation, air quality, and temperature. While precipitation and temperature overlays are available globally, high-resolution next-hour precipitation and air quality are limited to certain countries and regions. In the location view, tap the map to expand it.
- Apple Weather forecasts are hyperlocal, down to 0.001° of latitude and longitude. This resolution is used to generate a forecast for not just your town but also your block. It can also notify you when precipitation will start, down to the minute.
- Apple Weather sends notifications for government-issued severe weather alerts and next-hour precipitation for your current location or any location that you’ve added. To manage these notifications, tap the menu button in the right corner of the location list view, then tap Notifications.
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