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The little peek at the “Share to Google Drive” wasn’t the only good stuff that was on show during yesterday’s Android Developers’ Friday Apps Review. One of the three apps discussed, Weatherwise, really caught my attention.
What does it do?
As you’d expect, it provides the weather forecast for the locations of your choice. There’s quite a bit of information available, including a week’s forecast and a detailed 24-hour forecast.
What sets it apart?
First and foremost: the graphics. The animation is really beautiful, with several varying conditions (the developer said around 20) ranging from a thunderstorm to a nice, quite sunset. It also has a neat little parallax effect, so if you move the phone a bit, you see the bushes moving more than the tree at the back.
The developer is also monetizing it using in-app purchases of themes (there are five available currently, priced at $0.99 each). What that means is no annoying ads to spoil the experience (as is the case with 1Weather, another beautiful app).
The widgets are pretty decent, too, certainly a lot better than 1Weather’s (IMHO). You have two to choose from: a 4X4 and a 4X1 option.
What improvements I’d like to see?
First off, and this is, as mentioned in the Hangout, the most requested feature: a live wallpaper. This is a gorgeous app, and I’d love to have the option (though I barely ever use live wallpapers).
Without that, you only really appreciate the looks when you first install it, and when you show it off to friends. Once the beauty wears off, you only want to quickly glance at the forecast when you open the app.
Secondly, and this is something Reto Meier pointed out to the team in the Hangout, the buttons need to be a bit bigger. I have had issues opening the 23-hour detailed information at times.
And finally, I’d like to see the widgets display the time also. I use Beautiful Widgets, and I love the time + weather combo. I’m not going to replace that widget with Weatherwise’s.
lol i actually downloaded this after i watched the video in your previous post
This strikes me as battery hungry.
I’ll give it a good battery test tomorrow. That’s the reason that the devs haven’t implemented a live wallpaper yet, but Reto Meier told them to do so if they’re looking for a chance to be featured on Google Play, so I’m pretty sure they’re gonna make one.
I like weatherflow its very nice and i like the themes
+1 for WeatherFlow. It’s the best looking weather app I’ve used, all the information I need at a glance and it fits in perfectly with the Holo theme on ICS.
For the longest time I used one of the first weather apps for Android, called WeatherBug Elite (the paid version), but ever since Beautiful Widgets, I haven’t looked at any other weather app since most (like this one) are always-on eye-candy.
I all I really want in any weather app is:
1) The current “real feel” temp as an ongoing notification up in the notification bar
2) Quick access to the 5 day forecast
Granted, Beautiful Widgets has eye candy too, but it’s a click away from a notification or homescreen widget. beeeyooootiful screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/i7XWb.png
Agreed. Beautiful Widgets would probably remain my default weather app because of, well, the widget (which is why I’d really like to see Weatherwise add a time option to theirs). But, as a UI design lover, I’m going to be using Weatherwise quite a bit, in addition to the fact that Beautiful Widgets doesn’t have the 24-hour detailed forecast inside the app itself.
Thats just too much stuff for me. I prefer fancy widgets. I have BW too, but I like fancy widgets more.
peek
i like weatherbug, fast and simple. got daily and hourly, that’s all i need.
I don’t use nor like weather apps, but the zen tree looked so good I hoped it was a live wallpaper (I love those) so that was my initial reason to want this app. Seeing as it is lacking in the live-walpaper section I’ll pas this app.
p.s. Whats up with people and time in widgets? :S
To me its a waste of space as the time is displayed in the upper right corner….am I the only one who thinks time/clock widgets are pointless?
Your probably not the only one, and yes the time’s right there in the upper corner, but its just a case of personal preference.
I agree for the most part, but you have to keep in mind the customizability of Android. Many ROMs allow for the changing or complete removal of the clock in the upper right corner, making a clock widget no longer redundant.
Personally I won’t use a clock widget unless it’s to display the time elsewhere, or the time in a different format from the system clock.
Ever hear of “to each his own”?
1weather is great and it’s what I use on the regular.
Holy crap man, 36C and 25C lowest night temp?!! Good thing I’m in Canada.
aint even close to mycast. best 4 bucks i ever spent in apps.
Agreed, 100%.
The ‘full’ version of MyCast Weather isn’t cheap, but it’s the best weather app for Android, bar none.:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digcy.mycast.full
Customizable layout, reliably accurate data (unlike, say, 1Weather), quick loading radar screens, notification bar temp-readout, adjustable data-refresh rate, plus several handy (if costly) add-ons like lightning-strike map.
in the US maybe.. it appears that it cannot be used on my Korean samsung galaxy note, so nice try. Not the best by any means…
The themes are gorgeous … but no weather radar. No thanks…
Hey guys, one of the Weatherwise dev’s here, first thanks for the awesome review. We’re glad you tuned into the hangout on Friday. So I’d like to confirm that we are working on live wallpaper and weather-in-status-bar features but I can’t speculate on a time frame for those.
If you guys want to comment on anything else that you’d like to see or is a real deal breaker please let me know, I’ll make sure the rest of the team hears the feedback.
Chris, really nice app. Looks great! And nice touch with the movement of the bushes as the phone moves too, loved it! But like Raveesh said, the lack of a clock/weather wideget in one is a deal breaker for me. If you guys ever get one, I won’t wait a second to change. Until then, I’ll be keeping an eye on Weatherwise!
The main information I look for in a weather app is the percent chance of rain (followed closely by temp, but with summer coming up that’s going to be kind of consistent). I love that you included that (and by the hour! –very useful!) but it could be more conveniently displayed.
If there was an option to choose what information shows up on the widget then I would put overall percent chance of rain for the whole day (not just the current hour) on the widget and then tap it to view the hour by hour percent.
Also, overall percent chance of rain in the status bar would be really helpful so I could quickly glance at the phone and not even unlock it to decide if I need to take extra time getting ready and wear rain gear or not.
I ride a motorcycle so I always need to know how likely it is to rain, and when that rain might start.
Like the app so far though, thanks!
Not cheap, but the best weather app for Android, bar none.: MyCast Weather
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digcy.mycast.full
Customizable layout, reliably accurate data (unlike, say, 1Weather), quick loading radar screens, notification bar temp-readout, adjustable data-refresh rate, plus several handy (if costly) add-ons like lightning-strike map.