My new favorite weather app: Weatherwise [App Review]
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.