This article was written on October 15, 2010 by CyberNet.
I find myself in discussions about the iPhone quite frequently with people, and for the longest time I was never impressed with the selection of weather apps available. It seemed any iPhone-related conversation would spin into an explanation about how I felt the existing weather apps fell short of perfect. It was obvious that most of them struggled to find a good balance between providing the necessary information and overloading the user. WeatherSnitch (iTunes link; $0.99) is exactly what I was looking for.
It was just released a few weeks ago, and I found it during one of my regular perusals of the iTunes store when I was looking for some of the great apps that weren’t topping the charts. When I came across this one it wasn’t very popular, but I was sold just looking at the screenshots. The first thing you’ll notice is that the lower third of every screen is dedicated to displaying the current conditions of the location you’ve selected. The graphics used here make it obvious that the designer has an eye for detail.
The real gem, however, is the main screen that displays a calendar view. Each day shows the high for the day, and is color-coded to match the general weather conditions. There are eight different colors you’ll see on the page, and I’ve captured them in the screenshot above. It has information available for about 15-days out, which makes the accuracy questionable at that kind of range. What I like, however, is the fact that in a few seconds I can glance at the current week to see if it’s supposed to rain or not (indicated by a blue tile). This color-coding system drastically reduces the amount of time I need to spend in the app to determine both current and upcoming weather conditions.
There are currently two items that they say are on the way, and in my opinion are the only two things that are holding this from being absolutely perfect for my weather needs. What are they? Radar/satellite support and an iPad version (which they say will be a universal app). For the time being I don’t mind opening one of the other weather apps, if needed, to see what the radar looks like, but I’m definitely looking forward to that getting added.
The screenshots below give you a better idea of what the app is all about, and you’ll also notice that there is a more detailed breakdown of temperatures on a day-to-day basis or hourly:
(Click thumbnail for full-size version)
One thing that I want to point out is that this app is not geared towards those that want the most detailed info available on current and future weather conditions. It focuses on putting some of the most important information in a format that you can quickly scan. It’s something you can check as you’re walking out the door and know in a few seconds whether you should grab that umbrella.
WeatherSnitch Homepage (iTunes link; $0.99)
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