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1. Storm Radar
Storm Radar is an app from Weather Underground LLC, a company that has a lot of weather related apps on the App Store. The app is very well designed, and comes with a plethora of features, even in the free version. If you’d like to remove the ads, you can make an in app purchase of $1.99 to get an ad free version of the app on your phone. With Storm Radar, you can view hourly, and daily forecasts for the weather in your location. The app also comes with an alerts pane built-in, that shows real-time alerts issued by authorities, so you always know whenever you need to be careful before stepping outside. The app’s interface may seem a little daunting to begin with, but it’s actually very well organised, and you’ll start liking it in no time.
The app also comes with Alerting subscriptions, so you can tell the app to alert you for a variety of weather predictions, including extreme rainfall, lightning, and even tropical cyclones. The app is definitely a good way to keep yourself aware of the weather conditions that you may potentially face during your day.
Download Storm Radar from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchase of $1.99 to remove ads)
2. Dark Sky
Dark Sky is one app that most people swear by. However, the app is only available in the US, UK, and Ireland; which is really not something that one would expect from a weather app. The reason behind this, is probably that the app aims to provide hyperlocal weather details to users, and they need dedicated stations for that. The strength of the app lies in how accurately it can predict, and inform you about when it’ll rain, and when it’ll stop raining. This will definitely help you plan your day accordingly, or help you decide on carrying an umbrella to work.
Dark sky is capable of providing users with weather details on a minute-by-minute basis, for the next hour, which is definitely something worth having in a weather app. Apart from that, the push notifications in Dark Sky are really helpful. With push notifications enabled, the app can tell you about when it’ll rain, down to the minute. It can even warn you of any government issued “severe weather warnings“, so you’re always prepared. All it takes is one glance on your phone, and the Dark Sky widget can tell you what the weather will be like, for the next hour, and for the next week. Download Dark Sky from the App Store ($3.99)
3. WeatherBug
WeatherBug is another great weather app for the iPhone, that is also free. The app will let you know the current, hourly, detailed, or 10 day weather conditions. The weather conditions are pretty accurate, and can definitely be relied upon. You can add a number of locations to the app, and get weather conditions for all of them, on the go. The one complaint I have with the app, is that it has a rather confusing interface, which might put many people off. However, the features offered by the app are great. Not only does it show the current weather, and predictions, it also shows the direction of wind, and it’s speed. Along with that, you get a map, that can be overlaid with a number of radars, to get more information out of the app.
The app also shows the latest weather news from all over the world. All the major weather-related incidences may be viewed here, and they open up directly in the app itself. WeatherBug is also capable of telling you the location of the last known lightning strike. The hourly forecast from the app is usually accurate enough to be used. However, it may differ from location to location, so take this with a pinch of salt.
All in all, the app is definitely a good choice for an alternative weather app on the iPhone. The free app is supported by ads, and you can remove them with an in-app purchase. Download WeatherBug from the App Store (Free with in-app purchase of $2.99 to remove ads)
4. Weather Underground
Weather Underground is another really great weather app for iPhone. The app also comes with an Apple watch app, so if you have an Apple watch, as well, you can make even better use of it. Weather Underground provides hyper-local weather results, by using its own network of weather stations. The app provides alerts, and will allow you to customise the information displayed, and a lot more about the app. Apart from the weather around your location, you can even find out a lot of other details, including the humidity, dew point, visibility, and more.
Just like WeatherBug, Weather Underground also displays weather related news, in the form of video clips. The app can even give you health data, using your Apple watch, and will also let you check the sunrise, and sunset time for the day. You can customise a lot of things in the Weather Underground app; including, the type of map you want the app to show, and edit the default units of temperature, speed, and much more. You can even customise the Today widget for the app, from within the settings in the app itself. Also, the app will inform you of any severe weather alerts that are issued by authorities, so you can ensure that you follow any security precautions that you need to. Download Weather Underground from the App Store (Free)
5. Carrot Weather
Carrot Weather is a great, and fun weather app that is powered by Dark Sky. The app provides very accurate details about the weather conditions in your current location, and does it in a fun way. The animations in the app are simply amazing, and the interface is great, as well. If you’re in the US, UK, Ireland, or Canada, Carrot Weather can even tell you when it’s going to rain, right down to the minute. Unfortunately, these features do not work anywhere else, but the rest of the app works perfectly fine. Swiping up from the home screen, will take you to the detailed forecast for the day, which includes details like the current temperature, humidity, pressure, and a lot of other details. The app is also capable of telling you about the sunrise, and sunset times.
Carrot Weather also comes with a customisable widget that you should definitely try. The widget has 4 slots that you can customise to show details that you care about, and nothing else. However, one of the best parts of this app is not the weather; it’s how hilarious the entire app is. I would definitely recommend that while customising the widget, you try tapping on the “show more” button. Also, in the home screen, you can tap on the “eye”, as they call it, to get some really hilarious responses from the app. At $3.99, this app is definitely not cheap, but it works well enough to be worth it.
Download Carrot Weather from the App Store ($3.99)
6. Fresh Air
Fresh Air is a very beautifully designed weather app for iPhone that uses forecast.io to get the weather for your location. The app will allow you to check minute by minute weather predictions for a 7 day time-span, and give you details like the wind speed, precipitation, humidity, and much more. The app plots the temperature as a graph, which you can drag along to check how the temperature will change every minute of the day. You can also add multiple locations to the app, and the settings page offers customization of the default temperature, speed and measurement units.
If you’re in the US, you can consider buying the premium version of the app, to get access to a radar map (only for the US), and remove ads, as well. If you tap on the text that says “precipitation”, you can change between things like humidity, and cloud cover. Download Fresh Air from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchase of $2.99 for Premium version)
7. Forecast.io
Forecast.io is developed by the team behind Dark Sky, and is a very accurate weather prediction service, same as the Dark Sky app. However, this is not an app, and you can not download it from the App Store. You can, however, visit the forecast.io website on your iPhone browser, and add it to your homescreen, if you want to use it frequently. The interface is very well designed, and the app does it’s work well. You can even view an hour by hour breakdown of the temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and more.
While it is not an app, I have included it in the list, because it is incredibly accurate, can be added to your homescreen to be quickly accessed, and is one of the best alternatives to Dark Sky, since it is developed, and maintained by the people behind Dark Sky. Visit Forecast.io
8. Weather Live
Weather Live is a great weather app developed by Apalon Apps. The app provides weather predictions for multiple locations around the world. With the Weather Live app, you can extend the forecast for any coming day, and get even more details about it. You can also get the forecast for the next 7 days in a graph form, that’s easy to read and understand. The app comes with beautifully designed scenes that reflect the current weather in your location, and the notification center widget for the app is perfect to check details like the current temperature, and get a forecast for the coming days.
The app also includes cloud, and satellite maps for various locations around the world, along with an animated weather radar to quickly see what sort of weather you can expect. If any weather alerts are issued in your region, the app warns you about those, as well, so you can take the necessary security measures. While I don’t like the interface much, because it looks cluttered, the fact remains that this is a very detailed app, and can give you a lot of information about the weather that other apps may not. Plus, you can customize the layout of the app, and keep it simple, or choose all the details that you want to see in the app, and create the perfect layout for your needs. Download Weather Live from the App Store ($3.99)
9. Weatherwise
Weatherwise is a free iPhone app that you can use to ensure that you always know what to expect from the weather in your location. The app has a beautiful interface that changes according to the current weather, and the interface itself is kept minimal. You can add multiple locations to the app, if you need to, and the forecasts in the app can be switched between hourly, 24 hour, and weekly formats. The app displays the wind direction, and speed with the help of small arrows that point where the wind is blowing, along with the speed written inside of them. You can also keep a check on the precipitation percentage with the app.
The app also supports a 7 day forecast, in which you can tap on the next 7 days of the week, and get the forecast for that day. This also changes the homescreen picture to reflect the weather that you can expect. Overall, the app is definitely not the greatest design I’ve seen, but it’s still very well designed, and is accurate enough to be used as a replacement for the stock weather app in the iPhone.
Download Weatherwise from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchases)
10. Weatherline
Weatherline is a weather app that is built on the premise that your brain can process images faster than text. So, the main focus of this app is to get you to “see the weather“. The app uses bold colors, to quickly show the temperature, condition, and precipitation. The design of the app is specifically developed to allow you to check the weather at a glance. Weatherline uses forecast.io data to show the weather, and thus, it is very accurate. In supported countries (US, UK, Ireland, Canada), the app can show extremely accurate rain forecasting, down to the minute.
You can also check the monthly average temperature, precipitation, days when it rained, and much more. The app will also inform you of any sever weather alerts issued by authorities; however, this is only available in the US and the UK. You can definitely give this app a shot. Download Weatherline from the App Store ($1.99) SEE ALSO: 6 Best iPhone Camera Apps You Should Use
Always Be Prepared with These iPhone Weather Apps
With any of these 10 weather apps for iOS, you can easily plan ahead, and make sure that you’re ready to face the weather. Each of these apps is a great option to consider, and while some of them may not be available in every country, the ones like Dark Sky, Weather Underground, Carrot Weather, etc, are really great weather apps that you should try. Also, if you know of any other weather apps for iPhone that you think deserve to be on this list, do let us know in the comments section below.
