Yes Dark Sky had the best UI of any weather app I have used.
I now use Weathergraph which does it differently but I would go back to Dark Sky (and pay for it) in a flash.
It shows the correct things and on a phone understands that showing the temperatures across the screen is useless as if I go out I want to know what the weather is like when I might make the journey back in 8+ hours time. I might not care what the weather is in 4 hours time as I will be inside.
Dark Sky was a marvel, and when it first came out, its ability to say rain will start where you are in 2-3 minutes was a marvel.
The information design argument is 100% valid, but I also marvel that, having bought the company, Apple's weather app still isn't as precise or accurate. I don't know whether Apple's privacy focus prevents them making the same precise predictions, or if there is some other reason they don't, but it's sad that in 2025 we don't have the same level of performance as we did twelve years ago.
The Apple Weather app has gotten better over time, though it’s still not a perfect replacement.
Scrolling through the Dark Sky screenshots, I can recognize many of the same things now incorporated with Apple’s. And Apple does offer location specific notifications of rain which I find to be pretty accurate, about as accurate as Dark Sky.
There’s largely a perception problem with Apple. People loved Dark Sky as an independent small app that worked well, before Apple took it and destroyed it. Now, even if Apple incorporated all of the same data and features, it still wouldn’t give that same spark of joy people had.
I have been using breezy weather and I like it overall. But after reading this article I can't help but be bugged off that the information density in the main page is significantly worse here than in Dark Sky.
Dark Sky showed hourly forecast with a 2h resolution. This is a negligible difference in precision IMHO (weather predictions are inherently imprecise anyway - and a more precise graph could be - is - one tap away), but it allows to show a time range that is twice as wide! On my screen, breezy weather is able to show me the forecast for the next 5h until I scroll - this is OK, but it's annoying. The hours are very spaced apart, and there is a 1h resolution. With tighter spacing and 2h resolution, 12 or 16 hours could be displayed at once - which is far more likely to cover the time I am going to spend outside, which as the article states, is the main reason why I might want to check an hourly forecast anyway.
All the other android apps mentioned here have the same issue.
I might try to open an issue in their GH, or even a PR... A toggle for "denser graphs" and a setting for hourly resolution could do wonders.
What drives me crazy is Apple redesigned their weather app not so long after acquiring dark sky. I was anticipating a polished, updated version of Dark Sky's UI. Instead we have the current design, which is quite frankly terrible.
So what happened with previous customers who (I'm presuming) paid for the app? Did their app keep running or were they given a refund? I am guessing it used publicly available weather data, but even then, if the server names changed (and support was ended), wouldn't the app quit working?
A website dedicated to data visualization and it's totally broken on Desktop Firefox. If they had just created a straightforward article, it would be perfectly legible, but all the flashy-flash just makes it unintelligible.
Among all the destruction Apple has wrought when they killed DarkSky, they also failed to bring back the weather history feature. You could go back decades and see the weather anytime, anywhere. I miss it so.
I miss Dark Sky for its impressive "local weather at a glance" accuracy and UX -- but Windy.app is pretty great too, with more details than DS ever had. They're maybe slightly complementary, given Windy.app is more like "prosumer" weather forecasting for nautical purposes, but I highly recommend it.
Oh how I miss DarkSky, and accuracy in weather apps in general. I have no idea if it is AI or just enshitification, but wow, local temps are just always way off with Apple Weather and most other apps. This is important to me because I live in my van and I am talking about these apps being off 5 to 10 degrees. The only one that comes close is Accuweather but their interface is horrific. And forget about the widgets...just show me the highs and lows for the week and quit changing the layout like you think i know what I want, because you do not.
I enjoyed this write-up on UI design and Visualization topic.
The table of user "context and situation" is a great document. You can easily envision authoring this table and scrolling to the right of your initial columns (A,B) to see further into the design process,
A) "When I hear about a storm, I want to prepare my loved ones, my property, etc.
B) Storm forecast ... :
- Where is the storm right now and is it heading my direction?
[...]
N) _Show the storm front using _directional arrows_ ... (compact and replaces need for animation)_
The last section concludes in praise of the design and includes this: _"rigorously iterated on data visualization design". I wish we would have seen evidence of this, principally in the form of older screen shots of the design.
I think design iteration is the difference between mere good design and good products, and legendary product design.
Personally, I'd love to see a write up of my favorite whipping post, Transit App. Oh boy did that app go down hill, and with such great potential.
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[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 63.9 ms ] threadI now use Weathergraph which does it differently but I would go back to Dark Sky (and pay for it) in a flash.
It shows the correct things and on a phone understands that showing the temperatures across the screen is useless as if I go out I want to know what the weather is like when I might make the journey back in 8+ hours time. I might not care what the weather is in 4 hours time as I will be inside.
The information design argument is 100% valid, but I also marvel that, having bought the company, Apple's weather app still isn't as precise or accurate. I don't know whether Apple's privacy focus prevents them making the same precise predictions, or if there is some other reason they don't, but it's sad that in 2025 we don't have the same level of performance as we did twelve years ago.
Scrolling through the Dark Sky screenshots, I can recognize many of the same things now incorporated with Apple’s. And Apple does offer location specific notifications of rain which I find to be pretty accurate, about as accurate as Dark Sky.
There’s largely a perception problem with Apple. People loved Dark Sky as an independent small app that worked well, before Apple took it and destroyed it. Now, even if Apple incorporated all of the same data and features, it still wouldn’t give that same spark of joy people had.
The developer is very responsive, lots of UI customization (both app and widgets) is possible, and pricing is reasonable.
1: https://github.com/davidtakac/bura/
All the other android apps mentioned here have the same issue.
I might try to open an issue in their GH, or even a PR... A toggle for "denser graphs" and a setting for hourly resolution could do wonders.
I've used it daily since.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34155191
A website dedicated to data visualization and it's totally broken on Desktop Firefox. If they had just created a straightforward article, it would be perfectly legible, but all the flashy-flash just makes it unintelligible.
Polaroid
Pebble
Palm
Oldsmobile
Tower Records
Borders
Pan Am
The table of user "context and situation" is a great document. You can easily envision authoring this table and scrolling to the right of your initial columns (A,B) to see further into the design process,
A) "When I hear about a storm, I want to prepare my loved ones, my property, etc.
B) Storm forecast ... : - Where is the storm right now and is it heading my direction?
[...]
N) _Show the storm front using _directional arrows_ ... (compact and replaces need for animation)_
The last section concludes in praise of the design and includes this: _"rigorously iterated on data visualization design". I wish we would have seen evidence of this, principally in the form of older screen shots of the design.
I think design iteration is the difference between mere good design and good products, and legendary product design.
Personally, I'd love to see a write up of my favorite whipping post, Transit App. Oh boy did that app go down hill, and with such great potential.
Weather APIs are pretty open. What's stopping you?
Check out their compare feature. Brilliant.
Eg: Seattle vs London https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/913~45062/Comparison-of-t...
(Not affiliated. Just an admirer.)