Lukas Gregor Links to more and more apps that show the current state of the weather and can predict it prove that interest in them continues and also that new user interface concepts can still be invented. The latter is evidenced by the pair that I am dealing with in this article.
Simplicity over measure?
If you fall in love with minimalism, you could hardly miss (or leave cold) the screenshots of the application WthrDial. I have to admit, when I saw them, I got a kick of desire and David Elgen's creation was soon installed on my iPhone. You don't often come across an application that fits everything on a single screen, looks clean and works very fast. However, they can take their initial enthusiasm after a few days of use. Why? WhtrDial will serve you if your needs are satisfied with monitoring only one place - where you are currently standing with your phone. Therefore, forget about the desire to go to the locations you are planning to visit in the following week. The tool from Elgen does not set these ambitions (yet?). I personally take this as a reason not to use the app. I am constantly moving between at least three cities, and before I go to them, I am interested in how the city is doing, what the temperature and precipitation will be like. However, if you don't mind this, you will most likely like WthrDial.
When launched, it immediately updates the data, it is clearly readable, and within the forecast line, you can click to change the preview for the next hours (three hours apart). The program also responds to the time of day, so its interface is bright during the day and dark for a change in the evening and at night. Both look very nice. The only feature you can control yourself is whether you will monitor temperatures in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.
And a small side note. Although WthrDial has reported the temperature accurately so far, it was not quite ideal with the icon of the state of the sky. He liked to report that it was clear, even if the clouds in the sky didn't exactly say so.
And the winner becomes…
I didn't know the Raureif brand until recently. Error! The applications that this German team is responsible for look incredibly beautiful. You see, I had to justify myself enough to spend money on another weather forecast app, but the videos and images were etched into my subconscious and manipulated my mind. So I sent roughly 40 crowns to Berlin so that I could enjoy - in my opinion - the best application of its category so far.
Partly Cloudy it is based on the concept of a circle with one "hand" that you can control with your finger to move through time. There are three views – twelve-hour, twenty-four-hour and seven-day views. Of course, the first view allows you to follow the following weather development in the most detail. And by turning the hand, you can scroll through other days in the twelve o'clock display. The bike provides several pieces of information. It's broken down by hours/days, then below that is a colored ring - the redder it is, the warmer it will be. As the color fades, it goes through orange, yellow to green, it cools. (I don't know the color of the frost yet, after all, so far the forecast "threatens" only minimum temperatures of around 12 degrees...)
The inner content of the wheel shows what weather conditions can be expected (the longer the bars away from the center, the more intense the wind) and whether and how much rain will occur (blue fill from the center). For orientation, it is sufficient to observe only the contents of the circle. However, if you would like the exact data, you can look at the top edge of the screen while turning the handle, the details are displayed there. Simply tap on the lower light "NOW" icon to return to the current time.
Unlike WthrDial, Partly Cloudy can display the forecast for several cities. You add them in the settings, or when you click on the name of your position/city at the bottom. A list of set/saved places will be displayed, which can be edited. I like that Partly Cloudy also collects data from small locations, villages or city districts. For example, so far I could only monitor the situation in Bohumín, now in Bohumín-Záblatí. And Partly Cloudy responds (and predicts) very well indeed. Moreover, the application is also fast.
PS: Both of the programs I presented here only exist in the mobile phone version so far, but I tried to install them on the iPad as well and they don't look bad there. PartlyClouds can be used even after expansion, which naturally pleased me.
[app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/wthrdial-simpler-more-beautiful/id536445532″]
[app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/partly-cloudy/id545627378″]
I also like similar apps, so I recommend the author a great app – Solar : Weather
Would Bohumín-Záblatí have its own weather station that provides measured data to the world? :-)
So I bought Partly Cloudy when the author praised it so much, but a huge disappointment! I have probably never seen such an inaccuracy (sometimes even 4-5°C) anywhere. Don't buy!