Lukas Gregor Not only tree frogs can predict the weather, but also dozens of applications for iOS devices. If you prefer to be at least partially certain of what will happen to the sky in the following week, you surely have one of them installed on your iPhone or iPad. Recently, a product from Vimov, called Weather HD, has expanded my collection.
I enjoy watching the competition between developers for the iOS platform - if only because I am interested in whether the authors will discover a) a gap in the market, b) a new feature/function, c) make the application special with an original user interface. As the market becomes more saturated, the first two points become less and less certain. According to the recent (but great) success of the Twitter client Tweetbot, it turns out that it is the controls and graphical elements that can shuffle the cards.
I wonder if the Weather HD app will do something similar. The interest in weather forecasting will probably not be as widespread as in the communicator of a certain social network, but even so, Vimov could rise nicely to the top. So what's new in Weather HD?
Sorry, I should have asked more - what's new in Weather HD? As for the functions, the program uses proven information that can be found in practically every such application. So in short:
- current status – with information about the temperature and whether it is e.g. sunny, cloudy, raining, etc.
- highest and lowest temperature during the day
- data on humidity, precipitation, weather, pressure, visibility
- forecast for the week ahead
- overview of the weather during the day - information about every hour of the day
So Weather HD meets the criteria of a full-fledged weather app, but its weapon lies in how it looks and how it conveys this information to users.
As it shows this video, Weather HD can become an application that you will like to show to everyone who has not seen the iPad/iPhone live yet - the program is very impressive to look at. While most competitors make do with simple lines of temperature data and the like, Weather HD puts the weather in the palm of your hand. The entire screen is occupied by beautiful animations - videos - depicting different types of nature's behavior. While some have a relaxing quality, others can startle you - the one when the camera flashes and shakes along with the roar of thunder.
There is a free version of the app, but if you pay less than a dollar more, you get the ability to watch the weather in an unlimited number of cities and also more videos so that you don't get tired of the app so soon. And you will get rid of the upper panel that warns about the upgrade option.
However, Weather HD is becoming a hit in the Mac App Store - Vimov has expanded its portfolio to include a desktop alternative. It is not just an imitation, it has other functions. You watch the phase of the moon, as well as videos on the map, which show the development of temperature, winds, precipitation, etc. In full-screen mode, the program looks really nice. It's just a shame that it doesn't show the course of the day every hour, but it has three-hour intervals.
So what do you say?
Weather HD for iOS - €0,79
Weather HD for Mac OS X - €2,99
The program is really effective and quite functional, but I recently deleted it, after all, it is only 227 MB for a weather program that you use max. 1x per day, rather longer is enough. As I say, cool dude, if you want a "background" video, look for another program with the same information value, but a smaller data size.
...I am disappointed, the forecast is completely out of line with reality here in the Beskydy. The Weather+ app is more accurate and has nicer graphics too, but it's more accurate for the same price.