Keep an eye on the weather with these apps!
In today’s world, we’ve gotten used to seeing the weather change with little notice — and sometime no notice at all. From flash floods and hurricanes to knowing precisely how hot — or cold — it is outside, having a trusty weather app on your side can make all the difference. There are plenty of weather apps available from Google Play, but we’ve got the best of the bunch for you here!
- Today Weather
- Yahoo Weather
- Dark Sky
- 1Weather
- Accuweather
Today Weather
TodayWeather is a relative newcomer to the weather app scene, but it has made quite the impression with its simple UI that’s easy to read as black as an abyss. The app will greet you by your name and then display weather information for your given locations from one of the user-selectable sources including AccuWeather, Dark Sky, and Yr.no, a Norwegian forecasting service that can produce more accurate forecasts for many parts of the world that aren’t America. If you’re looking for a weather app that’s black as night and will help you see what’s coming on a dark and stormy night, Today Weather is for you.
Free at Google Play
Yahoo Weather
Yahoo takes the honor in this humble writer’s eyes for being the prettiest weather app, and it’s powered by Weather Underground, so its forecasts and data have the accuracy of its nationwide network of personal weather stations. The background images for the app are pulled from Flickr, Yahoo’s picture service, so if you’re looking weather at picturesque locations like New York City or Walt Disney World, you’re likely to get a new and beautiful image every time to go into the app. The layout for Yahoo Weather is nice for checking multiple locations quickly, as you scroll up and down for the data about one location, then scroll side to side to switch between locations.
Free at Google Play
Dark Sky
Dark Sky is one of the most popular weather apps around. Its claim to fame is “hyperlocal” accuracy that can tell you within minutes of when it’s actually going to rain. Another standout feature is a global map view that shows you where the rain (and snow) is worldwide at any given time. Dark Sky also features a dedicated do not disturb mode so you can be assured it won’t wake you up in the middle of the night, but as someone living in Tornado Alley, I highly advise against it.
$3/year at Google Play
1Weather
1Weather has always been a beautiful weather app with a bounty of customization options and a dozen weather widgets that can be customized six ways to Sunday. Functionally, there are very few flaws we’ve found in our extended use of 1Weather, and most of them can be attributed to the horizontal, tabbed layout 1Weather uses, such having to tap an expand button before you can zoom or move the radar map. You can pay to ditch the ads in 1Weather via a one-time $1.99 in-app purchase.
Free/$2 at Google Play
AccuWeather
Many apps and widgets — including most preloaded manufacturer weather widgets — use Accuweather for the same reason you should: it’s dependable and damn accurate. Minutecast is scarily accurate, and it’s hard to leave Accuweather for another weather app without it. The app is smartly laid out, comes with a lovely dark theme option, and you can disable ads and expand your forecasts with a one-time $3.99 in-app purchase.
Free/$4 at Google Play
What’s your weather (app) like?
Do you have a favorite app for making sure you’ve got an accurate read on the weather? Is there an excellent app we should have included on this list? Let us know about it in the comments!
Updated September 2018: The weather is always changing, but these weather apps remain the best of the bunch on Android.
