The best weather apps for iPhone and iPad

AppleInsider

Whether you'd like to know the rain forecast or you need access to extreme weather and hurricane alerts, a good weather app is essential. Here are some of the best for iPhone or iPad.

Weather apps on iPhoen and iPad

Largely considered an essential app, weather apps are probably among the most-used basic apps on your iOS device. The good ones will give you a detailed forecast of the weather, as well as important data like UV index, air quality, and severe weather alerts.

There are a variety of weather apps available on the App Store, from basic and free options to much more detailed platforms aimed at meteorologists. Here are the best weather apps for iPhone and iPad.

Dark Sky

Dark Sky is one of the most popular weather apps for a reason. It features precise weather reports with much more accurate predictions than you might get with other weather apps.

Dark Sky on iOS

However, Dark Sky has been purchased by Apple, and the Cupertino company plans to sunset the app by the end of 2022. You can continue to use it until then, or you can find an alternative -- including Apple's own Weather app, which has been updated with some of Dark Sky's features.

You can download Dark Sky from the App Store here.

Apple Weather

The stock Weather app on iOS has long felt like an afterthought. It did the job, but was very basic. In iOS 15 and later, however, Apple has taken steps to revamp the Weather app and make it a serious contender.

The stock iOS weather app

Weather in iOS 15 features a clean and minimal design, as well as a new map for geographic weather. There's also new in-app sections for the UV index, temperature, air quality, and more. The best part about Weather is its deep integration with iOS -- and the fact that you likely already have it on your device.

You like already have Weather on your phone, but its App Store listing is here.

Weather Underground

Weather Underground is an app that leverages weather data from a huge network of 30,000 amateur and personal weather stations, allowing users to get a detailed and granular look at the conditions in their area.

Weather Underground

Additionally, the app has a level of crowd-sourcing not seen in other weather apps, allowing users to confirm weather reports or post their own. Because of that, it may provide some of the most accurate weather reports in a simple and customizable user interface.

You can download Weather Underground from the App Store here.

Carrot Weather

If you like a dose of humor with your weather reports, Carrot Weather is an award-winning app that can deliver the forecast with a healthy amount of sarcastic zingers. Users can even customize the level and type of humor in Carrot Weather.

Carrot Weather

The app pulls data from Dark Sky, meaning you'll get accurate weather reports with up-to-the-minute forecasts. There are options for iOS widgets and Apple Watch companion apps. You can also opt for premium features with its subscription tiers.

You can download the Carrot Weather app from the App Store here

The Weather Channel

If you're looking for a simple weather app provided by one of the most reputable weather companies in the U.S., take a look at The Weather Channel app. It's a solid solution that's free and ad-supported.

The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel app features 15-minute rain forecasts, snow intensity data, and editorial weather content and live breaking news alerts for extreme weather events. If you don't like ads, you can also opt for a premium subscription that features advanced radar and additional features.

You can download The Weather Channel app from the App Store here.

RadarScope

Meteorologists or weather enthusiasts won't find a more feature-rich and powerful weather app on the App Store than RadarScope. The app features Nexrad Level 3 data sourced from weather stations in the U.S., Guam, and Puerto Rico.

RadarScope

In addition to the highly accurate data rendering, RadarScope also features severe weather alerts and a suite of options for fine-tuning your meteorological reports. Most people won't need a weather app as detailed as this, but those that do will be glad that it does.

You can download RadarScope from the App Store here.

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Fred257

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

george kaplan

One that I have enjoyed using but, like Dark Sky, has been purchased and will be shut down soon, is WeatherLine. 

Their blog site doesn’t name the new owner, so it remains to be seen if the features and functionality will be rolled into an existing app, or be added to iOS or Android software. 

george kaplan

Fred257 said:

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

Hmmm…I have 6 different weather widgets on the info screen, accessed with a single swipe right from the home screen, and never felt disadvantaged by the 5 seconds needed for FaceID to unlock and make the one swipe. 

I guess one really needs to know the weather constantly to feel a need to change OS as a result. 

Japhey

Fred257 said:

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

Are you serious? Since we don’t have always-on displays yet, you either have to tap the screen or pick up the phone to access the Lock Screen info anyway. Are you really saying that the extra 1 second it takes to swipe up and look at your weather widgets is so much of a strain that you need to switch OS’s? Anything you can’t deduce by looking out a window can surely wait 1 second, no? Like, literally 1 friggin second. Or maybe you just need help with your notification game, since anything important that needs to be reported will be there waiting for you…on your Lock Screen. 

roundaboutnow

Fred257 said:

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

buh-bye

waveparticle

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Appleish

Fred257 said:

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

I wish mine could groom my dog and make me a gin and tonic. Dumping my iPhone for Blackberry.

djames4242

Fred257 said:

I wish I could get weather on the Lock Screen. I’m tired of trying to get it there unsuccessfully. Apple wants you to buy their watch (which you can put the weather on the face of it). I’m tired of these products all different across the board. Dumping my iPhone for android..

LOLz. Have fun with that. I've had three Android phones myself (semi-daily drivers back when I was working as a developer and needed to support the platform) and you couldn't pay me to switch over. All three of those phones (a Moto X and two Galaxies) each received ONE major Android update before becoming deprecated. Switching from Motorola to Samsung had me lose a couple of Motorola-specific apps that weren't available on the Galaxies. The Moto's battery life as utterly abysmal after the first year. The interface is comparatively clunky and inconsistent. Apps were generally of lesser quality. The process for moving to a new device never worked as well as it does on iOS.

But hey, at least you'll be able to see the weather .319 seconds sooner...

Hank2.0

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Have you tried TitanTV (https://www.titantv.com)?

mpantone

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Almost all US television schedule apps use the same data source that has existed for decades, PGD (Program Guide Data) from the Chicago Tribune (at least that's where it came from twenty years ago).

The data is provided by the individual companies (terrestrial broadcasters, major networks, etc.). If WTEH doesn't update their PGD feed, no one gets it.

Returning to the original topic, the best weather app I have ever used is Tenki. There are two main shortcomings: 1.) the app's interface is only in Japanese and 2.) the weather data coverage is only for Japan. The basic weather service data is superb, far better than anything I've seen in a US-based weather data source.

waveparticle

Hank2.0 said:

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Have you tried TitanTV (https://www.titantv.com)?

Thanks for the tip. I searched TitanTV and got several new finds. The one called TV Listings is good for me. 

waveparticle

mpantone said:

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Almost all US television schedule apps use the same data source that has existed for decades, PGD (Program Guide Data) from the Chicago Tribune (at least that's where it came from twenty years ago).

The data is provided by the individual companies (terrestrial broadcasters, major networks, etc.). If WTEH doesn't update their PGD feed, no one gets it.

Returning to the original topic, the best weather app I have ever used is Tenki. There are two main shortcomings: 1.) the app's interface is only in Japanese and 2.) the weather data coverage is only for Japan. The basic weather service data is superb, far better than anything I've seen in a US-based weather data source.

I believe all the weather apps fetched data through National Weather Service or whatever it is called. 

mpantone

waveparticle said:

mpantone said:

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Almost all US television schedule apps use the same data source that has existed for decades, PGD (Program Guide Data) from the Chicago Tribune (at least that's where it came from twenty years ago).

The data is provided by the individual companies (terrestrial broadcasters, major networks, etc.). If WTEH doesn't update their PGD feed, no one gets it.

Returning to the original topic, the best weather app I have ever used is Tenki. There are two main shortcomings: 1.) the app's interface is only in Japanese and 2.) the weather data coverage is only for Japan. The basic weather service data is superb, far better than anything I've seen in a US-based weather data source.

I believe all the weather apps fetched data through National Weather Service or whatever it is called. 

This is incorrect.

Multiple weather data providers exist in the USA. The National Weather Service (NOAA) is just one. There are privately operated weather forecasting services as well. The Weather Channel (operated by IBM) is one. Weather Underground is yet another. Go ahead and look at the five day temperature forecast for your ZIP code with all three services. You will definitely see discrepancies.

The NWS (NOAA) does not create detailed temperature/weather forecasts worldwide. If you use an app/service that sources data from the NWS (NOAA), that same app/service is sourcing international weather forecasts from other sources.

NWS/NOAA is the most common weather data source provider for the USA but it is most certainly isn't the only one. And this isn't a new development. Private weather data service providers have been around FOR DECADES.

There are many regional specific/situation specific weather data providers. Surfline provides surf forecasts for many breaks around the world. Stormsurf does so for the US West Coast (focusing on Central California).

Alex_V

mpantone said:

Multiple weather data providers exist in the USA. The National Weather Service (NOAA) is just one. There are privately operated weather forecasting services as well. The Weather Channel (operated by IBM) is one. Weather Underground is yet another. Go ahead and look at the five day temperature forecast for your ZIP code with all three services. You will definitely see discrepancies.
The NWS (NOAA) does not create detailed temperature/weather forecasts worldwide. If you use an app/service that sources data from the NWS (NOAA), that same app/service is sourcing international weather forecasts from other sources.
NWS/NOAA is the most common weather data source provider for the USA but it is most certainly isn't the only one. And this isn't a new development. Private weather data service providers have been around FOR DECADES.
There are many regional specific/situation specific weather data providers. Surfline provides surf forecasts for many breaks around the world. Stormsurf does so for the US West Coast (focusing on Central California).

Interesting. Reminds me of the story about the first scientific weather ‘forecasts’ (a newly coined word), here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32483678

‘… the belief persisted among many that weather was completely chaotic. When one MP suggested in the [House of] Commons in 1854 that recent advances in scientific theory might soon allow them to know the weather in London "twenty-four hours beforehand", the House roared with laughter.

citpeks

Obligatory "Why won't Apple deign to make a weather (or calculator) app for the iPad?  Their BS excuse about only wanting to do something "worthy" of their reputation doesn't cut it, when there are other uninspired, but still functional first party Apple apps, and the universe hasn't imploded.  Nobody is asking for a revolutionary weather app, basic functionality is fine, and not having is worse.  If Apple can make a half-hearted effort like the iPad weather widget, it can certainly finish the job and do an app.

That said, I'm fortunate to not have to regularly rely on weather apps for extreme weather alerts that could mean life or death, so the stock Apple app serves my needs if I desire to see what the current professional weather guessers are predicting, or if more depth is required, visit a weather website.  Side benefit of that is that is also not being subject to the data collection policies of apps like the Weather Channel, where they say they seek permission to track your location to provide a better forecast, but also sell that data to advertisers and as the foundation of a data mining business platform.  Don't value what they provide enough to willingly participate in that particular tradeoff.

paraeeker

Check out yr.no. It’s been my daily driver for a long time. I gives a decent wind speed forecast by the hour. If you like it, drop a shortcut on your Home Screen. 

rjackb2

WeatherBug is my favorite weather app. RadarScope is great too but it isn’t really a weather app but rather a weather radar app. 

AppleZulu

mpantone said:

waveparticle said:

mpantone said:

waveparticle said:

Any good tv guide app? TV Guide app used to be pretty good for displaying over the air tv programs. Then for some reason, it changed to become not informative. 

Almost all US television schedule apps use the same data source that has existed for decades, PGD (Program Guide Data) from the Chicago Tribune (at least that's where it came from twenty years ago).

The data is provided by the individual companies (terrestrial broadcasters, major networks, etc.). If WTEH doesn't update their PGD feed, no one gets it.

Returning to the original topic, the best weather app I have ever used is Tenki. There are two main shortcomings: 1.) the app's interface is only in Japanese and 2.) the weather data coverage is only for Japan. The basic weather service data is superb, far better than anything I've seen in a US-based weather data source.

I believe all the weather apps fetched data through National Weather Service or whatever it is called. 

This is incorrect.

Multiple weather data providers exist in the USA. The National Weather Service (NOAA) is just one. There are privately operated weather forecasting services as well. The Weather Channel (operated by IBM) is one. Weather Underground is yet another. Go ahead and look at the five day temperature forecast for your ZIP code with all three services. You will definitely see discrepancies.

The NWS (NOAA) does not create detailed temperature/weather forecasts worldwide. If you use an app/service that sources data from the NWS (NOAA), that same app/service is sourcing international weather forecasts from other sources.

NWS/NOAA is the most common weather data source provider for the USA but it is most certainly isn't the only one. And this isn't a new development. Private weather data service providers have been around FOR DECADES.

There are many regional specific/situation specific weather data providers. Surfline provides surf forecasts for many breaks around the world. Stormsurf does so for the US West Coast (focusing on Central California).

This is true, but with the caveat that much of the raw weather data is first sourced from the National Weather Service’s National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD), then processed for modeling, etc, by the private firms. Weather Underground also uses crowdsourced data from individual end users with weather stations. This provides a lot of additional information, but likely at a lower level of data quality/integrity, as backyard weather stations are not likely placed and maintained with the same level of scientific rigor as are NOAA data collection stations. I haven't checked to see if and how this has improved, but under the previous US administration, there was quite a bit of to-and-fro, seeking to limit the NOAA's production of end-user weather products under the pretext that doing so would be unfair competition with the private firms, even though much of the private firms' raw data was coming from the NDFD anyway. Also, Weather Underground was bought by the Weather Channel years ago, and IBM later bought the Weather Channel's back-end as well as all their front-end businesses, with the exception of the TV channel itself.

So most of the US raw data comes from NOAA, which also does still do its own modeling and forecasting. IBM also does a lot of modeling and forecasting, largely based on NOAA data, with the exception of their Weather Underground product, which offers dual forecasting products, one based on NOAA data and the other on their crowdsourced data. You'd have to check with each one, but likely most weather app developers are creating a front end based on the NOAA data.

Hap

My go to weather apps:

WeatherMate - nice interface, responsive developers
Storm Shield - incredibly rich, customizable alerts
Snowflake Weather - Intuitive interface, really like the 3 day temperature and rainfall graph. Tells you everything at a glance.

And for the direct NWS feed (through Iowa State meteorology program) - usually shows up here before you hear it on radio/tv/apps  - by up to a minute sometimes.

http://https//weather.im/iembot/

One of my many hats at work is Crisis Management and since the facility I work at falls in Tornado country - accurate, timely alerts are critical.