This may be why Apple's Weather app doesn't show 69-degree temperatures

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iOS
Reports indicate that Apple's Weather app may avoid the number 69 in its user interface, but while some have suggested that it's censorship, it's more likely a conversion issue.

Apple's Weather app could be avoiding a socially significant number
Apple's Weather app could be avoiding a socially significant number


Apple is renovating its Weather app for iOS 15, and it seems some versions of the app purposely avoid displaying 69 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures. But while it may seem like Apple is censoring the oft-joked-about number, its absence may actually be a result of converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit.

The Verge, for example, suggests that it may be some kind of attempt to cut down on 69-related humor. However, 69-degree temperatures are only absent on some versions of the iOS Weather app, making censorship an unlikely scenario.

One former Apple developer shared a hypothesis behind the absence. Specifically, the Weather app may be using Celsius temperatures internally, then converting them in whole numbers to Fahrenheit for displaying on the user interface.

Here's another hypothesis:

The weather app actually always uses temperature data in whole number Celsius degrees internally, and then converts to rounded Fahrenheit just for the UI.

You will never see any numbers that don't result from this conversion. https://t.co/JdOrnivkua pic.twitter.com/SvdtBDJEjU

-- Joo Pavo (@jpavao)


That means Apple's Weather app would never be able to show 69 degrees as a result. This "bug" doesn't affect everyone, however, as 69 degrees can be seen in the iOS 15 beta.

Pavao's theory seems the most reasonable, as it is highly unlikely that Apple would avoid showing a temperature just to keep social snickering to a minimum.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,249member
    By now Apple should accompany an exact 69 degrees with a little video containing “the action” in the Weather app.
    right_said_fred
  • Reply 2 of 43
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    Somewhat related, though not as funny, is why on earth there is no Weather App for the iPad. Boggles the mind.
    jas99dewmeNumNutsroundaboutnowronnJapheyBeatsdysamoriaMplsPiloveapplegear
  • Reply 3 of 43
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    What a sad state of the human condition when people complain about some temperature numbers not displaying.  Seriously.  Is this part of the new "woke" fad?
    PetrolDaveiloveapplegearwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 43
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,125member
    sflocal said:
    What a sad state of the human condition when people complain about some temperature numbers not displaying.  Seriously.  Is this part of the new "woke" fad?
    It's more anti-woke: "They're censoring mah lies! waaaa!"  ;)

    Funny how people would notice that pattern. Was it just seeing 68, then 70?
    davenwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 43
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,362member
    mike1 said:
    Somewhat related, though not as funny, is why on earth there is no Weather App for the iPad. Boggles the mind.

    Full boggle indeed. I use Dark Sky on all of my iOS and iPad devices and its been put on the cut list. Not sure what I'll do when Dark Sky is no longer available. Hopefully Apple's next gen weather app will be present on iPadOS. I used to use Weather Underground, but it went completely off the rails and straight into the crapper when it was acquired by a larger weather agency.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 43
    NumNutsNumNuts Posts: 36member

    Makes sense why they’d do it 
    davengregoriusmronnionicledewmeStrangeDayswilliamlondonrundhvidMplsPnadriel
  • Reply 7 of 43
    kklee0823kklee0823 Posts: 3member
    I worked for Emerson's Sensi Smart thermostat devision and I can confirm that it is 100% the Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion causing the weather app not to display certain temperatures.
    ionicledewmeronnStrangeDaysBeatsPetrolDaveapplguyn2itivguywatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 43
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Looking down the list there’s a lot of numbers missing.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 43
    HapHap Posts: 17member
    dewme said:
    mike1 said:
    Somewhat related, though not as funny, is why on earth there is no Weather App for the iPad. Boggles the mind.

    Full boggle indeed. I use Dark Sky on all of my iOS and iPad devices and its been put on the cut list. Not sure what I'll do when Dark Sky is no longer available. Hopefully Apple's next gen weather app will be present on iPadOS. I used to use Weather Underground, but it went completely off the rails and straight into the crapper when it was acquired by a larger weather agency.

    Snowflake (really nice interface)
    Storm Shield (incredible for alerts)
    WeatherMate (this one has kinda dropped in accuracy IMO)
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 43
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    sflocal said:
    What a sad state of the human condition when people complain about some temperature numbers not displaying.  Seriously.  Is this part of the new "woke" fad?
    Who complained?
    MplsPchemengin1
  • Reply 11 of 43
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Can anyone confirm those other numbers missing? Why can’t they use half units to compensate and convert to Fahrenheit?

    If this is because of “jokes”, I want accuracy not politics.
  • Reply 12 of 43
    kkqd1337kkqd1337 Posts: 424member
    The US needs to stop using imperial measurements like the rest of the world 

    DAalsethwilliamlondonelijahgNumNutsiloveapplegearseanjright_said_fredn2itivguyIreneWwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 43
    Mariner8Mariner8 Posts: 33member
    ‘Way back in the day - in 1958 -  I was working alone in Denver with the radio on.  There had been some chatter in the papers about the possibility that the US would soon be‘forced’ to change to the Metric system.  

    The broadcaster of the moment was giving a quick weather report, and he said, somewhat sardonically, “It’s 20 degrees Celsius outside, or 68 degrees on the Christian scale.”  Gotta love ‘em  ;-)

    MplsPright_said_fredwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 43
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,642member
    It’s clearly Celsius converted to F.    Apple may have switched from the opposite in previous versions of iOS.  

    SOMETHING has to be the basis and I’ve never seen weather reported on any scale in half or tenths of a degree.  

    Much ado about nothing.  
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 43
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,316member
    kkqd1337 said:
    The US needs to stop using imperial measurements like the rest of the world 

    Yes they had a war to get rid of the King but kept the measurement system.

    edited July 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 43
    Jeff_in_TXJeff_in_TX Posts: 45member
    Irritatingly, my car cruise control sometimes won't set to 70 mph...it'll lock in 69 or 71, so I think there might be some algorithm silliness in some of our modern apps, whether phone, car or whatever...  :D
    edited July 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 43
    xiao-zhixiao-zhi Posts: 112member
    I use IOS in Celsius mode and have never seen it display 69 degrees. I hope never to see that, actually, but cannot rule it out this summer.
    mattinozbaconstangPetrolDaveMplsPcharlesnseanjnarwhalapplguylarryjwJaphey
  • Reply 18 of 43
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,759member
    dewme said:
    mike1 said:
    Somewhat related, though not as funny, is why on earth there is no Weather App for the iPad. Boggles the mind.

    Full boggle indeed. I use Dark Sky on all of my iOS and iPad devices and its been put on the cut list. Not sure what I'll do when Dark Sky is no longer available. Hopefully Apple's next gen weather app will be present on iPadOS. I used to use Weather Underground, but it went completely off the rails and straight into the crapper when it was acquired by a larger weather agency.
    I have followed the exact same path, even going as far as submitting my own weather station data to Weather Underground. Then yeah, it went completely to sh*t, the average reviews went from 4.5* to 1.5* virtually overnight. Remember the amusing patch notes pre-aquisition? Apple's weather app has quite a few missing features from Dark Sky, though the iOS 15 version is better. Plus no iPad/Mac version, and the Dark Sky website is soon to be shut down.
  • Reply 19 of 43
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    kkqd1337 said:
    The US needs to stop using imperial measurements like the rest of the world 
    All imperial units are fundamentally defined in metric units anyway, so the US is using the metric system without even knowing it  :D
    MplsPbeowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 43
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    sflocal said:
    What a sad state of the human condition when people complain about some temperature numbers not displaying.  Seriously.  Is this part of the new "woke" fad?
    What a sad state of the human condition when people reach this far to blame a social equity movement for something that has nothing to do with it.
    tommikeleMplsP
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