Hyper-accurate weather app Dark Sky gets new design, extended forecasts

One of the best weather apps, design and informative wise, gets even better.

Dark Sky has been hailed as one of the best weather apps for the iPhone thanks to its scarily accurate predictions. Today, the app is getting a complete redesign and a bunch of new features that make it more than just a way to see if it is going to rain in the next hour.

The original Dark Sky app was the product of a Kickstarter campaign and was fairly limited. It offered very accurate weather predictions and pinpoint location accuracy, but it didn't provide any information for what might happen beyond the next hour. The developers eventually released a service and accompanying web app called Forecast.io to fill in the gaps of the native Dark Sky app. But web apps aren't great replacements for native apps, so the developers spent two years working to bring the functionality of Forecast.io to the native app.

Today's update does just that, adding features such as 24-hour and next-week forecasts. The app also displays a "feels like" temperature, whether the temperature is rising or dropping, and how far away the nearest rain or snow storm is.

In addition to the expanded forecasts, Dark Sky's entire design has been overhauled to better fit in with the aesthetics of iOS 7. The maps and radar features have been expanded with pan and zoom features and even more data than before.

There is no shortage of weather apps available for the iPhone, including some really great options such as Perfect Weather or Yahoo's excellent free app. But Dark Sky's uncanny ability to tell you when and exactly how much it is going to rain or snow has kept it on the home screens of many iPhone users. Today's update means that it likely will be the only weather app many users need, provided they have an iPhone (the developers have given no indication that they will develop the app for other platforms). The new app will be available for download as a free update for existing users from the iTunes App Store today, or for $3.99 for new users.


Source: iTunes.com; Darkskyapp.com;