The Weather Channel for iPhone is the most popular alternative to Apple's built-in Weather app and it recently received a complete makeover. It still has all the great features of the previous design, but the new UI is much more beautiful and user friendly.
The main screen of the Weather Channel displays the location (with zip code) and the temperature in a nice big font. In smaller letters underneath the temperature, you'll find what the temperature "feels like" and the high and lows for the day. If you tap the + sign, you'll find more detailed information for wind, humidity, UV index, dew point, visibility, pressure, and sunrise and sunset times.
The background of the home screen will change depending on the time of day and current weather conditions. You can also customize it with your own photo.
In addition to the current conditions, The Weather Channel also has tabs for the hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts.
The other sections in The Weather Channel are Map, Video, Social and In Season.
The Map tab lets you layer radar, clouds, radar/clouds, temperature, feels like, 24-hr rainfall, 24-hour snowfall, and UV index over the map. There is a key at the top so you know what the colors on the map represent.
The Video section is filled with must-see, local, and world videos as well as videos that are on TV.
The Social tab lets you read tweets about the weather both nearby and regionally. You can also check out photos taken by other Weather Channel users in the iWitness section.
From the In Season tab, you can check pollen, hurricane, and tide forecasts. The pollen and hurricane forecasts include maps and diagrams and are very informative. The marine section breaks the down sea, waves, wind, and high tide information into a nice, easy-to-read 2-day forecast broken down into separate morning, afternoon, even, and night sections.
The good
- Much better design than before
- Current, hourly, 36-hour, and 10-day forecasts
- View maps of clouds, radar, and more
- Videos
- Read tweets about the weather
- View photos taken of the weather
- Check pollen, hurricane, and tide forecasts
The bad
- Ads are annoying. I would gladly purchase an upgrade that removed them.
The bottom line
The Weather Channel for iPhone was always a good weather app, but now it's a great alternative to Apple's built-in Weather app. The new UI is much better -- both on the eyes and to use.
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