Sunsetting Dark Sky
Dark Sky (via Hacker News, MacRumors):
As previously announced, the Dark Sky iOS app will no longer be available beginning on December 31st, 2022 and, as of this date, already purchased versions of the app will no longer provide weather data. The Dark Sky API and website will continue to function until March 31st, 2023.
So far I am finding Apple’s weather service to be less accurate than The Weather Channel.
Folks here said the new Weather app has the same info. I upgraded to iOS 16 about a year before I normally would just to check this. And nope, it doesn’t have the one feature I use Dark Sky for – the one feature no other weather app has: the ability to see what the weather was yesterday.
It’s what Dark Sky calls “Time Machine”.
I’ve LOVED the Dark Sky app for years. I am led to understand Apple’s native weather app is improved in iOS 16 (I haven’t updated yet), but based on reviews, the Dark Sky UI I’ve grown to love isn’t even remotely approximated in Apple Weather app.
Previously:
Update (2022-09-26): Adam Engst:
My gripe with the daily graph screen is that it defaults to temperature rather than remembering what you had previously viewed. I’m less interested in temperature than precipitation most of the time, so I’d have to switch to the precipitation forecast manually every time. The workaround is to scroll down to the display of a particular metric on the main screen and tap that to jump directly to that metric’s graph screen. Better, but still fussy.
Welcome as these features are, I don’t see myself using them. Apple’s Weather app may have integrated Dark Sky’s capabilities, but I don’t love its interface, particularly with the individual metric cards, which are difficult to parse quickly.
Update (2022-12-23): Virtual-Stretch7231:
Right now I have heavy snow (Dark Sky agrees) the Apple app says it’s drizzling.
There have been so many instances like this and I’m really sad to see Dark Sky go down at the end of the year.
Here’s a prime example why it’s so sad that Apple is killing off Dark Sky app. Sure, the core features and data are now baked into Apple’s native Weather app, but it can’t show you a visualization of the cold blast most of the US is about to endure.
Update (2023-01-05): See also: Hacker News.
Update (2023-05-17): Marcin Krzyzanowski:
[Apple’s] take over of the Dark Sky didn’t go that well after all. Since Apple took over, it has an outages every few days/weeks now.
Previously:
Update (2023-09-04): Nikhil Nigade:
Whatever source Apple is using for the predictions should be ceased, it’s been highly inaccurate through 3 full seasons now, with no signs of improvement.
I am still seeing poor accuracy with Apple’s Weather app since the switch.
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Carrot does have, and for quite a long time has had, the ability to go back in time for weather, and also calls it Time Machine.
Carrot can go back in time? Since when, and how do you access it? One cannot, for example, scroll backwards in the current weather timeline. I asked the developer if they could add that feature about 6 months ago and they said they were working on it.
Dark Sky was my go-to app for looking at a weather map. I'm quite annoyed that it's going away and not being replaced with anything as good or better. Besides, I'm not updating to iOS 16 because I have an iPhone 7 (and also I don't want it).
Be aware that by default, the Carrot App uses the DarkSky API for its info! (paid subscriptions have access to different API's).
Carrot's developer said on the subreddit he is not yet decided what to do when the DarkSky API's shut off later in the springtime of 2023.
