Weather app rant

Country Flier

Country Flier

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CFL
So over the years, I’ve noticed something about weather apps. A new Wx app will come out, and I’ll really like it…but then the developers start “improving” or tweaking the app, and after several updates, the app becomes horrible, by either providing an abundance of useless information, or crappy change to the way the information is displayed, or unstable, or even getting rid of the very information that I was using the app to get. It’s happened with “AeroWeather” , “AccuWeather”, “HelloWeather”, “WeatherBug”…

It just happened with the app “Windy”. A year ago I loved the interface. I’d often use it for long range planning of flights to see wind and weather trends (it even predicted cloud bases with a good degree of accuracy out to a week). First tweak, they got rid of the long range predictions for free users, making past a few days a “pay only” prediction. I haven’t been making very many trips this year, so I didn’t upgrade yet…thank goodness I didn’t because the latest update has dropped the great interface to a sort-of quasi “app window” interface that just plain sucks. After several minutes of looking I couldn’t figure out how to recreate the the various cloud predictions I used before the update…DELETE WINDY.

Time to go looking for a new Wx app before the developer mucks it up with “improvements”.
 
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Country Flier said:
So over the years, I’ve noticed something about weather apps. A new Wx app will come out, and I’ll really like it…but then the developers start “improving” or tweaking the app, and after several updates, the app becomes horrible, by either providing an abundance of useless information, or crappy change to the way the information is displayed, or unstable, or even getting rid of the very information that I was using the app to get.
Click to expand...
You misspelled "all software". The circle of life:
1. early adopters / true believers provide free QA. "yay, we're going somewhere! together!"
2. after six or seven major releases, the plateau of awesomeness: more or less feature complete and free of bugs. "yay! we did it!"
3. the acquisition/pivot. the organization matures and hires PMs. "what you mean 'we', kemosabe?"
 
The Windy Premium app costs me $19 per year and is one of three weather apps I keep and use regularly. Accuweather Premium is my mainstay weather app and that after trying lots of others. My third weather app that I keep and use is YR.no. I learned about in in Europe and use it everywhere. For daily use I love the format but still prefer Accuweather for forecasts.

Aeroweather is an aviation app to me and with a complication on my Apple Watch is looked at dozens of times a day. With a tap on the watch face I see current weather, metars, and runway diagrams for nearby airports, and it always knows where I am. When I think about how much better info I have now than before I had the app? I can’t find anything to complain about.
 
perfect timing....I used to have the windy widget on my phone's homescreen. Recently it has become less and less stable and usefull.... and so just yesterday I deleted the widget and put up another to try from one of the other weather apps I already had on my phone...accuweather.... this widget stinks too.

For the last 6 months ago, I have figured out that I still likely windy for some purposes though a browser on my computer, but I haven't learned to like the phone app pretty much ever.
 
Brad W said:
perfect timing....I used to have the windy widget on my phone's homescreen. Recently it has become less and less stable and usefull.... and so just yesterday I deleted the widget and put up another to try from one of the other weather apps I already had on my phone...accuweather.... this widget stinks too.

For the last 6 months ago, I have figured out that I still likely windy for some purposes though a browser on my computer, but I haven't learned to like the phone app pretty much ever.
Click to expand...
Yeah, looks like the computer browser version of Windy is still usable...for now, lol.
 
I used to use the weather.com app on my tablet, but had to switch because it wouldn't play nice with it anymore. Accuweather... works, but not fully functionally. What I have discovered however is that the native iPhone weather app is actually pretty functional. The key thing for me is wind, wind gusts and direction, as I tend to plan my cycling routes around those.
 
Country Flier said:
Time to go looking for a new Wx app before the developer mucks it up with “improvements”
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eWeather HD. There are so many ways to customize the interface and widget, and the interface has remained mostly the same for years. I paid up for the premium version years ago and have never regretted it. The developer is also very responsive and open to suggestions and improvements.
 
Seriously, a bit overreacting aren’t you? The interface changed a bit, but everything is still there, they just added icons for every layer, and you can “pin” the commonly used ones. No ads, the $19/yr is fairly cheap.
The best part is having multiple models to compare.
 
When I take a car to get an oil change, the mechanic doesn't move my steering wheel or rearrange my A/C controls, so why do software devs think moving controls around is acceptable for simple updates?
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
$19/yr is fairly cheap
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They add up. If only you spent twenty bucks a month on some app that doesn't give you any more than standard public access data, I'd give you a pass. But you probably buy extended warranties and the like on the order of hundreds of dollars a year.
 
Sac Arrow said:
They add up. If only you spent twenty bucks a month on some app that doesn't give you any more than standard public access data, I'd give you a pass. But you probably buy extended warranties and the like on the order of hundreds of dollars a year.
Click to expand...

That’s it, getting (gfs, ecmwf) model data, including clouds information 10 days out in the nice graphic format, where else can you get that? SkewTs are difficult to interpret and only go 17 hours out. If I just wanted a basic forecast I would use accuweather or Apple weather app.
And no, I don’t buy extended warranties and don’t see the correlation.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Seriously, a bit overreacting aren’t you? The interface changed a bit, but everything is still there, they just added icons for every layer, and you can “pin” the commonly used ones. No ads, the $19/yr is fairly cheap.
The best part is having multiple models to compare.
Click to expand...
I used Windy over other apps due to the way it presented its information. It no longer presents the information in a way that is functional for me…why would I keep using it?
 
I couldn’t care less about what you don’t like. I’m not sure why you felt the need to post about it. I just got the newest Windy update. There’s a lot of useful stuff there if I choose to use it. For my default screen I look at the same info presented in the same familiar way I’m used to. Not a big deal.
 
Well apple App Store has windy.com app and windy app. I never knew about the second one.

The windy.com app just updated to #39 and has a trainer for the updated features. Complete with comment section. Looks like fun reading for tomorrow.
 
The two industries in the United States that have the lowest quality control, by a long margin, are desktop software and street opioids.
 
Country Flier said:
I used Windy over other apps due to the way it presented its information. It no longer presents the information in a way that is functional for me…why would I keep using it?
Click to expand...

Then why don’t you go to the App Store and post a bad review? Complaining here isn’t going to accomplish anything.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Then why don’t you go to the App Store and post a bad review? Complaining here isn’t going to accomplish anything.
Click to expand...
What makes you think I didn't?

You and @Stewartb might need this (see post title):

RANT:​

To vent our frustration; either loudly or through the Internet.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
When I take a car to get an oil change, the mechanic doesn't move my steering wheel or rearrange my A/C controls, so why do software devs think moving controls around is acceptable for simple updates?
Click to expand...

Because you’re renting the car and they own it. Why are you changing oil on a rental? :)
 
I like the new windy interface. It took a very short bit to learn but now it’s second nature.

That said, I hope they don’t get bought out by weather.com (IBM) who have trashed everything they touch.
 
Albany Tom said:
The two industries in the United States that have the lowest quality control, by a long margin, are desktop software and street opioids.
Click to expand...

Actually isn’t weather forecasting the industry with the lowest quality control?

Ha!
 
Justin M said:
Actually isn’t weather forecasting the industry with the lowest quality control?

Ha!
Click to expand...
It does seem like it lately! But I'd counter with, the weather guy is right about half the time. The software guys hit their goal of flaws in every release 100% of the time.
 
Country Flier said:
So over the years, I’ve noticed something about weather apps. A new Wx app will come out, and I’ll really like it…but then the developers start “improving” or tweaking the app, and after several updates, the app becomes horrible, by either providing an abundance of useless information, or crappy change to the way the information is displayed, or unstable, or even getting rid of the very information that I was using the app to get. It’s happened with “AeroWeather” , “AccuWeather”, “HelloWeather”, “WeatherBug”…

It just happened with the app “Windy”. A year ago I loved the interface. I’d often use it for long range planning of flights to see wind and weather trends (it even predicted cloud bases with a good degree of accuracy out to a week). First tweak, they got rid of the long range predictions for free users, making past a few days a “pay only” prediction. I haven’t been making very many trips this year, so I didn’t upgrade yet…thank goodness I didn’t because the latest update has dropped the great interface to a sort-of quasi “app window” interface that just plain sucks. After several minutes of looking I couldn’t figure out how to recreate the the various cloud predictions I used before the update…DELETE WINDY.

Time to go looking for a new Wx app before the developer mucks it up with “improvements”.
Click to expand...

aviationweather.gov has served me well for about two decades. It is free.
 
Country Flier said:
So over the years, I’ve noticed something about weather apps. A new Wx app will come out, and I’ll really like it…but then the developers start “improving” or tweaking the app, and after several updates, the app becomes horrible, by either providing an abundance of useless information, or crappy change to the way the information is displayed, or unstable, or even getting rid of the very information that I was using the app to get. It’s happened with “AeroWeather” , “AccuWeather”, “HelloWeather”, “WeatherBug”…

It just happened with the app “Windy”. A year ago I loved the interface. I’d often use it for long range planning of flights to see wind and weather trends (it even predicted cloud bases with a good degree of accuracy out to a week). First tweak, they got rid of the long range predictions for free users, making past a few days a “pay only” prediction. I haven’t been making very many trips this year, so I didn’t upgrade yet…thank goodness I didn’t because the latest update has dropped the great interface to a sort-of quasi “app window” interface that just plain sucks. After several minutes of looking I couldn’t figure out how to recreate the the various cloud predictions I used before the update…DELETE WINDY.

Time to go looking for a new Wx app before the developer mucks it up with “improvements”.
Click to expand...
I don't mind the expense and enjoy the hourly short term weather predictions. But I agree, the new mobile interface with icons instead of a simple list is horrible.
 
Had a meal plan app I loved. Within a month of being bought out it turned into white dogsh**.

Do developers or product engineers even use the product they make?
 
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