My-Cast Weather
by Jason Norment
Mar 9, 2011 8:58 AM –
Install
My-Cast Weather. Get access to critical weather information wherever you are with My-Cast Weather. View animated radar, clouds, current conditions, hourly and extended forecasts, severe weather alerts and more. Quickly check the weather with an easy-to-interpret graphic display and dynamic weather themes.
Price: Free, $3.99
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Lots of options to customize your display with, including your own dashboard
- Current condition refreshes itself each time you unlock your device
- Alert text is large and easy to read
- Can customize graphics/theme depending on weather conditions or own preferences
- Landscape and portrait view supported with maps including pinch-zoom
Cons
- Could use better widget options. Limited to current location only.
Features:
After The Weather Channel app started to perform very unstable for users after it’s latest update, I decided to look for alternative weather apps that we haven’t already reviewed. Don’t get me wrong, Weatherbug is a great alternative but the user interface, in my opinion, just wasn’t my style. Searching through the market I came across several products developed by Digital Cyclone, a company owned by the all familiar Garmin. Since this discovery, I quickly changed my “weather app of choice” and haven’t looked back.
Digital Cyclone offers a variety of weather products, however, I will cover My-Cast Weather ($3.99) and My-Cast Weather Lite (Free).
The first thing you will noticed about My-Cast is that it provides a lot of information in a simple, easy-to-read format. My-Cast will find your location and show the current conditions via the “Currents” icon as well as the background graphics. The graphics will change dependent on the current weather conditions outside. From here, you can quickly choose to look at the Maps, Forecast, or any relative weather Alerts in your area. You will notice the bar at the bottom with the My-Cast symbol is actually more than just a nice way to display the logo. One quick swipe upward and you’ll be presented with the Dashboard. By default, the elements you are shown will are: Currents, Alerts, Daily Forecast and Radar. You can rearrange the order of these elements or add more to your preference. This is by far one of my favorite features of this app that made it stand out from all others. Swipe downward and the dashboard will disappear. Press any of the elements and the specific page related will load on the screen instead.
There are several settings available to choose from:
- Changing the units for temperature or English/Metric
- Current location weather displayed in the notifications bar
- Follow Me allows My-Cast to use the GPS to keep your location current. The app warns you this will use more battery life if selected. In my experience, the app was able to determine my location correctly without this option selected
- Update interval
- Notification color and type
- Usage of weather-based themes or custom colors
This app includes a 2X2 widget you can use on your home screen, however, it only shows your current location. Upgrading to My-Cast (paid version) includes no advertisements and adding a radar widget.
Usefulness:
EXTREMELY. The options for the notification bar alone are enough to keep me updated on the current weather without opening the app or using a widget.
Ease of Use:
This is where My-Cast shines. No confusing configuration or setup. Simple options, simple interface, great information.
Frequently Used:
If your a weather fanatic like me, hourly. Otherwise, it’s something I’m sure most consumers would use daily.
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