The Weather Channel continues to be the king of weather apps
by Toni McQuilken
Nov 13, 2008 3:49 PM –
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We last looked at The Weather Channel app back when AndroidTapp.com first got started. It was, in fact, one of the first apps we reviewed. But times change, and there have been several updates since then (and we’ve changed how we review apps in the first place), so we thought it was time to revisit The Weather Channel, and give it a fresh review.
The Weather Channel. The Weather Channel provides the most accurate and relevant weather information whenever weather matters to you. With 200+ meteorologists and, our ultra-local forecasting technology, we provide you with the weather tools you need to plan your day, week, or even the next hour.
Price: Free
Tested on: galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Low Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Feature-packed app with everything you could want in regards to the weather.
- A variety of widget sizes and options
- You can have multiple locations to keep an eye on
Cons
- You can very easily get information overload.
Features:
The Weather Channel app continues to be the king of weather apps, and over the years it has added a lot of features and improvements to help it maintain that status.
It still gives the weather, of course, and you can view that in several ways. In the app itself, you can view current conditions, as well as the forecast ahead, and in the widgets, there are a few options for what gets displayed, and how that’s done. But in addition to the weather, this app goes above and beyond. Given that the app comes from the Weather Channel, there is a huge amount of resources available to it, and now it makes all that content available to its users. Among those are videos, where you can view some of the content from the channel on weather around the country, as well as local weather video content.
The app also has iWitness Weather, where it encourages users to send in photos of their weather conditions, so you see more than just one or two shots shown on the news. Since it uses your GPS to determine photos nearby, it makes for an interesting gallery to flip through.
Social media is another area the app has improved on over the years. It has Twitter feeds directly inside the app now, with both the local updates from the weather centers, as well as nearby tweets that pick up anything vaguely weather-related. For the average day, this won’t be of too much use, but in a major storm, it could be a great way to keep track of what’s going on in your immediate area.
Pollen reports have been added to the app as well, where you can see both the national map showing pollen counts, as well as the report for your area specifically. You can even set up pollen alerts, which is a great feature for those of us with allergies. It might not change all the sneezing and stuffiness, but at least you know it’s coming and can take as much preventative action as possible.
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Weather Channel UPDATED Daily
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Weather Channel UPDATED Forecast
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Weather Channel UPDATED Locations
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Weather Channel UPDATED Maps
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Weather Channel UPDATED Photos
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Weather Channel UPDATED Pollen Alert
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Weather Channel UPDATED Pollen Counts
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Weather Channel UPDATED Settings
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Weather Channel UPDATED Severe Alert
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Weather Channel UPDATED Social Media
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Weather Channel UPDATED Video
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Weather Channel UPDATED Widgets
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The Weather Channel Weather
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The Weather Channel Right Now Forecast
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The Weather Channel Weather Barometer
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The Weather Channel on Maps
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The Weather Channel Videos
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The Weather Channel iWitness Weather
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Usefulness:
I really can’t think of any situation where a person wouldn’t find it useful to know what the weather is. And this app makes it easy to consume that information however you want – in depth or at a glance.
Ease of Use:
The app has a ton of information, and while it’s easy to use, I could also see where it could become information overkill if you aren’t careful. For most people, I have a feeling you’ll use one or two of the features on a regular basis, and probably won’t look at the others much.
Frequently Used:
This is something you’ll use daily, if not several times a day. For me, it’s part of the morning routine when I wake up to check my email from over night and look at the weather for the day.
Interface:
The developers have really done a great job here making all of that rich data easy to find and use. Because of how well-designed the interface is, you never feel like you have to go hunting for something. It’s always right there at your fingertips.