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Apple acquires Dark Sky

blog.darksky.net

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Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#271

Post by madeofpalk »

tw04 wrote: post #247
Infinitesimus wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But shutting down the API and Android apps feels like an egregious move by Apple. Yes but that's inline with what you'd expect Apple to do though. They won't support any non-Apple ecosystem unless they have to - it's just their way of doing things

>Yes but that's inline with what you'd expect Apple to do though. I'd argue the exact opposite. They keep pronouncing they're now a services company. If that's TRULY their go-forward model, they should be selling services to the broadest possible audience. Shutting it down to other audiences tells me they're still a hardware company that can't see past their walled garden. If anyone at Apple is listening, I'll say it…

Apple is more in the "selling App Store access" business, not the "weather data" business.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#272

Post by saagarjha »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #243
reaperducer wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but that's inline with what you'd expect Apple to do though. Is it? Did Shazam stop working on Android when Apple ate it? Honest question, since I don't have an Android device.

No. Although some apps like Apple Music on Android are clearly treated like redheaded stepchildren by Apple

Apple Music in general is a remarkably poor experience on any platform.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#273

Post by turdnagel »

gregkerzhner wrote: post #270
untog wrote: post #4

Sigh. I mean, congratulations to the founders of Dark Sky. It’s a wonderful app and they deserve all the money they’ll get from this and they deserve a lot of credit for not selling user data when almost every other weather app does. But shutting down the API and Android apps feels like an egregious move by Apple. And I hope we actually see a good improvement to the Apple weather app as a result of this. I remember a…

Interesting that Google makes a ton of apps for iOS but Apple doesn't go the other way.

AFAIK there are two Apple apps on Android: one for Apple Music, and another for migrating your data from Android to iOS.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#274

Post by close04 »

fooey wrote: post #138
realityking wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. How's Dark Sky competing with Apple? I don't think they derive much, if any, revenue from the Weather app. More likely they're paying for the data.

Maybe this is the start of the Epic Games business model. Buy things and make them exclusive just so no one else can have them.

Buying things to bury just to make sure the competition doesn't get them is by no means a new business model or invented by Epic Games. It's been a solid go to for most big companies since forever. It's nothing new for Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#276

Post by divbzero »

I’ve been a big fan of Dark Sky ever since I discovered them through DuckDuckGo. I’m disappointed to see the API closed to new users, hopeful that they will become the default source for Apple weather apps, but most of all happy for the Dark Sky founders.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#277

Post by madeofpalk »

poooogles wrote: post #226
dashundchen wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I remember a few years ago Apple bought a fantastic public transit app (Embark?), shut it down and I still don’t think their Maps app comes close to the original transit app. Semi-related but for transit apps, I much prefer the dedicated "Transit" app over any of the mapping services. https://transitapp.com/ It has great visualizations of nearby lines and departures, gives bike/walk/taxi alternative times, allows y…

>Semi-related but for transit apps, I much prefer the dedicated "Transit" app over any of the mapping services. Have you tried Citymapper? It looks pretty similar in features and covers a different set of cities (there's some crossover but not as much as I'd of thought), might be useful.

From my use in London, out of Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Citymapper, I've found Citimapper to be the worst.

They're all basically working with the exact same data, but I find Apple Map transit directions to be the easiest to use, providing I'm in one of the limited cities it supports.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#278

Post by Larrikin »

askafriend wrote: post #75
Larrikin wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is awful, atleast they are offering a refund but there is no point they couldn't just maintain the Android app

Focus is likely the reason they don't want to do it. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Every other company maintains two apps, here there is already an existing app.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#279

Post by zcrackerz »

gregkerzhner wrote: post #270
untog wrote: post #4

Sigh. I mean, congratulations to the founders of Dark Sky. It’s a wonderful app and they deserve all the money they’ll get from this and they deserve a lot of credit for not selling user data when almost every other weather app does. But shutting down the API and Android apps feels like an egregious move by Apple. And I hope we actually see a good improvement to the Apple weather app as a result of this. I remember a…

Interesting that Google makes a ton of apps for iOS but Apple doesn't go the other way.

That's because Google is an ad company while Apple is a hardware company.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#280

Post by clairity »

PaulHoule wrote: post #255
clairity wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "...suicide by defenestration..." as an aside, my first thought at this phrase was that "he died by removing all the windows ?" it took a second to process that properly. but to the point, that's the kind of anti-competition we need to root out quickly. compete on merits, not on demerits. i'm sad about the embark app, but i'm hoping that the dark sky integration means no more sending data (however "anonymized") to…

Who needs the weather channel when we have the national weather service publishing forecasts on a 1km x 1km grid? Is the value of the weather channel that investors expect the national weather service to be abolished?

no, to clarify, apple has been using the weather channel (exclusively, i believe) for weather info across its ecosystem. you can't get integrated weather info on apple devices (iphone, watch, etc.) without it (you can download other apps but they wouldn't integrate with the OS).

i'd be super happy if they switched to the national weather service, but absent that, dark sky is more privacy preserving than the weather channel (who reportedly sell location data, for example).

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