After darksky was shutdown I ended up using, https://www.yr.no/en . I've not seen it recommended here before and thought someone might enjoy it
Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
61–70 of 187 posts
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The ability to be outside, pull out your phone, and get an almost-to-the-minute awareness of when it was going to rain felt magical But iOS has this now. It's the same thing. They integrated it from Dark Sky.
it doesn't work nearly as well. i'm not sure why, but the predictions are significantly worse than dark sky's were
I agree. One of the weird things is that the precipitation map will show rain coming that doesn't show anywhere else in the Weather app. Nearly every time that happens, the map is the one that's correct. And usually forecast.weather.gov will align with the map as well (and provide a better forecast than the app).
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#63See also: Polaroid Pebble Palm Oldsmobile Tower Records Borders Pan Am
Pebble's back, I thought.
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
it doesn't work nearly as well. i'm not sure why, but the predictions are significantly worse than dark sky's were
I agree. One of the weird things is that the precipitation map will show rain coming that doesn't show anywhere else in the Weather app. Nearly every time that happens, the map is the one that's correct. And usually forecast.weather.gov will align with the map as well (and provide a better forecast than the app).
But that's the point. The map is based on the Dark Sky algorithm and only goes out an hour or so. And that's where the next-hour precipitation graph comes from -- and I've never seen them not match. Everything else is standard weather forecasts. Dark Sky itself worked the same way. It wasn't making 6-hour forecasts using its 1-hour algorithm. The results would have been terrible.
This is why I don't understand the complaints that iOS precipitation accuracy is worse than Dark Sky's. The map works the same way. The chart works the same way. Complaints about UX I get. But not the complaints about a supposed fall in precipitation accuracy.
I get that it's a common trope that products always supposedly get worse once they're bought. But in this case, in terms of accuracy, I just don't think it's true. And remember, Apple would have zero reason to worsen the quality. The whole point of buying it was to improve iOS weather. Which it did.
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#65fwiw, on iOS, I like using WeatherGraph: https://weathergraph.app/ The developer is very responsive, lots of UI customization (both app and widgets) is possible, and pricing is reasonable.
I just downloaded it to try it out after seeing it in a few comments. While some of the visualizations seem like ones I could get used to and like, the radar is severely lacking. I use radar a lot and DarkSky’s view was amazing and just fun to play with. Weather Graph has it buried at the bottom and just loads up weather.gov. It’s hard to justify paying a premium with radar feeling pretty ignored. His website mentions radar won’t be coming in the near term. I think that’s a deal breaker for me.
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#66After darksky was shutdown I ended up using, https://www.yr.no/en . I've not seen it recommended here before and thought someone might enjoy it
They've also got a developer interface - https://developer.yr.no
One of the things that I've seen with them that I haven't seen with others is the cloud cover by layer.
https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-6301678/United%20States...
https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-6301678/United%20States...
For doing photography (sunsets) there's a significant difference between 50% high clouds and 50% low clouds.
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#67So what happened with previous customers who (I'm presuming) paid for the app? Did their app keep running or were they given a refund? I am guessing it used publicly available weather data, but even then, if the server names changed (and support was ended), wouldn't the app quit working?
I paid for it and got nothing at all. I don't remember if the app quit working or if Apple force removed it from my phone.I felt absolutely scammed - it's literally the only app I've ever paid for. It really sucks. Do they use the same data? I've noticed Apple Weather is substantially less accurate than Dark Sky. If Dark Sky told me it was going to rain in 10 minutes for 7 minutes, that's what was going to happen. If…
DarkSky seemed to have their own weather service (not sure the source data), but they had their own API that other apps used. Apple shut the API down after a couple years. This meant the death of the DarkSky website and the old apps.
Apple says they use data from the weather channel, but this varies based on country. It used to say right in the app, but it seems like they removed that in favor of this link:
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#68See also: Polaroid Pebble Palm Oldsmobile Tower Records Borders Pan Am
Pebble's back, I thought.
Correct
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#69Dark Sky was a marvel, and when it first came out, its ability to say rain will start where you are in 2-3 minutes was a marvel. The information design argument is 100% valid, but I also marvel that, having bought the company, Apple's weather app still isn't as precise or accurate. I don't know whether Apple's privacy focus prevents them making the same precise predictions, or if there is some other reason they don't…
> Apple's weather app still isn't as precise or accurate Is it not? The rainfall-per-minute over the next hour on iOS seems about the same accuracy as Dark Sky had -- I used Dark Sky for years. It wasn't perfect but it worked well enough, same as iOS did after. You can even scrub the precipitation map predictions and they look the same to me. I know the Dark Sky prediction accuracy was greatly dependent on where you…
Haven't moved for years, but yeah same over here. Darksky data seemed perfect and now no matter what source of data I use in places like Carrot or the ios weather app gives me the accuracy Darksky had. Is it just climate change? I have no idea, but I agree, accuracy seems lost now without Darksky proper.
Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)
#70After darksky was shutdown I ended up using, https://www.yr.no/en . I've not seen it recommended here before and thought someone might enjoy it
They've also got a developer interface - https://developer.yr.no One of the things that I've seen with them that I haven't seen with others is the cloud cover by layer. https://www.yr.no/en/details/graph/2-6301678/United%20States... https://www.yr.no/en/details/table/2-6301678/United%20States... For doing photography (sunsets) there's a significant difference between 50% high clouds and 50% low clouds.
That L/M/H cloud breakdown is always beneficial, "Clear Outside" also has a similar feature in the forecast https://clearoutside.com/forecast/50.7/-3.52