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Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

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Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#161

Post by schoen »

guillohm wrote: post #142
tunapizza wrote: post #18

Fortunately someone recreated a clone at https://merrysky.net , which was featured [1] on HN some time ago. I've used it daily since. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34155191

Thanks for the mention! I'm the author of merrysky. Opened to feedback. What would you say you miss the most?

Could you tell me the significance of the location in Australia that's used by default? I frequently clear browser cookies and history so it often jumps back there, so I see that location a lot, but can never envision exactly why it was the default. (Specifically, a point along Gol Gol Road in Arumpo, NSW, Australia.)

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#162

Post by SkyPuncher »

Mistletoe wrote: post #101
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Apple Weather app absolutely sucks. I have learned to ignore its predictions. It will say that it's sunny outside, and I'll look out the window, and we're having a hailstorm.

Can anyone recommend a good app to replace it? No ads, lightweight etc.

MyRadar, but a bit of the opposite.

I've learned that I just want to look at the radar. There's a big difference between "it's going to drizzle all day" and "spotty storms within 25 miles of you"

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#163

Post by rendaw »

Looking at the screenshots, Dark Sky does something bad that I think most other weather apps do badly as well.

Specifically: each day has a range (low and high) but it's not clear whether the low is for the morning or evening, and they could be vastly different. You could have 10-15 one day then 0-10 the next day, and think "Ok, I'll go out tonight and bring a jacket but no hat since the lowest it'll get today is 10 and whoops, actually it's freezing by the time dinner's over.

There are so many ways apps could do this better. Like showing a vertical line graph rather than discrete bars, with the lows inbetween days. Or if you want to keep the bars, make them angled, so the low is closer to the morning/night it's associated with. Or even show 3 temperatures, not just two! (one being the low for the previous or next day or whatever)

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#165

Post by quotemstr »

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #105
quotemstr wrote: post #47

I thought we lived in the age of infinite AI software and you could just ask for a Dark Sky clone. Weather APIs are pretty open. What's stopping you?

Why did you think AI has the capability of creating an app with a ton of care and unique touch put into it as opposed to some hello world/proof of concept skeleton app?

Because hundreds of big Twitter accounts tweet all day that I'm NGMI if I don't think AI is bigger for humanity than agriculture. Duh.

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#166

Post by garciansmith »

Leftium wrote: post #139
the__alchemist wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thx bro. I stumbled into this thread thinking it was about something else, and left with a new favorite weather bookmark. Nice things: - Loads fast - Nice vis of both today and week - Can mouse over the visualizations to get precise readouts.

You might also like https://weather-sense.leftium.com

This is neat, but I find the charts extremely hard to parse due to the color gradients and the similar shades, especially of blue and teal. I find the Merry Sky charts a lot easier to understand.

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#167

Post by Leftium »

garciansmith wrote: post #166
Leftium wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might also like https://weather-sense.leftium.com

This is neat, but I find the charts extremely hard to parse due to the color gradients and the similar shades, especially of blue and teal. I find the Merry Sky charts a lot easier to understand.

Perhaps I should add an option to disable gradients.

There's a screen shot showing what it used to look like before gradients: https://github.com/Leftium/weather-sense

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#168

Post by themadturk »

gcanyon wrote: post #5

Dark 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…

I've never understood why Apple didn't adapt Dark Sky's design lessons. Apple Weather is functional, but dull.

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#169

Post by crazygringo »

3333333331 wrote: post #120
crazygringo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

to each their own, but i used darksky for years as a daily bicycle commuter and found it to be profoundly accurate--to the point where i could use it to find clear patches of 15-20min to ride home in. there was a marked decline in the reliability & accuracy of the information provided to me once i was forced to switch to apple weather

I dunno. I literally use Apple Weather for that (can I run an errand in the next 25 min before the rain comes back) and it works the same as it did with Dark Sky. No decline that I've noticed. Like, it doesn't suddenly start raining after only 10 min when the app said I'd have 25 min.

Re: Eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece (2023)

#170

Post by ggm »

guillohm wrote: post #142
tunapizza wrote: post #18

Fortunately someone recreated a clone at https://merrysky.net , which was featured [1] on HN some time ago. I've used it daily since. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34155191

Thanks for the mention! I'm the author of merrysky. Opened to feedback. What would you say you miss the most?

Not missed but ideas for the future

* Adopt a colour scheme with similarity to the old BOM?

* Some way to store longer baseline movie animations in local state so people can avoid cost in you but run the weather radar for longer?

* Tide info? Hyper specific to people who do water things. Willyweather does this really well.

I use Willyweather and Windy. I used to use a weather app written by some mob called "shifty jelly" and their git logs were .. hysterical. Drunk fairy penguins seemed to cause most of the bugs.

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