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A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

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Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#161

Post by scarface74 »

dotancohen wrote: post #136
scarface74 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes because out of the millions of app submissions that happen every year, you are likely to “be banned” for some arbitrary reason that is not spelled out. That must be why developing iOS Apps is so unpopular with developers…

For one thing, from what I understand (I don't develop mobile apps, and I don't own an Apple phone) Apple forbids applications that provide features already built into the phone. That's why even Firefox on iOS is just a skin over Safari. So if Apple Weather (or whatever they call the in-house weather app) comes with the phone, then your "same thing but different" app will not be made available in the Apple app store.

This is also not true. There are plenty of podcast apps, weather apps, notes apps, music apps, streaming video apps. I can’t think of a single bundled app where there are not plenty of alternatives.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#162

Post by leokennis »

strict9 wrote: post #8

It was a masterpiece. Apple deleting Dark Sky something I will never forgive them for. Maybe not enough to make me switch phones, but enough to make me look elsewhere when needing peripheral items. The statement that Dark Sky features were incorporated into the native weather app was an insult. I know I sound dramatic talking about a weather app, but it was in a class of its own and nothing else is remotely comparabl…

Give https://weathergraph.app a try - it ticks more or less all of the boxes in this article. Only thing missing is the radar.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#163

Post by dontlaugh »

jameshart wrote: post #40

Dark Sky was okay. As detailed here, it does a great job of centering on the actual user needs of weather app users. Unfortunately, it also demonstrated that which users you focus on matters a lot. Dark Sky is great at answering the weather questions of people who live in places where rain showers are short lasting; where temperatures range from ‘cool’ to ‘hot’; and where storms are infrequent, special events. Basica…

It was great in the UK, although it doesn’t freeze or storm too much here either.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#164

Post by [deleted] »

iudqnolq wrote: post #53
cubefox wrote: post #51

Related: Weather apps could in general be better, not just in terms of visualization. One thing which always annoys me is how they handle rain predictions. They give "probabilities" for rain. But what do those mean? The probability that it rains for at least one minute in the given time frame? And with at least x mm/inches of rain coming down? And isn't a low probability of short and weak rain totally different from…

Relatedly, I'm fasinated by how much human judgement goes into those numbers. A meteorologist with local expertise looks at a few different models, decides which are more likely to be accurate, and then fills out a grid.

[deleted]

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#165

Post by jameshart »

Auracle wrote: post #150
jameshart wrote: post #40

Dark Sky was okay. As detailed here, it does a great job of centering on the actual user needs of weather app users. Unfortunately, it also demonstrated that which users you focus on matters a lot. Dark Sky is great at answering the weather questions of people who live in places where rain showers are short lasting; where temperatures range from ‘cool’ to ‘hot’; and where storms are infrequent, special events. Basica…

I disagree. I'm a photographer in Minnesota and getting notified when rain was going to start and stop was really handy on wedding days. I also had it set to let me know if the next day was going to be windy so I could possibly postpone shoots.

Yes, rain shower timing is Dark Sky’s greatest utility.

I just found it surprising that ‘rain will turn to ice starting at 7pm’ was not also a usecase Dark Sky gave as much attention to.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#166

Post by leokennis »

egypturnash wrote: post #9

I have moved from Dark Sky to Weather Strip: https://www.weatherstrip.app It does a really nice job of showing me most of what Dark Sky showed, in a similarly easy-to-glance-at format once I spent a little time learning to read its graphs. I think Carrot Weather has a lot of graphs directly ripped off from Dark Sky but the constant attempts to upsell me to a subscription plan while I was playing with it really turned…

I’m a big fan of https://weathergraph.app since the Pebble days. It’s the same concept, but if I’m honest better designed than Weather Strip.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#167

Post by cubefox »

babblingdweeb wrote: post #85
cubefox wrote: post #51

Related: Weather apps could in general be better, not just in terms of visualization. One thing which always annoys me is how they handle rain predictions. They give "probabilities" for rain. But what do those mean? The probability that it rains for at least one minute in the given time frame? And with at least x mm/inches of rain coming down? And isn't a low probability of short and weak rain totally different from…

Just to hop on this, the standard is counter intuitive for rain probability. I'm annoyed, but also fascinated by how much it "makes sense" when I have read about it, but it also "makes no sense" when I just want to know: should I get my jacket? :) Loose definition (with errors and assumptions, but helps some without getting into actual probability math): If it says "30%" - many of us have heard "30% chance of showers…

Yeah that definition makes sense. It's indeed the probability you would get at least 0.01" of rain if we assume you are equally likely to be located anywhere in the forecast area.

But for deciding for "getting your jacket", the expected amount of rainfall seems much more relevant. Basically, you don't need a jacket if the rainfall is very unlikely, or weak, or short. In all those cases the expected amount will be low.

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#169

Post by leokennis »

davweb wrote: post #16

Carrot Weather added the "inline" view which replicates Dark Sky pretty well. [1] It's been an easy transition for me, although Carrot is more expensive. [1]: http://meetcarrot.com/weather/goodbyedarksky.html

Same for https://weathergraph.app

Re: A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece

#170

Post by tshaddox »

cglong wrote: post #134
tshaddox wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting you say that, because I have been under the impression that weather apps always show daily low temperatures based on the calendar day (midnight-to-midnight). I've always thought they could be improved by showing the overnight low, which you're saying is the case for some weather apps. Which ones are those? It's also worth noting that the midnight-to-midnight scheme is a lot more well-defined than the…

Google's weather feature on Android does this :) They don't call it "high" and "low", instead calling it "day" and "night".

What if the low temperature is forecast to be at noon?
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