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Apple acquires Dark Sky

blog.darksky.net

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Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#461

Post by CarlRJ »

dguo wrote: post #234
joeblau wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If  shuts down the 1M+ (less than 5M) Google[1] accounts and then this weather app becomes the default system backing Siri, there will be a lot more users than the Google Play store users Dark Sky is losing. Right now, Apple's weather is backed by Yahoo! so my guess is that Yahoo! is going away and all 1 billion  devices will now be using Dark Sky. [1] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.darksky.da.…

That's fair. My counterpoint would be that Apple could have become a customer of the Dark Sky API, achieving essentially the same result without Dark Sky having to kill off platforms. But sure, at that point, it probably makes sense for Apple to just buy the company to make sure that the data supply chain is within their control. I am just a little bitter to lose the service personally.

Counter-counterpoint would be, Apple becomes a customer of the API, and then someone else (Google, Facebook, whoever) buys Dark Sky and Apple has to scramble.

I'm bitter too, I build my own local/remote weather station at home (several Raspberry Pi's, an Arduino with a custom shield, and 15k lines of Python), which uses Dark Sky's API as one of its data sources. This means I have a year or so to find a new data source and rewrite a bunch of code (and no source is going to give me exactly the same data from the same sensors, so my 3-4 years of historical data is going to have a definite before/after cutoff in it).

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#462

Post by cageface »

scarface74 wrote: post #457
cageface wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes because it allows me to do the following things: 1. Sideload apps that my government has decided they don't like and want banned. 2. Use real firefox to support diversity on the web 3. Use open audio codecs like FLAC without tying myself in knots It's not perfect but in the respects that really matter it's a lot more free.

At least for #3 https://vox.rocks/resources/ios-flac-player And then there is that whole running an operating system written by a company whose whole m.o. is to invade your privacy.

I consider that tying myself in knots. On my Samsung I just copy the files over and play them

Privacy and openness are two independent, orthogonal concepts. I agree Apple has a better overall story on privacy but I care more about openness, especially in the current political climate.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#463

Post by drusepth »

scarface74 wrote: post #458
drusepth wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone's raising any problems about Apple buying a small company instead of developing comparable functionality in-house. People are raising concerns over Apple buying a small company and shutting down its offerings to any platform that isn't Apple's.

So Apple should be forced to develop for a competitors platform?

Nobody's saying that either.

Apple has a pattern of purchasing companies that already offer products on other platforms and immediately shutting all non-iOS products down.

Obviously, they're free to run their business however they want, but it's also understandable that fans of those products might be upset that their app (or APIs that power other apps they enjoy) are no longer available simply because Apple did "their usual thing". Many companies (including Apple in rare cases) maintain or even develop codebases for applications across more than one platform.

There's nothing wrong with Apple buying companies to shut them down. It just sucks for the end-users who no longer get to use those companies' products for the sole reason of "they got bought by Apple".

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#464

Post by outworlder »

rickyc091 wrote: post #429
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.

So I exclusively use Dark Sky on my iPhone and watch. They could also be looking at the data and noticing that most people use Dark Sky as opposed to the default weather app.

I hope that they also realize WHY people are using Dark Sky and keep that.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#465

Post by doctoboggan »

vertis wrote: post #406
cageface wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's walled garden is more and more a shiny cage. Vote with your dollars and support more open alternatives. I switched to a Note 10 recently after using iPhones for years and I'm really enjoying the overall experience and the flexibility to do many things with my hardware that Apple feels I shouldn't be allowed to do.

I ended up having to use an Apple device temporarily after my previous phone died. While there are things I really enjoy about Apple, the lack of choice is a dealbreaker for me. I can't buy a kindle book through the app on my device, because iBooks. Added: Ended up back on an Android device pretty quickly.

Actually you can buy the kindle book, you just have to use the web browser (not ideal I know, but just letting you know in case you find yourself in that position again)

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#466

Post by outworlder »

teddyh wrote: post #301
joeblau wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If  shuts down the 1M+ (less than 5M) Google[1] accounts and then this weather app becomes the default system backing Siri, there will be a lot more users than the Google Play store users Dark Sky is losing. Right now, Apple's weather is backed by Yahoo! so my guess is that Yahoo! is going away and all 1 billion  devices will now be using Dark Sky. [1] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.darksky.da.…

Wait, so HN normally filters the more odd Unicode characters, but does not filter codes from the Private Use Area?  Note: Since this is the Private Use area, the character you used does not display the same on every device. In my browswer, it displays as a box containing “F8FF”; if I copy it to a nearby terminal window, it shows up as “(t)”. According to the ConScript (…

It renders as the Apple logo on Apple devices, yes.

Although a Klingon Mummification Glyph sounds much more awesome.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#467

Post by paxys »

dewey wrote: post #419
sneak wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they deserve a lot of credit for not selling user data How can you say that on a day that they sold all the user data?

How do you know they did? You can buy a company without handing over any sensitive user data. I doubt Apple needs the data if it’s more of an aquihire.

Yes you can technically do anything, but unless the press release says "Dark Sky is joining Apple but is also deleting all customer data from its servers beforehand" it's safe to assume that Apple owns the entire company (including its physical and intellectual assets) unless proven otherwise.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#468

Post by stkrzysiak »

duanem wrote: post #354
kyledrake wrote: post #33

> Android and Wear OS App > The app will no longer be available for download. Service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, 2020, at which point the app will be shut down. Subscribers who are still active at that time will receive a refund. IBM bought the Weather Underground app and ruined it, and now Dark Sky was bought by Apple and they're ruining that too. Now I will have zero good weather…

I felt a little slighted (in a cheeky way) by the "zero good weather apps for Android" comment. Started writing then decided against it. Then I got this email in my inbox from a user :-) Dark Sky is shuttering their Android app after being acquired by Apple. People are saying things like "Now I will have zero good weather apps for Android. " https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22740331 Flowx is better than Dark Sky!

I like the UI, and I'll commit for now, but the end game for the constant churn of useful weather apps is an open source app that can't be sold. Someday someone will offer you X dollars and you'd be a fool not to accept and us users will be doing this rodeo all over. Just remember us when your partying on your p-diddy yacht.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#469

Post by paxys »

lozaning wrote: post #352
zcrackerz wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Apple is a services company now according to them, and as demonstrated by the Apple tv app on my Samsung TV.

Apple is trying its best to brand itself as a services company, but its actions show that it is not ready to actually embrace the platform openness that comes with it. Look at Microsoft for a much better example of a services-focused company which also sells hardware.

Re: Apple acquires Dark Sky

#470

Post by tclancy »

scarface74 wrote: post #455
notthemessiah wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They at provided an API and web interface, one that you could use to get forecasts on any device, the data can be presented in any format. They're closing the website and the API, so you only will get the hyperlocal forecast from an Apple device, and only by Apple's UI choices. Closing off services behind a walled garden and charging an entrance fee is Apple's business model.

So you don’t know about their podcast directory API that’s been open and free for over a decade? Almost every podcast player for iOS and Android use it.

>The API will continue to function through the end of 2021.
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