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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)

#81

Post by natebc »

crazygringo wrote: post #58
postalcoder wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used the Dark Sky app since it came out in 2012. I used to consistently get notifications about precipitation with Dark Sky, that were consistently accurate. The Apple weather application seems less motivated to send me notifications with any sort of regularity. I almost never get them now, even with fresh iOS installs. I haven't moved either. And just anecdotally, Dark Sky was a delight to use. Apple Maps makes it…

OK, notifications aren't the same as accuracy though. Neither is delight. I'm just talking about the supposed drop in accuracy that I just don't see. (And Apple notifications are a mess generally. I constantly have notifications for something yesterday only show up today . I'm not sure that has anything to do with Weather specifically, their whole notification priority system is borked.)

I think the point was (and i'm certain my experience is) that with Apple Weather you just don't get the notifications at all (or rarely do) so it's very hard to get a feeling as to how accurate they are.

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

#82

Post by pasc1878 »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #71

To those who are interested in viewing the “shape” of weather data (and who are using an apple device), I cannot recommend https://www.weatherstrip.app enough. I think its visualization is even superior to Dark Sky’s, mostly by virtue of being more compact without losing anything.

Also see weathergraph that does similar graph and shows the temps etc in a downwards colum,n as well

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

#83

Post by pasc1878 »

wpm wrote: post #53
djoldman wrote: post #52

Can someone explain why the main screen in iOS weather, below the current temperature, shows the high temperature to the left of the low temperature? In all other places in the app, the low is to the left of high.

Because most of Apple's designers do not have the discipline or the blessedly smaller scope to consistently output well designed interfaces anymore, and are riding the momentum of those that came before and the current of hot air of their own supply these days. The idea that Apple is full of good designers should be forgotten. They're as mid and sloppy as any other large tech company.

Although having lost their cheif desihner recently there is a chnace thet they might improve and go back to the standards of 10 years ago.

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

#84

Post by postalcoder »

natebc wrote: post #81
crazygringo wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, notifications aren't the same as accuracy though. Neither is delight. I'm just talking about the supposed drop in accuracy that I just don't see. (And Apple notifications are a mess generally. I constantly have notifications for something yesterday only show up today . I'm not sure that has anything to do with Weather specifically, their whole notification priority system is borked.)

I think the point was (and i'm certain my experience is) that with Apple Weather you just don't get the notifications at all (or rarely do) so it's very hard to get a feeling as to how accurate they are.

Yes, this is what I meant. I don't know what the notification thresholds are, so I use the fact that I'm getting a notification at all as a proxy for accuracy.

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

#85

Post by chrisweekly »

CraigRood wrote: post #46
chrisweekly wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great rec! Thanks! See also Windy.app (a paid app w/ great dataviz, dx, and robust set of data sources).

Windy.app looks good visually, but once you start using it, the UX is all over the place. Always find it frustrating.

Interesting! I used it heavily for years as a sailor and found it intuitive. Clearly, YMMV. :)

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

#86

Post by crazygringo »

growt wrote: post #77
crazygringo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Probably depends on where you are, but here in Europe I always joke that you should prepare for the exact opposite of what apple weather tells you. A lot of times I’m literary standing in the rain and Apple tells me the chance for rain is 0%

Right, but Dark Sky had that issue too. When precipitation has hyperlocal variation, you're always going to have that problem.

The Doppler radar that "live" precipitation comes from takes 4-6 min to complete a scan, and then obviously it takes a few minutes for that all to be ingested, update models, and push to devices.

The "live" weather from Apple (and when it was Dark Sky) has always been a prediction from about 10 min ago. And if it's raining where you are but dry six blocks to the north (as happens all the time), it's understandable why it gets it wrong.

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

#88

Post by gdulli »

drkrab wrote: post #87

I’m surprised how many places in the world measure rain in percentage chance. Must be a metropolitan concept. Here in Denmark, weather reports estimate mm/hr - the amount of rain. Maybe it’s our agricultural inheritance?

If you're deciding whether to dress and prepare for rain you're more curious about whether it will rain or not than the amount.

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

#89

Post by chrisweekly »

asymmetric wrote: post #44
chrisweekly wrote: post #30

I miss Dark Sky for its impressive "local weather at a glance" accuracy and UX -- but Windy.app is pretty great too, with more details than DS ever had. They're maybe slightly complementary, given Windy.app is more like "prosumer" weather forecasting for nautical purposes, but I highly recommend it.

From my quick research, it seems like people in the sailing community actually prefer Windy.com to Windy.app. (yes, there's a very confusing name clash)

I'm the OP, a sailor, and I was referring to the native iOS app.

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

#90

Post by chrneu »

drkrab wrote: post #87

I’m surprised how many places in the world measure rain in percentage chance. Must be a metropolitan concept. Here in Denmark, weather reports estimate mm/hr - the amount of rain. Maybe it’s our agricultural inheritance?

Most places I look at report both probability and give a measurement prediction.

So it would be like "60% chance of rain after 2pm, total amount less than 1/10th of an inch"

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