AccuWeather

An article by darce    No Comments

AccuWeather is a free app for Android, webOS, BlackBerry and iOS.  The name is pretty self explanatory, a weather app that gives you all of the basic things you would desire out of a free weather application.  The application gives either GPS based or user input locations for weather data.  This review focuses specifically on the version for webOS.

AccuWeather is a free download which is accessible through the Palm App Catalog.  It is one of the only free weather apps that gives you access to live radar (the Weather Channel app being the other).  When you load the application it will prompt you to choose either GPS based weather, or to manually enter in a city name for weather location.  After you complete that, the main display on the application will give you the current weather conditions, as well as the five day forecast.  On the bottom portion of the app you will have three other options to pick from:  four hour detailed forecast, radar, and miscellaneous advisory levels.  I will touch on the three different options:

Four hour detailed forecast:  It is exactly as it sounds.  AccuWeather will tell you in detail what the next four hours of weather should be like for your specific location.  Temperature, humidity, dew point, wind, precipitation, and RealFeel™ are all displayed on this page.  RealFeel™ is essentially a heat index rating, or “what it really feels like outside” type of measurement.

Radar: Radar is displayed as a non-moving picture in this application, which is one of the few drawbacks for this free app.  An “X” marks your GPS or city spot on the map, and the radar is color coated much like any other weather radar you would see on TV.  In the upper corner the time and date are displayed for when the radar snapshot was taken.

Advisory levels: This is something unique to this application.  AccuWeather has put together a handful of categories and rated them based on the current weather conditions.  For example, “golf” is going to be rated “Excellent” on a sunny day with no precipitation and a moderate RealFeel™ temperature.  Some of the other options are skiing, tennis, outdoor concert, and beach going to name a few.

All in all this application is a “must-have” for any webOS device.  The unobtrusive advertising does not get in the way of the content that is displayed in the app, which is a major plus for this free application.  It provides simple and easy to use input and displays the data in an upfront and easy to understand format.  The only improvement that would be nice to see is animated radar.  Sometimes getting a stationary snapshot isn’t as informative as live radar.   That being said, if you don’t have a weather app yet on your Palm Pre or Pixi, I would download this application the next time you are browsing your app catalog.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pros: Free detailed GPS based weather

Cons: Advertising banner and stationary radar

How to download: Palm App Catalog

Cost: Free

Type of app: Utility

Similar apps: the Weather Channel app