AccuWeather’s forecast looks mixed, getting new features while introducing paywall
Weather apps are a dime a dozen on the Play Store, but they all usually pull from the same handful of APIs and services. Dark Sky was the favorite of many, but after it left Android in the wake of being bought by Apple, many were left without alternatives. AccuWeather revamped its entire service to entice potential users,pulling the app from Play Passandadding minute-by-minute forecastsoriginally offered by Dark Sky. Now, a new update delivers even more functionality — at a cost.
Hyperlocal weather forecasts were Dark Sky’s marquee feature, and remain so on any iPhones you might have lying around your house. This latest AccuWeather update brings hyperlocal forecasting alerts back to Android as part of its new Premium+ subscription (via9to5Google). At $20 per year, it won’t exactly break the bank, even if it’s frustrating to see some of the best weather reporting available locked behind yet another subscription package.
These localized weather notifications — called AccuWeather Alerts in the fine print — should make it easy to predict when a storm is rolling into your community, keeping you from getting drenched in the rain while out on a walk. It should pair well with those existing minute-by-minute forecasts, which already predict weather events at specific intervals. Now, the app should report more specific and accurate updates based on your location, receiving alerts as the conditions in your area change.
Unfortunately, this new subscription package also picks up a mainstay feature familiar to countless Android users. If you’ve kept the current temperature as a persistent notification on your phone, you’ll notice it’s changed to a generic AccuWeather icon instead. To restore that original functionality, you’ll need to pony up $20 a year — even if you aren’t interested in the usual roundup of premium features. Accuweather also offers a standard “Premium” subscription for $8.99 per year, though this doesn’t include the always-available temperature icon.
I haven’t spotted the new subscription available in the app just yet, although I can confirm the generic AccuWeather icon now shows up in my toolbar. Presumably, Premium+ should be available to everyone sometime soon.
UPDATE: 2022/04/13 16:42 EST BY WILL SATTELBERG
Temperature notifications coming back
AccuWeather reached out to let us know that its removal of persistent temperature notifications was an accident, and a fixed version is rolling out to users in a new build now.
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