Skip to main content

Dark Sky 5 adds 24-hour forecast, pressure sensor reporting, more

Dark Sky is out with a major update to its hyperlocal weather reporting app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Dark Sky 5 adds a number of new features including a new focus on 24-hour forecasts, the ability to share pressure data, customizable advanced notifications.Dark Sky is best known for being able to provide super precise precipitation data and alerts for a 60-minute window of given location, and the new design builds on that feature with a new 24-hour forecast on the main screen. This provides an hourly breakdown of precipitation percentage, temperature, wind speed, humidity levels, and UV index data right below the next hour conditions.

For iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users, Dark Sky can now optionally tap into the Barometer on the phone’s internal M8 sensor for sharing pressure data for your location. Apple uses this sensor for determining elevation changes to offer data like the number of flights of steps climbed, but Dark Sky believes it can use this information to revolutionize on-the-ground forecasting:

For iPhone 6 users, we are also including the option to turn on automatic pressure sensor reporting. The iPhone 6 comes with a built-in barometer, primarily used for determining altitude. But there also exists the potential to revolutionize weather forecasting. If you opt-in, your phone will periodically submit pressure readings which will provide us with extremely useful meteorological data.

The update is packed with a ton of other new features including the ability to receive daily notifications for general weather conditions, custom notifications for conditions including temperature and UV index, and the iPad app supports landscape mode for the first time since the previous major redesign.

Dark Sky 5 is a free update for existing customers on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, and new customers can pick up the hyperlocal weather app for $3.99 on the App Store.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. mpnine - 9 years ago

    Awesome update to an awesome app. The custom notifications are pretty great, and the app already supports Apple watch, and the developer is very excited about the 3rd party Complications in watchOS 2, so you know that will be coming in the fall. Well worth the $3.99 if you live anywhere the weather isn’t always 70F and sunny.

  2. galley99 - 9 years ago

    I tried it for a few minutes and deleted it. There’s still too much fiddling involved to see what you want.

  3. Removed the temperature graph, replacing it with raw numbers. NO. Now instead of understanding the days temps at a glance, I have to look at a bunch of NUMBERS. Truly backwards.

  4. Mike Costa - 9 years ago

    Does keeping it on “always” background refresh hurt the battery?

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.