Apple buys Dark Sky Weather app, leaving Android fans out in the cold

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screenshot of Dark Sky Weather
Dark Sky Weather remains on the Apple App Store.
Screenshot: Dark Sky/Apple App Store

Apple may eventually offer hyperlocal, down-to-the-minute forecasts.

Dark Sky Weather, the popular weather app, announced Tuesday it was acquired by Apple.

“Our goal has always been to provide the world with the best weather information possible, to help as many people as we can stay dry and safe, and to do so in a way that respects your privacy,” one Dark Sky’s developers, Adam Grossman, wrote on the company’s blog. “There is no better place to accomplish these goals than at Apple. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to reach far more people, with far more impact, than we ever could alone.”

Dark Sky gets mostly sunny reviews

Grossman did not disclose what Apple’s plans are with Dark Sky. Apple makes it a policy not to discuss acquisitions. Apple could use the tech for its native weather app or offer some sort of services users will have to pay for.

What is clear is that Dark Sky goes out of service on July 1 for Android and Wear OS users. Subscribers will receive a refund, Grossman said.

Dark Sky remains on the Apple App store, a $3.99 download for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Weather forecasting is a science that still comes down to the best guess. Trained meteorologists with the latest software and weather models still get the weather wrong. The website, The Outline, quoted meteorologists for a 2018 article who call weather apps that make minute-to-minute claims fakes.

Still, Dark Sky has consistently been rated as one of the best weather apps.

Dark Sky attempts to predict the time and duration of weather at the local level with a window of 30 to 60 minutes ahead. The app pulls in real-time radar data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, which operates 140 doppler radar stations across the U.S., according to GIS Lounge.

In a test by Popular Mechanics in 2019 to determine the seven best weather apps, Dark Sky was named best overall.

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