New Sunshine App Crowdsources Your Weather Forecast

How's the weather out there? Not sure? You could check a weather app on your smartphone and find out but, in the case of Sunshine, you had better hope that others around your location are also sharing their thoughts on the weather. Otherwise, nobody will have any real idea.

At least, that's the concept we first think of when we hear the phrase "crowdsourced weather application." And that's sort of what the new app Sunshine, launching yesterday on Apple's App Store, promises to do. And in doing so, argues the app's developers, the very people using Sunshine (and contributing to these crowd-sourced weather reports) will have even more accurate weather updates than if they used any other source.

"Predicting weather is hard. Traditional weather companies use satellites that only see the big picture while weather stations are far and few between. But weather — how we experience it and what we feel — happens on the ground where we are," reads Sunshine's description.

"Sunshine is a network of millions of smartphones on the ground, producing results that are on average 3x more accurate. Imagine Sunshine as an investment in the future of weather predictions. The more devices on Sunshine, the better our weather predictions. The potential is unlimited."

So, what happens if there's nobody in your remote area providing weather updates? As far as we can tell, you're fine. Think of Sunshine like Waze: Existing data about conditions, which Sunshine presumably pulls from the same sources a number of other weather apps get their information from, can be supplemented by those experiencing said conditions for themselves. Your smartphone will also chip in too, if it happens to have a barometric sensor in it.

So, if the forecast says it's currently raining in your specific area, but you see nothing but sun, you'd want to update the app with a little notification that says so. In doing so, you get arbitrary points for your contribution—which either makes you feel great compared to your peers or possibly even lets your reports have more weight (depending on how Sunshine is set up).

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Tempescope Brings the Weather to Life

One of Sunshine's cute features is how users can set their temperature preferences—what's a good temperature before you start to get a little chilly, for example, if you're the kind of person who can handle more cold than your peers. Once the weather is predicted to hit a certain temperature past your comfort zone, the app will give you a little notification that you should probably bring a jacket with you that day.

"Bundle up or grab an umbrella," describes Sunshine, "you'll never be caught unprepared."