Not many people expected the iPhone's Weather app to get a redesign with iOS 15, given that there are plenty of other Apple apps that could use a revamp. However, Apple’s acquisition of the excellent weather app Dark Sky in 2020 did indicate that the company was planning to redesign its own weather offering.
Now that Apple has unveiled this redesign, it’s time to take a look at what’s new in the iOS 15 Weather app, and what the fuss is all about.
The All-New Weather App in iOS 15
Weather in iOS 15 has many new features, but the easiest one to notice is the redesigned animated background. Even though the previous version had animated backgrounds, with iOS 15, you will get a much more accurate depiction of real-world conditions.
The outgoing version had a static sun on the top-left of the screen, regardless of the time of day. But with iOS 15, that will change. This means that the position of the sun in the app will be accurate to the Sun in your location, and you’ll see more realistic animations based on the level of precipitation or other weather conditions.
Apple’s also promising notifications that highlight when rain or snow starts and stops, which has been one of Dark Sky’s signature features. The company says Weather also features more graphical displays of data and dynamic layouts that change based on conditions. You will see neat graphics for useful data such as wind speed, air pressure, and the UV index, which is good to have.
A quick glance at Weather in iOS 15 will tell you that the app looks far better-designed now. Subtle changes in line with iOS 15’s design language—such as neat boxes with rounded corners to show important data points—make it look much better.
A Much-Needed Update for Weather
Weather apps can easily start to look crowded with too much data thrown at unsuspecting people, but this time Apple has done a far better job to avoid information overload. The Dark Sky acquisition appears to have influenced this revamped app in all the right ways.
The only thing on our wishlist now is a nicely animated live weather widget to go with this redesigned app. Perhaps we’ll see that in iOS 16.
Image Credits: Apple