“Dark Sky” one of the best short term weather widget provider for Android (https://darksky.net) is going to the ‘dark side’ … means they have been bought by Apple to continue their war against the Android eco-system and hence we need something as a replacement and the only guy to seem to be capable to deliver seem to be @duane.
I mean what we need is not much different than the existing widget - just (… hahaha … I know … sounds so easy, but probably isn’t …) an optimized 24h time-frame widget (the current 1d widget shows just empty space …) and an additional 1h time-frame widget.
Yes, it’s pretty stink what happened with DarkSky.
Re. a one day widget: it depends what you want it for. It’s important to know that Flowx shows weather simulation predictions, not current conditions (except for radar). It also doesn’t have short-term predictions apart from HRRR which is released every hour and hence can be between 1 and 2 hours stale. Most other weather models release data every 6 hours, which means the predictions are based on measured data 6 to 12 hours ago.
HRRR and some others have 1 hourly time steps showing (there is 15 minute steps but I haven’t implemented this yet). Others, like GFS and GDPS have 3 hourly steps. So you can see in a 1-day widget there would be only 8-24 data points across the day. This is what most forecasts show but people don’t realize.
DarkSky took the measured radar and predicted the future progression using AI. I think this is what Accuweather does too. RainViewer is implementing this and plans to release this soon. But this is just for radar - everything else would be based on weather models like HRRR. This is my understanding.
Thanks for your quick reply. Yes … sure … was thinking about the HRRR … everything else probably doesn’t make much sense regarding short-term predictions. The DarkSky AI was not very intelligent … more like a very basic 2D projection and definitely way below the real dynamics of the HRRR model. Hence I think the HRRR implementation and being able to show this in 15 min steps in a short term widget (e.g. with 1 hour step intervals up to 24h) would be huge. When we check the DarkSky reviews on Android there seem to be quite a need for that and a huge willingness also to pay for such service.
Oh - didn’t know RainViewer is also working on such thing. Yeah - that’s an app which I also use or have been using of course, but it has become super slow and almost useless in the past when it comes to animations.
Any idea why your app widget is just showing empty space on the 1-day? On the 2-day there is some data visible. Hence probably would first use your 2 day widget when DarkSky goes offline, but shorter time-frame would definitely be highly appreciated.
Yeah - I mean it’s your app (;-)) and finally your decisions - just wanted to leave some input her, but for myself I think I would definitely use it.
Thanks for your huge work anyway and your contribution to the Android ecosystem.
That’s interesting. It refreshing to hear your point of view. Sub-hourly time steps will pop to the top of the list. It was at the top-last week but spectrums, which should be in beta today, jumped to the top.
I render RainViewer data in Flowx, hopefully Oleksii would be happy to show the future predictions in Flowx. But I think this should require a RainViewer2 purchase, i.e., you don’t automatically get it with a Pro version of Flowx. I think this is only fair, Oleksii and team put in a lot of work. In other words, you RainViewer 2 predictions with the animation goodness of Flowx
Re. the empty 1-day widget: I don’t know. My widget wasn’t empty. Can you send me a screenshot and the debug log? I’ll check it out.
BTW, what does the DarkSky widget look like? Can you send me a screenshot of what you have?
As always, I’m happy to hear ideas but can’t promise anything. The to-do list is super long.
My one day widget is OK. But all the graph data disappears, except temperature, when setting one day forecast in the main app.
This is on a Huawei Mate 10 Pro phone and Samsung S6 tablet. Both on Android 9.
Awesome - sounds very promising. I already have to RainViewer PRO and don’t mind buying the RainViewer2 PRO. I know how hard it is to make money online since I’m full-time YouTuber.
Here first the screen-shot with the two DarkSky widgets (1h and 24h … but “unfortunately” no rain currently to see … which is the most interesting thing usually there …) and below your FlowX 1 d / 2 d / 10 d.
I’m a long time Dark Sky user myself, great short term forecasting.
Not surprised Android users are actively looking at other weather apps at the moment, and hope this leads to more people using Flowx.
I noted in your latest change log something about Dark Sky data being available for precipitation and temperature (my version is 3.244) but seemed to imply it needed selecting in some way - is that right and how would you do that?
Also in the Dark Sky Blog which announced the Apple news it says “Our API service for existing customers is not changing today, but we will no longer accept new signups. The API will continue to function through the end of 2021.” so does this mean the Dark Sky data is only a temporary feature?
I looked up RainViewer 2 but found nothing, reading this thread suggests there may be a new app but maybe I’ve misunderstood!
The Dark Sky stuff I mention in version 3.244 is just the coloring so you can get familiar looking maps.
I don’t use the Dark Sky API.
Currently, Flowx is showing HRRR data in 1 hour time steps. I am currently working on 15 minute time steps for the HRRR which will be the closest thing to Dark Sky next-hour forecasting you can get. Arguably, it might be better since it’s driven by a weather model instead of AI.
It is difficult to compare Flowx and Dark Sky. At the high level, they are similar, but they are different in the details. Note, Dark Sky is focused in near-term forecasting (next day). Flowx is focused on weather model data which is good for medium term forecasts and planning. That said, Flowx can serve for near-term forecasts with the inclusion of RainViewer radar and HRRR,
RainViewer 2 with near-term forecasting is in the pipeline. I have inside knowledge.
You can’t really compare Dark Sky and Accuweather with Flowx like this. It’s apples and oranges.
Flowx is weather simulation results with is great for medium term forecasting and does have some near-term forecasting with RainViewer radar and HRRR.
Dark Sky and AccuWeather uses statistics (MOS) to improve near-term forecasts but you loose the big picture. In other words, is turns what you see on the Flowx map into an icon representing the weather for a single location, e.g. New York (airport). Dark Sky (and later AccuWeather with minute cast) took this a step further by adding the near-term precipitation forecasts by projecting radar 1 hour into the future. This is what RainViewer 2 will be offering.
One could argue HRRR is the gold standard since it’s based on a weather model (physics). But I don’t have any facts to back that up.
I didn’t know it at the time, but when I saw the Dark Sky popup about the sale to Apple, that was my lucky day! Unwilling to click “OK” and agree to Apple’s “Terms and Conditions,” I uninstalled Dark Sky immediately and went looking.
I LOVE this app! What I liked about Dark Sky was being able to get a sense of the weather at a glance but Flowx is much better in that regard. The widget gives me cloud cover, rain, temperature and wind. The app opens quickly for more detail and I like the map better than Dark Sky. I really like being able to slide the timeline instead of dealing with Dark Sky’s automation. As for the hyperlocal nature of Dark Sky, I found it hit or miss. Sometimes it was dead-on, other times not. I’m finding Flowx just as useful in that regard, probably more.
A quick observation from a new user, at first the graph looked very confusing. I’m used to it now but I think it would have made more sense to me right away if it were upside-down! IOW, with the clouds and rain coming from the sky and the sun shining on the ground. Does that make sense? Certainly not a big deal - just a thought.
Looks like you’re planning more good things to come. Thanks for a great app and keep up the great work!
There are many ways to plot the graph. This was the first graph in Flowx and I made it from using basic plotting principles. I do plan to add a better graph editor one day where you can create and theme your own graphs.
