Dark Sky weather app gets major update


I'm a big fan of Dark Sky. It was the first app to introduce alerts for impending rain and alternatives to the tradtional green blog weather radar. Since then it's gotten even better.

Dark Sky version 5.0 brings new alert options and an interesting option for iPhone 6/6+ users to send background info using the barometer sensor. Potentially, this crowd-sourced data could be used to create even more accurate local weather predictions.

Dark Sky sells for $3.99.

- Brand new layout, with a detailed hour-by-hour timeline for the next 24 hours (and for each of the next 7 days).

- Advanced Notifications: In addition to providing down-to-the-minute rain alerts for the next hour, you can now create custom alerts covering the next 24 hours for things like temperature, precipitation, snow accumulation, wind, and more. We'll also push severe weather alerts from the government weather service.

- A new weather reporter, so you can provide feedback on what exactly is happening out your window.

- iPhone 6 users can opt in to have their phones automatically provide us with pressure sensor data. This has the potential to dramatically improve our short-term forecasts in the future.

- Significant speed improvements when launching the app.

- UV Index. Because it's summer, and you need to protect your delicate skin.

- Landscape on the iPad (even my wife was complaining about that one).