The popular Dark Sky iOS app, a forecast and hyper-local weather app from The Climactic (formerly known as Jackadam) will no longer be available for download or updates very soon. The beloved app was recently acquired by Apple, meaning that in the near future those who have previously used the app may be unable to access it.
Dark Sky is a unique type of weather forecaster that provides incredibly accurate and granular minute-to-minute reports on rain, snow, heat, cold, and wind—letting users know what to wear and plan for throughout their day or week. The app was often praised for its ability to precisely pinpoint severe weather rolling into an area, even when other popular weather apps failed to report such occurrences.
The app was released in 2012, and quickly gained a devoted following of users. Its popularity among daily users and professional meteorologists alike has been unparalleled until now. Unfortunately with the acquisition of Dark Sky by Apple, the app will no longer be available for both Android and iOS devices beginning on August 1, 2020. If it’s already on your phone, however, you may still be able to use it—but only as long as the app continues to run in its present form. Any future updates Apple installs may cause the app to stop working on both iOS and Android.
For iOS users, the alternative to Dark Sky would be Apple’s own Weather app, an app that provides general and hourly forecasts. Apple Weather won’t offer the same level of detail as Dark Sky, but it provides a comprehensive, comprehensive weather look at the entire day ahead, and also has other useful features such as severe weather alerts, air quality index, radiation levels, UV-index, and more. For users who are used to the detailed and accurate forecasts of Dark Sky, Apple Weather certainly won’t be the same, but it will still offer some valuable insight into the weather.
It’s a sad day for the weather app industry, and it’s a day of mourning for those who relied on Dark Sky’s exceptionally detailed reports. But while the iOS version of the app will no longer be available, the Android version of Dark Sky is still available for download but with no further updates. This may mean that Android users will have to use other weather apps as substitutes, but at least they’ll get to hang onto the app for a little bit longer.