Darksky..and Alternatives

Recently Dark Sky has announced it is being acquired by Apple. With that acquisition, the Android and Web app will be discontinued by July 2020, and the API by the end of 2021. I appreciate that they are giving some time for people to find alternatives, especially on the API side, where I know apps and sites have built heavy integrations with Dark Sky. I am disappointed that Apple is shutting down this innovative app for everyone except Apple customers. I enjoyed their product and was willing to pay for it.

In search of alternatives, I remembered my wife suggested Windy, and I took another look. It still looks impressive! The interface is a bit busy, but for a weather geek like myself, it lets you dive into different informational layers, weather models, and historical/predictive timelines with ease. The API looks great from a technical standpoint. I wish they had more pricing tiers besides trial and premium, but at least the trial size is enough for small-time usage. Weather stations can also be added directly, which could be a great way for me to provide public information when I get my weather station running.

I’m certainly open to alternatives, so feel free to leave a comment or send me a social media post about your favorite weather solution.