Enjoy the forecast with Beautiful Weather

Beautiful Weather is an iOS app from the company of the same name. It's available now as separate free downloads from the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and carries optional in-app purchases to unlock "premium" features. As the name implies, Beautiful Weather is an app that aims to provide an aesthetically-pleasing look at the upcoming weather in the user's current location or in various locations around the globe. The app's App Store page implies that there is a focus on the U.K. and Ireland, but the app is capable of retrieving weather information from all over the world. Upon starting the app, the user is given a brief tour of the complete interface, beginning with the daily forecast, which displays basic information for the user's current location. Like most other weather apps, additional locations may be added and swiped between for comparison. Beautiful Weather immediately distinguishes itself from your average weather app with its high-quality Retina display graphics and soothing background music that adapts to the time of day and current conditions. Tapping a button at the bottom of the screen from the daily forecast allows the user to view more detailed information for the day, including temperature, wind speed, humidity, chance of rain and moon phase. This screen also displays a random "on this date in history" factoid. Turning the device sideways switches to the app's "panorama" view, which displays the day's weather in a graphical format according to time. On the left of the screen is the sunrise (including the time) and at the right side is the sunset (again, including the time). Between the two are graphical depictions of the weather throughout the day, with temperatures at the various times listed across the bottom of the screen. Swiping from right to left allows a panorama for the following day to be viewed in the same manner. Swiping up from this "panorama" view switches to the weekly forecast, which displays a graphical depiction of the overall conditions along with a simple one- or two-word description and the temperatures. Swiping down, meanwhile, switches to a 3D depiction of the world which can be rotated and zoomed with standard touchscreen gestures. The 3D view displays weather conditions from around the world and allows users to add them to their saves places with a double-tap. Beautiful Weather works perfectly well in its free incarnation without ads or other nag screens, but also offers a "Premium" service for those who want a little more. This is a subscription-based service rather than a one-off purchase, though users may try it for free every Sunday and may also get a week of free Premium service for liking the app on Facebook. Premium features include additional animations in panorama view, including animals; hourly temperature forecasts; detailed forecasts for the next week instead of just the next day; live cloud animations and monthly-updated satellite images on the globe view; and additional special effects to depict the various weather conditions. None of these features are particularly "essential," but the premium account allows those who enjoy the app to show their appreciation with an optional payment if nothing else. On the whole, Beautiful Weather is an excellent app that makes something as mundane as looking at the weather forecast rather fun. Unfortunately, all the app's "Beautiful" parts come at a slight price -- weighing in at 172MB to download and expanding to over 200MB once installed, this is not a small app, particularly for those with lower-capacity devices. This may not be an issue for some users, but for those who like to make efficient use of their storage space, 200MB+ for a weather app is probably a little excessive. Despite this, though, the fact it's free means that many users will likely take a chance on it -- but it may well be among the first apps to go when space gets tight for many. You can follow Beautiful Weather's progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social apps and developers.

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Enjoy the forecast with Beautiful Weather

Pete Davison

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Pete Davison