I love watching the weather and enjoy checking extended forecasts via my iPhone. The weather category in the App Store is flooded with sub-par apps with horrible UIs. Even some of the more popular ones look like they are being neglected in the pixel department. There are some great weather apps there but this review is only about one, a newcomer to the App Store, QuickWeather.
Although I like weather data, sometimes I want a simple weather reading that gives me some visual stimulation, not just numbers. If my hometown weather isn’t the best, I usually check Destin, Florida, where it’s always sunny and where my family goes once a year. QuickWeather, by App Jon, simply does this; it’s a beautiful app that makes it easy to quickly access weather anywhere in the world.
The first thing you notice when launching the app is the interface’s great visuals and smooth animations that support your iPhone 4’s retina display. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun projecting off your screen. The weather graphics are large and realistic with elements such as the sun, clouds, snow, rain, stars and the moon; along with the daytime and nightime effects. Temperatures and conditions are displayed in helvetica, which makes it very easy to read. The app first asks to use your location to grab the weather info but if you want to take it a step further, tap the info button in the lower right and the page curls up to reveal search by Zip code, City or GPS. You can also switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius here too.
QuickWeather also gives you Current Conditions and Tomorrow’s Forecast; simply tap one or the other to get some detailed information with some really slick iOS-like elements. Animations are super smooth, it’s fun just to tap around in this app. There’s also a refresh icon in the bottom left if you need to update before the app does it automatically. The only issue I had with QuickWeather is it’s inability to save locations, so I can’t jump to Destin, Florida unless I search for it again. Not a deal breaker by any means but the ability to save locations would be a good idea in future updates.
Overall, QuickWeather is a nice alternative to other iPhone weather apps with it’s beautiful graphics, smooth user experience and quick access to weather anywhere in the world. QuickWeather has already reached #9 in the Weather category, so it’s getting a great response. The app is only $.99 and you can grab it here.
[UPDATE: AppJon is adding the ability to see what city you’re currently viewing in QuickWeather 1.1 but no word of saved locations yet.)
