The last time I reviewed Outside for iPhone, a beautiful weather app by Robocat, I focused on the interface design that went into the app and the fact that, unlike other weather apps for iPhone, it allowed users to set up push notifications for certain weather conditions. Stuff like, “hey, perhaps you’d like to wear a t-shirt today” or “make sure to grab your gloves”. It was a clever system, easy to understand and packed inside fancy graphics that made Outside truly stand out in the crowded App Store market.

Months passed, the iPad and iPhone 4 came out and Outside basically disappeared. No word from the developers for months, then a “we’re working on it”. See, I really wanted to use Outside on my iPhone 4 but I couldn’t stand the fuzzy graphics. With version 1.2, released last night and available at a discounted price of $0.99, Outside makes a comeback with totally redesigned graphics updated for the Retina Display.

Outside looks beautiful on the iPhone 4, it really shines. The developers explain that to include the new graphics they had to re-engineer the whole application, which sort of gives us a reason for the delay. Still, we’re happy Outside has full Retina support now. Outside’s notifications are now offered for free to all users – you don’t have to buy any in-app purchase anymore. The developers write:

What happened to the Notification Subscription? After months of crunching the numbers and reorganizing the servers, we’ve decided to shoulder the cost of offering custom notifications - We thank everyone who have supported the subscription service, know that it’s because of you that we are now able to offer the service for free.

So there you have it. The same Outside app that can check on current weather and forecasts for the week, only with some Retina love and free notifications for everyone. If you don’t have the app yet, go grab it in the App Store at .99 cents.