Every smartphone today has a widget, which forecasts the weather. However there are plenty apps for iphone or android, which are more precise and can forecast the weather all around the world.
Furthermore, weather apps do not just forecast but have other features as well. Some apps can show climate and nature change on the planet for the certain time period or to give the current climate data. Of course, most of the people use the forecast function only and other types are not so popular. However, every app has its customers.
Weather App Types
There are three types of weather application: the forecast, climate apps and “image of changes”. Of course, the first and second types are used more often, while the “image of changes” is more entertaining and educational rather than practical type of the app.
- Forecast: the most popular type of weather application. Forecasts using location services. The best apps have not only standard features like weekly, daily and hourly forecast but provide plenty of widgets as well. Some of apps have hourly forecast and many additional functions. Usually, basic features and widgets are free but for some extra ones you will have to pay.
- Climate apps: climate applications have plenty of functions: they show climate changes thru the time, current climate all around the world and give the whole earth climate map: air temperature, gravity field, sea level, ozone and carbon dioxide perсentage in the air, etc. Some of the apps allow hurricane tracking.
- “Image of changes”: this app is used more for educational or entertaining purposes. The main functionality is to show the overall climate change over the years or certain period. This type of weather app is less popular than the first two, but is still interesting for the certain market segment.
Weather App Development
Therefore, when you choose to develop a weather app, the basic steps is to choose the interface and functionality. So, here we collected few tips and tricks about the best features and design solutions.
- Weather forecast: the main function of the app is the forecast. It can show current weather, weekly, daily, hourly or minute-to-minute forecast. Nice additional function – the “real feel” temperature.
- UV weather map: this feature shows the sun’s ultraviolet radiation level on the world’s map by Solar UV index. Not such a common function in the forecast apps but may be useful in the summer.
- Wind information: this feature may be useless for regular users but priceless for sailors, windsurfers, kite-surfers and paragliders. From the other hand, this function may serve people who want to spend time out on week-end as well.
- Humidity + visibility: it is always nice to know humidity and visibility level while going out or especially driving, so this feature is a “must have”.
- Climate map: this feature shows the entire climate information: air temperature, humidity, sea level, carbon dioxide level, etc. Very useful for scientific or educational purposes.
- Sunrise and sunset time: another basic feature of a weather app that shows the day lenght.
- Rain possibility: that is also a basic feature that shows the percentage possibility of rain, includes “partly cloudy”, “cloudy”, etc. indicators.
- Earth time lapse: the main feature of the image of changes app that shows the climate changes all over the history or certain time periods.
App interface is also important. The most popular design is sky blue color as the main theme with sun, clouds, rain and moon icons added for the climate app. Almost every application is designed like this, however, it has easy and user-friendly interface.
How To Make A Weather App For Android Or iOS
The main purpose of every app is to forecast weather. There are 6 different ways to make it:
- Weather conditions data: is not the most accurate way to gather information, but some countries like India use it. The main idea is to forecast basing on the continuous statistical data of 2-3 last decades. It is not the most modern way of weather forecasting, but it works in countries without weather cameras or satellites.
- Satellites: the main and most accurate way to forecast weather is to use the satellites or meteo stations data. It will help to receive the most accurate prognose.
- Camera: another way to make the forecast more accurate is to use cameras like some of the apps already do. The combination of satellite, radars and cameras gives better result.
- Doppler radar: one of the tools for the most accurate forecast. The Doppler radar works with short radio waves called “pulses”, which have high transmission and dual-polarization. Therefore, the radar can predict snow, rain and ice pellets with high accuracy using the two-dimensional picture.
- Smartphone functionality: the easiest way is to forecast the weather by using the smartphone sensors: barometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, battery temperature etc. Basically, this method allows forecasting only for the current location and it is not really accurate.
- National Weather Service data: all the weather apps in U.S.A. use the NWS data. NWS collects the data from meteo stations and satellites from all around the country and make the forecast with the special computer algorithm. However, this way is not the most accurate one.
Few More Tips
Climate app gives a full climate information in a real time using 3D Earth model that can be zoomed or spinned. This app is a great tool for teachers, students, scientists and all the people who want to explore the Earth’s climate changes and anomalies.
The best and actually only way to collect the climate data from all around the world is to use the satellites. The best way is to gather NASA satellites information, which is the more precise one. You can make it easier and show just climate changes using the global earth science database without showing the real time climate picture. Another way is to make a climate tracker (tracks climate and shows changes for the certain period only in the current location) or climate analyzer (gives access to climate changes database).
How Much Does It Cost To Make A Climate App?
The weather app development cost may vary depending on the app’s complicity. However, the weather app goes into the most simple “utility apps” category that does not have many features and does not perform a lot of tasks. The price will be relatively cheap: from $1000 to $10.000 approximately. Keep in mind, that application with a custom design and features will cost more.
The money cost also depends on developer’s rate: outsource developer will charge around $50 per hour, while local ones – $150-250 per hour. Time of development depends on the app’s complicity and developer’s team qualification as well.
Custom Weather App Development For Startup And Business
No matter that the weather app development seems to be easy, it requires a lot of time and skills. It is true that forecast or climate app basically have 1-2 features and simple design but it needs location and weather forecast services to be inputted. About the geolocation, there are 3 ways to integrate it in the app:
- GPS location that uses the GPS service.
- Wi-Fi location that works with Wi-Fi points database.
- Cell ID location that works with GSM (mobile provider) cells.
Therefore, if you need a perfect weather forecasting or climate app, contact us today and our developers will build an application that suits you perfectly. On this way you will save your time and money. Furthermore, you will be able to spend time on regulation business processes or developing the marketing strategy for you upcoming app, while we will develop your weather app for iOS or Android.