Comment by skadamat
3 years ago
Author here!
There's definitely a taste / opinion component to any deep design critique. I think for many (for whom the post resonated), the ability to quickly glance at Dark Sky and understand relevant weather contextually was THE game changer.
It's a hard thing to discuss, because until you've felt the experience, it doesn't seem like a "big deal".
Some apps do use text to talk about the current / upcoming rain, but showing it visually makes it even easier. The ease of use is important because weather apps aren't meant to be that interactive (like a game). They're meant to be context-sensitive information graphics that let you drop in and out very very quickly.
http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/#inferring_context_from_the_e...
Thank you for taking the time to write this article. I was disturbed about the shutdown of Darksky because I really loved the features of that app and reading your article took me on a nice walk down memory lane. Raising the discussion here has been not only been cathartic in that I now know I have a lot of company for my thoughts, but has also provided some alternatives to try to recapture the experience. I'm not a big fan of Apple Weather and at least now I have some options to explore.