Apple Weather vs Carrot Weather — which is the best replacement for Dark Sky? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Dark Sky — the well-loved weather app for the iPhone as iPad — closed at the end of 2022 after the company was bought by Apple and the weather prediction technologies integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
With this end, users are looking for alternatives that offer the power and flexibility of Dark Sky, letting them know if they need an umbrella or sunscreen, and notifying them when rain is about to begin.
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I have a lot of weather apps. I spend quite a bit of time outdoors, shooting a lot of photos and videos and flying drones, so I need accurate weather predictions. I used to be a big Dark Sky fan, but as soon as it was clear its time was limited, I began searching for alternatives.
And I found two weather services that are a worthy replacement for Dark Sky, and one might surprise you.
Why?
Because one of them is the Apple Weather app bundled with iPhones and iPads. The other is Carrot Weather, a super powerful — and fun — weather app.
Specification
Weather | Carrot | |
Hardware compatibility | iPhone, iPad, iPod touch | iPhone, iPad, iPod touch |
OS compatibility | iOS/iPadOS 10.0 or later, macOS 12.3 or later | iPadOS 13.0 or later |
Price | Free | Free |
In-app purchase | No | Premium ($4.99/mo, 19.00/yr) |
Apple App Store rating | 2.6/5 | 4.7/5 |
You should use the built-in Weather app if…
1. You don’t want to pay
It’s free. Or, more accurately, you paid for it when you bought your iPhone or iPad.
2. You prefer Apple’s apps
People liked the Dark Sky weather app because it combined power with ease of use. Well, when Apple purchased Dark Sky and begun to integrate it into iOS and iPadOS, it brought a lot of this power and ease of use to the Weather app. If you’ve been putting off using the built-in Weather app because you remember back when it was super basic and poor, check it out again because it’s improved a lot.
3. You like simplicity
There’s little to set up — the app just needs to know where you are and whether you want to receive weather notifications. That’s it. It’s super easy to use.
4. You like reliability
I’ve tested this app in a number of countries over the past year and found it to be accurate and reliable, on par with the services you pay for.
You should use the Carrot Weather app if …
1. You want more features
Carrot Weather is packed with cool features, from beautifully animated maps to the ability to select from different weather sources. You can customise different data layouts to suit what you want from your weather app.
2. You want powerful Live Activities
With Carrot Weather you can track the start *and* stop of rain and storms from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, giving you an at-a-glance view of the weather.
3. You want great Apple Watch integrations
I love the beautiful complications for the Apple Watch. They look far nicer than the ones that Apple have for the Weather app, and the app offers more in the way of features.
4. You like your apps to have personalities
Carrot Weather is fun. You can set it to be super serious, or you can choose a fun, friendly personality, a snarky one, and even “homicidal” or “profanity-ladened” personalities. They sure brighten up weather forecasting!