On the updated Dark Sky app

Dark Sky, our favorite radar app, underwent a large update recently, which now makes it a much more general purpose weather app. Dark Sky is still our pick for best radar app, but it also makes for an excellent general purpose weather app.

The UI is very unique and has been a bit polarizing for many users. Gone are all the iOS 6 design elements, and a fresh design is introduced which features a card-based structure that lets you swipe from left or right to see different weather details. These cards are, (from left to right), a radar map, Default screen with Today and rain prediction details, Detailed day view, and Weekly forecast.

Confusingly, the screen that Dark Sky starts you on is the Today screen. This means that a left or right swipe moves screens and leaves the Radar screen a bit forgotten in the mix. Also lost in the mix is the detailed day view that is accessible by tapping on the current temperature. Moreover, there is some confusing iconography on that screen.

The forecast screen offers the ability to tap on any of the days to see a more detailed view of weather conditions (clouds, rain, snow, etc), but the weather graphing mechanism in this weekly forecast view feels less than helpful as the black bar-dots steal a lot of the visual focus.

Among other things, Dark Sky’s radar view was also updated to provide a very useful temperature view. We also really like the coloring shift from a darkened globe to a more standard, lighter-colored globe that adds better contrast for radar imagery.

Many people we know use Dark Sky in conjunction with another weather app, but with the latest update, many of these users will be able to use Dark Sky as their only weather app. It is full-featured and offers some of the most accurate weather information of any app in Forecast.io (developed by the makers of Dark Sky).

While we like Dark Sky quite a bit, Check the Weather remains our top recommendation for a general purpose weather app as it is much easier to use, read, and understand for most people who just want a quick glance at the current temperature and forecast.