New ‘Acme Weather’ app from Dark Sky creators wants to fix weather apps’ biggest problem
Source: 9to5Mac
Acme Weather – New iPhone Weather App
Acme Weather – a new iPhone weather app from the team behind Dark Sky – aims to tackle forecast uncertainty.
According to the developers in their blog post introducing Acme Weather, the app doesn’t just present a single “best‑guess” forecast. Instead, it acknowledges that any given forecast could be wrong and provides alternative scenarios for users to consider.
Acme Weather – From the Team Behind Dark Sky
Background
Dark Sky was a popular hyper‑local weather app for iPhone and Android. Apple acquired it in March 2020, shut it down in January 2023, and later integrated some of its features into the native Apple Weather app and the WeatherKit API for developers.
“We enjoyed our time at Apple. So why did we leave to start another weather company? It’s simple: when looking at the landscape of the countless weather apps out there, many of them lovely, we found ourselves feeling unsatisfied. The more we spoke to friends and family, the more we heard that many of them did too. And, of course, we missed those days as a small scrappy shop.” – Adam Grossman, co‑creator
The “Alternative Forecasts” Concept
Acme Weather’s flagship feature is Alternative Forecasts. The idea is that no forecast can ever be 100 % accurate; weather is “moody, fickle, and chaotic.” Rather than presenting a single deterministic forecast, the app shows a range of plausible outcomes, acknowledging uncertainty while still providing a reliable primary forecast.
“The spread of the lines offers a sort of intuition as to how reliable the forecast is. Tight spreads indicate a robust forecast; wide spreads signal that conditions may change and you should check back more often.” – Grossman
“It simply shows what else might plausibly happen—whether a storm will arrive early, be delayed, or turn to rain. When the weather is changing rapidly, predictions become less reliable, so we show different possible futures to keep you better informed.” – Grossman
How it works
- Primary model – Built from multiple sources (numerical weather‑prediction models, satellite data, ground‑station observations, radar).
- Alternative lines – Visual overlays that illustrate the range of possible outcomes.
- Interpretation
- Narrow spread → high confidence.
- Wide spread → lower confidence; consider checking additional maps or returning later.
Additional Features
- Community reporting – Users can submit real‑time observations of local conditions.
- Specialized maps – Radar, lightning, precipitation totals, temperature, cloud cover, etc.
- Rich notifications
- Minute‑by‑minute rain warnings.
- Government severe‑weather alerts.
- Nearby lightning strikes.
- Community reports.
- Even alerts for possible rainbows.
References
- Dark Sky acquisition: 9to5Mac – Apple purchases Dark Sky
- Dark Sky shutdown: 9to5Mac – Dark Sky shutting down warning
- WeatherKit API launch: 9to5Mac – Developers WeatherKit API requests
9to5Mac’s Take
I’m a sucker for weather apps and weather data, and Acme Weather is joining my arsenal. What strikes me most about the app is how well it takes large amounts of information and distills it into an interface that is actually readable.
Some apps that simply show you one forecast feel more overwhelming than Acme Weather, which shows you multiple possible forecasts at the same time.
You can download Acme Weather on the App Store. The app is $25 / year with a two‑week free trial. It’s currently available for iPhone, but the team says an Android version is coming soon.
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