Even when you’re stuck inside, having one of the best weather apps loaded on to your smartphone can come in handy. A good weather app can tip you off to what conditions might be like when do you venture outdoors. Weather apps can also notify you of big storms — very important now that we’re in hurricane season and experiencing more severe weather.
A quick trip through the iOS App Store or Google Play will turn up a number of weather apps that offer everything from up-to-the-minute forecasts, radar-aided overviews and extended looks at coming weather patterns. Check out 15 of the best weather apps for Android and iOS devices.
Contents
The best weather apps you can download today
Dark Sky (iOS: $3.99)
How good is Dark Sky? So good that Apple itself snapped up the app to improve its own built-in weather offerings. You can see the benefits of that purchase in the iOS 14 beta, as Dark Sky-influenced changes to the Weather app are one of the best hidden features in iOS 14.
Even with the changes to the Weather app on the iPhone, iOS users can still download Dark Sky from the App Store for $3.99 to enjoy its hyper-accurate local weather forecasting. Android users are out of luck, as Dark Sky has disappeared from the Google Play Store and Apple has turned off service to existing users. (Fortunately, there are plenty of other apps on this list to download to your Android phone.)
A major interface revamp to Dark Sky has put even more weather data right at your fingertips. You now get a precipitation map for the next hour, as well as handy hourly forecasts and a precipitation graph. Those additions join severe weather alerts, customizable notifications, and lockscreen weather digests. The main timeline also includes UV information, and options for more granular information.
Download Dark Sky: iOS
The Weather Channel’s free, ad-supported weather app is available on Android and iOS. The TWC app provides you with a wealth of meteorological data such as temperature, wind and visibility on an hourly or daily basis, with an extended 10-day forecast available. Interactive maps can display the latest Doppler radar data to show rainfall and weather events and severe weather alerts.
The Weather Channel also includes social sharing features for users to upload images, tweets, videos and photos.
Download The Weather Channel: Android, iOS
It’s an app you hope you never have to use, but when disaster strikes, you’ll be glad you have Emergency: Alerts from the American Red Cross on your iPhone or Android device.
The app pays attention to when severe weather conditions strike — everything from hurricanes and floods to extreme heat and winter storms. Not only will Emergency monitor where you live, you can also enter cities and people that are important to you. The app features customizable alerts and provides a map with shelter information in the event of an emergency.
You can use Emergency Alerts to make sure you’re ready for a potential storm by scanning through the disaster preparedness info tucked within Emergency.
Download Emergency: Alerts: Android, iOS
Weather can change in an instant, so it’s handy to be alerted when something severe is headed your way. Apalon’s NOAA Radar Pro for iOS promises real-time animated radar images on an interactive app map, along with the kind of detailed weather information you’d expect from a mobile app.
A noteworthy feature is the app’s ability to send notifications whenever a weather alert is issued, so that you’re never caught unaware by snow storms, flood warnings or other dangerous conditions.
The iOS version of NOAA Radar Pro includes Apple Watch compatibility, so those alerts are delivered to your wrist. Android users can download the free NOAA Weather Radar & Alerts, with a $1.99 in-app purchase removing ads.
Download NOAA: Android, iOS
WeatherBug (Android, iOS: Free)
If there’s a developing weather situation you need to track, WeatherBug can help you out. (On Android, the app is called Weather by WeatherBug.)
The free download not only offers Doppler radar for North America, but can provide hurricane forecasts, Spark lightning alerts, air quality info and pollen count data on top of the usual array of weather information. Since it pulls data from weather services, satellites and tracking stations, WeatherBug can provide hyperlocal real-time conditions with current, hourly and 10-day forecasts.
Download WeatherBug: Android, iOS
Carrot Weather (Android, iOS: Free/$4.99)
Long an iOS exclusive you couldn’t get on Android, Carrot Weather has since bridged the platform divide, and now the malevolent AI overlord Carrot can bring Android users the weather forecast along with a big side helping of snark and sarcasm.
The app pulls data from Dark Sky to provide current, hourly, and 7-day forecasts leavened with sarcastic humor to cushion even the gloomiest outlook. Infographics put useful information in quick reach, with more detailed meteorological data available as you tap and swipe. You can even configure Carrot’s sense of humor to be friendly, snarky, or murderous, with the ability to set how political the AI’s jokes can get.
The app offers different subscription tiers. iOS users who opt for the Tier 3 subscription (the priciest option, with a $24.99 annual cost) can receive notifications for rain, snow, lightning strikes and storms. Tier 2 subscribers ($9.99) can create custom reminders triggered by weather conditions, while the $3.99-a-year Tier 1 level brings alerts about critical weather conditions. The Android version has a Premium Club with time travel and widget features.
Download Carrot Weather: Android, iOS
Weather Line (iOS)
Weather Line proves the value in bundling the best features of weather-tracking services. Pay up for a premium subscription to this iOS-only app, and you’ll get extended 10-day forecasts that pull data from Dark Sky, WDT and Accuweather for a comprehensive look ahead at ever-changing weather conditions. The free ad-supported version of Weather Line just uses Dark Sky data.
Whether free or paid, you’ll appreciate the customizable views of Weather Line, which includes multiple dark modes, themes and icons so that you can give the app a look that helps you easily pick out the weather for locations at a glance.
A Supercharge subscription to Weather Line costs $1.99 a month or $9.99 if you opt for an annual subscription; a lifetime unlocks costs $44.99. In addition to the 10-day forecast feature, subscriptions include a 72-hour forecast, animated radar, by-the-minute rain forecasts, and all the themes and app icons.
Download Weather Line: iOS
Yahoo! Weather (Android, iOS: Free)
The beautiful Yahoo Weather app boasts a gorgeous interface that is both informative and striking. The app displays images of your location with matching time of day and weather conditions, with the option to view detailed five-day forecasts, as well as interactive radar, heat and satellite maps. Updates have brought the Android app in line with the iOS design for a unified experience across both platforms.
Other apps provide more details and features, but Yahoo Weather’s clean, concise presentation makes it an eminently user-friendly, everyday app, marred only by a fairly large advertisement as you swipe up to get to the detailed forecast.
Download Yahoo Weather: Android, iOS
1Weather (Android, iOS: Free)
1Weather has been an old favorite among Android users for its clean and striking interface and its wealth of weather data. And now, the app has since made the jump to iOS.
1Weather provides quick summaries of current weather conditions and forecasts, as well as hourly, 10-day, and 12-week forecasts. In addition to the forecasts, 1Weather also provides detailed radar maps with customizable data layers, widgets, notifications and severe weather alerts where available.
Download 1Weather: Android, iOS
AccuWeather (Android, iOS: Free)
AccuWeather is an excellent app that provides hourly, daily and 15-day weather forecasts, which you can integrate with your calendar. The MinuteCast feature even provides hyper-local, minute-by-minute forecasts for the next two hours.
AccuWeather’s reach is comprehensive, with forecast data for more than 3 million locations. The app also includes alerts for incoming severe weather events such as snow, thunderstorms, high winds or tornadoes.
Download AccuWeather: Android, iOS
Weather Live (Android, iOS: Free)
Apalon’s Weather Live app aims to provide a weather app experience as pretty as it is functional. Each weather report is accompanied by a matching photo that gives you a sense of the type of weather to expect, from beautiful clear skies to stormy weather and everything in between. The forecast indicates current and “feels like” temperatures, precipitation info, and sunrise and sunset times, and more, with 7-day and 24 hour forecasts available.
Going for a premium subscription removes advertising, and provides access to more features like hurricane tracking and interactive weather maps.
Download Weather Live: Android, iOS
Air Quality by Plume Labs (Android, iOS: Free)
If you’re looking for a forecast app that’s more about air quality than overall weather forecasting, check out Air Quality by Plume Labs. This free air quality forecast app gives you a handy summary of current and forecast air quality conditions, including Air Quality Index (AQI), temperature, humidity, and concentrations for pollutants like NO2 and PM2.5, as well as an interactive map showing air quality conditions around you.
Air Quality comes with a timeline that you can use to scroll backward and forward to give you historical data for a week, as well as a 24-hour forecast that alerts you to upcoming conditions. Plume Air Report is also designed to work with the Flow air quality tracker gadget, though the app also works perfectly fine on its own.
Download Air Quality by Plume Labs: Android, iOS
Flowx (Android: Free)
If geeking out over maps, graphs, and predictions is your thing, check out Flowx. Formerly known as Weatherbomb, the app provides users with a rich array of charts, forecasts, and weather maps presented in a scrolling animated forecast timeline. Users can have the app center on their location automatically, or set custom locations.
Flowx can display a variety of data overlays, such as precipitation, clouds and wind direction arrows, with data sourced from the NWS/NOAA and Environment Canada. The app is ad-supported, with an optional subscription that removes ads and rewards the developer.
Download Flowx: Android
Radarscope (Android, iOS: $9.99)
If you’re looking for an incredibly feature-packed and powerful weather radar app and cost isn’t an issue, then check out RadarScope, an Android and iOS app aimed at meteorologists and weather enthusiasts.
RadarScope provides users with Nexrad Level 3 data from radar stations across the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico, with options for fine-tuning the view with settings for displaying reflectivity, velocity and more. In addition, there are detailed severe weather alerts for tornadoes, flash floods and thunderstorms. While it’s overkill for just checking the weather forecast, it’s a fantastic tool for the more dedicated enthusiast.
Download RadarScope: Android, iOS
Weather Underground (Android, iOS: Free)
Weather Underground relies upon a network of more than 30,000 personal and amateur weather stations to deliver truly local weather forecasts. Crowd reporting features allow you to verify reported forecasts and post their own sky and hazard reports. A detailed weather map allows you to apply a variety of information overlays. You can receive severe weather alerts, meteorological data in your notification tray and receive hourly forecasts up to 10 days.
Download Weather Underground: Android, iOS
