Dark Sky is a well-liked climate software with hyper-local forecasts, however the Android model was discontinued in 2020 after the service was acquired by Apple. Darkish Sky has now been reworked right into a service that different apps can use, opening up the door for brand spanking new third-party apps.
Apple just lately introduced WeatherKit, a brand new API for apps to entry the identical climate data that initially powered Darkish Sky. WeatherKit knowledge is utilized by the Climate app on iPhone and iPad (sure, the Climate app is coming to iPad), which can also be why the Darkish Sky app on Apple units will be discontinued on December 31. Importantly, Apple received’t be preserving the climate knowledge to itself — builders of third-party apps will pay for entry.
The developer web page for WeatherKit says, “WeatherKit is powered by the all-new Apple Climate service, a state-of-the-art world climate forecast that gives the entire knowledge it’s worthwhile to energy your app with well timed, hyperlocal climate data. This allows your app to supply present climate situations and 10-day hourly forecasts for temperature, precipitation, wind, UV Index, and extra. Minute-by-minute precipitation for the subsequent hour and extreme climate alerts can be found for choose areas.”
WeatherKit is fairly cool! Solely half-hour of labor and I used to be in a position to create this app. #iosdev #WWDC2022 #swiftui pic.twitter.com/GADA7BzOK2
— azamsharp (@azamsharp) June 7, 2022
Apple mentions that WeatherKit will likely be accessible as a regular API that works with any platform, together with net apps and Android. That opens the door for builders to create Darkish Sky-like apps for Android, Home windows, and different platforms. App builders nonetheless should pay up for entry, however pricing seems reasonable — an app could make 1 million knowledge requests monthly for $49.99/mo, on high of the $99/yr Apple Developer Program.
Right here’s hoping we’ll begin to see extra cross-platform climate apps utilizing Apple Climate. Given how fashionable Darkish Sky was in its prime, we in all probability received’t have to attend lengthy for a contemporary clone that helps Android.