How to Develop Weather Forecast & Alert Mobile App

Weather alert or Weather forecast mobile apps are not simply to do the forecasting, but offer other crucial features as well. Like, some apps show climate & nature change on the planet for a specific period or even give the current weather data. However, the forecast function is used the most, but then the other features also enjoy their niche audience.

Among the many prominent categories of mobile apps, one is the Weather Forecast app. It is one of the most frequently accessed apps and has found a secure place in the smart devices of most people. So, how do you like the idea of weather apps, basically in terms of designing one? Well, it may seem pretty simple, however, there are several ways to add depth in the sense of functionality & design. Something that will make your weather app unique from the rest. Here is the guide describing exactly what you need to develop a captivating weather alert app.

Market Stats for Weather Forecast App

• As per market and market survey, the industry of weather forecasting systems is growing rapidly in recent years. It is estimated with a revenue of $2.7B in 2021 and continues to be growing with 5.1% to $3.5B by the year 2026.
• As per Statista, the niche domain industry has claimed that in-app purchases are going to generate revenue of $1M in the year 2022.
• In 2022, the weather app industry is facing a great number of downloads, around 39M.

How Did the Idea of Weather Forecast and Alert Mobile App Development Come into the Picture?

Now the idea to create a weather app may not sound very exciting to the start-ups, regardless of the fact that there are some highly successful apps out there. However, in the case of well-established businesses, say online media publishers, they can certainly have this nice addition to their existing assets to retain & entertain their readers. So, in every smartphone, there is a widget that forecasts the weather. However, the users crave something extra and thus numerous Android & iOS mobile apps are more precise and great at forecasting weather all across the globe.

How to Create a Weather App for iOS & Android Devices?

Crowd-Sourced Social Weather App Developed by Octal IT Solution

Developing a weather forecast application isn’t about tracking weather changes, it is also about the real-time data of the area and how it would change in the next second.

Well, the main purpose of such apps is weather forecasting and there are a few ways to do it:

Weather Conditions Data 

Though it may not be the most accurate way to collect weather data, still many countries use it. The idea here is to do the forecasting based on the continuous statistical data of two-three decades. Certainly, not the most advanced way to forecast weather, but proves helpful in nations lacking weather satellites & cameras.

Satellites 

It’s the most accurate way for weather forecasting and helps in receiving the most accurate prognosis. These satellites can make it easier for people to have interesting pieces of information about the weather of the area in real-time.

Doppler Radar 

Again, one of the most accurate ways. This technology works with short radio waves called pulses’ that have high transmission & dual-polarization. Thus, Doppler radar, using a two-dimensional picture, is able to predict rain, ice pellets, and snow with high accuracy.

Camera

Another best way to forecast weather is through the use of cameras and some apps do it already. The mix of satellites, cameras & radars offers better results.

National Weather Service data

In the US, weather apps use NWS data. Well NWS does a great job of collecting data from metro stations & satellites across the nation and makes a forecast with a special computer algorithm. However, this again is not the most accurate way.

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Smartphone Functionality 

Weather forecasts can also be done with the use of smartphone sensors, like accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, battery temperature, etc. This method basically allows forecasting only for the current location and is not that accurate.

Now, these are some of the amazing ways to gather weather data, however, not all of them offer accurate information. In fact, the best & most accurate climate information from across the world can be gathered by satellites. Along with these interesting features, there are a lot of things that are to be taken care of. The data that is broadcasted must be accurate so that your users can rely on your application for better results.

Key Importance of weather forecasting/ benefits on different industries

 

Tourism Industry: People prefer to go to uncertain places but estimate the weather conditions before. Here comes the importance of weather forecasting in the tourism industry. To get the accurate conditions of the weather, such an app will be helpful.

Transportation: How does weather forecasting affect the transportation industry? Due to climate change, transportation affects in an unsaturated way. The transporter can predict the weather horizons. Sometimes this is caused by major road accidents.

A weather forecasting app could be a savior in the real world at such times. It reduces flight delays, saves energy efficiently, etc. and plugs out users from any endangerment beforehand.

Marine shippers always keep advisory information of ships, to focus their trajectories, get any warning of storm or fog, etc. all such info is a vital part for the meteorologists. While this may save fuel consumption also.

Dressing: In digital times, when everything is at the mercy of the internet, why not what type of clothes we are going to wear should be prepared beforehand. Climate affects the mood to wear our clothes as well. How good it can be if we predict the right weather outside before going anywhere. These weather forecasting apps quickly manage and save our time for what to wear.

Farmers: Due to bad weather, our farmers are the ones who get the most affected, especially in the Asian regions where so many weather variations happen throughout the year. Using the weather prediction app, farmers now quickly know about the condition of the weather of the upcoming days, and crop & harvest accordingly.

Utility for natural gas companies: Demand and rise of fossil fuels and natural gas are prime sources for our lives. We can’t think of our lives without coal, electricity, natural gas, etc. it’s part of our everyday life. By anticipating the needs, companies can easily suspect gas supply for power outages.

How Do App Developers Gather Accurate Data?

Well, you’d be glad to learn that some of the weather app development companies use weather APIs to create climate apps offering accurate data. These applications can make it easier for people to understand and collect data that could make it easier to enter the market with the right set of information. They are:

DarkSky 

Earlier known as Forecast.io, this API enables the developers to gather hyperlocal climate forecasts, with weekly forecasts by hour/day. Access to historical data, precise accuracy, severe weather alerts & multi-language support. They have kept the pricing model pretty simple & straight, with the first 1,000 forecasts/day for free, then you need to pay $0.0001/forecast.

Weather Underground 

The API here is powered by Weather Channel accurate weather forecasts and is available in 80 languages consisting of data of major locations across the globe, including even hyper-local climate data. Here the astronomical data, satellite thumbnails, historical data, dynamic radar images, severe climate alerts & a lot more can also be retrieved. The data here is available in XML or JSON formats. Meanwhile, the prices here differ, as it offers both free & premium subscriptions. Free subscription comprises a three-day weather forecast summary & limited to 500-calls/day (10/minute). This much is enough to test the climate app but to actually launch it in the market, you’d require switching to the premium version, which is priced at $150 with the additional weather data available & 5000+ calls/day.

Open Weather Map

Its API enables the app developers to gather current weather data for over 200,000 cities from around 400,000 weather stations across the world. Other than 5-16 days weather forecasts, it also offers:

• Historical climate information, from one month to five years
• Information on air pollution, along with the historical record. This data will be helpful while creating a climate app.
• Weather map layers, consisting of wind, clouds, temperatures & more. It proves useful when you wish to create weather visualization within the app.
• UV index along with historical data

The data here is available in HTML, XML, or JSON formats. Meanwhile, the price of this API differs as per the data amount/type required. They offer a free account with a limit to 60 API calls per minute and only consists of 5-day forecasts & weather maps APIs. Then the premium plans begin at $40 per month. A few of the other accurate climate forecast API providers are:

• Apixu is free for 5,000 monthly calls. Premium plans start at $6.95 per month.
• AccuWeather free 6-month demo limited to 500 calls per day.
• WeatherBug starts at $20/month.
• WeatherSource free weather data for the US and Canada only.
• Next, let’s move on to find out about climate app Types.

Categories of Weather Apps

Before you decide to enter the market with an application that talks about the weather then you can choose from various types of applications. So, basically, the weather apps are divided into three categories: the climate apps, forecast & image of changes. The first two are certainly the most commonly used apps, while the images of changes are more of the practical type of app, though it is more educational & entertaining.

Climate Apps 

This kind of app has plenty of functionalities like they display climate changes through time, current climate across the globe & also gives the entire earth climate map, such as sea level, ozone, gravity field, air temperature & carbon dioxide percentage. In fact, some apps even enable hurricane tracking.

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Forecast 

It’s certainly the most prominent weather app type. Here, the forecasts are done with the use of location services. The best apps offer standard features, such as hourly, daily, weekly forecast, along with plenty of widgets. Few of the apps also have many other additional functionalities. Generally, the apps with basic features & widgets are free and the ones with additional features required to pay.

Image of Changes 

This app type is used mostly for entertainment & educational purposes. It displays the climate changes over the years or a certain time period. Though this type is less popular than the above two, it still interests a certain market segment.

There are various kinds of climate apps that you can choose from. Once you have decided the kind of application you want the next to focus on is the feature set. An interesting feature set makes it easier for your users to connect with the application and engage with it.

How to Develop a Weather App?

As you reach a stage where you need to kick-start the development process, keep in mind that the most important step is to choose the right functionalities. Here, we discuss the most-in-demand features:

 

• Earth-time Lapse: This is the main feature of the image of the changes app showing the climate changes all through the history or specific time period.
• Rain-Forecast: It’s yet another basic feature that displays the percent possibility of rain, along with cloudy & very cloudy indicators.
• Sunrise & Sunset Time: This feature shows the day’s length. From the time of sunrise to the sunset time it becomes easier for the people to track the day’s length for various astronomical, cultural, and traditional activities.
• Climate Map: This will show the whole of climate information, like humidity, sea level, air temperature, carbon dioxide level, etc. It is used for educational & scientific purposes mainly.
• Humidity & Visibility: People like to check for humidity & visibility levels as they go out or while they are driving.
• Wind Information: For regular users, this feature may not be useful, however, the paragliders, kite-surfers, windsurfers, & sailors can’t have enough of this functionality. Also, this feature may interest the ones looking to spend some time out on the weekends. It is easier for people to plan their business trips and vacations for an interesting journey.
• UV Weather Map: Now, this feature displays the sun’s ultraviolet radiation level on the world’s map by Solar UV index. This feature is seen as majorly useful during the summers.
• Weather Forecast: As obvious, the main functioning of this app is forecasting. So, the app can display current weather, along with hourly, daily, weekly, or even minute-to-minute weather forecasts. And yes, real feel temperature will be a good additional feature.

Interesting features to consider while creating a weather prediction app would make it quite interesting. 

• Smart Notifications: This certainly is a must-have feature for a weather app. Smart-notifications, or say push-notifications can be sent on the basis of the current weather forecasts. This feature comes useful to remind the app users to carry an umbrella in case of rain possible or to take proper measures to save themselves from sunstroke or high UV rays. Notifications can also be sent to update your users about the latest weather condition.
• Hyper-Local Forecast: This is yet another feature that can’t be missed while developing a weather app. The hyper-local feature is useful to predict a storm, rains, and other weather changes, with per-minute accuracy, on the basis of current user location. Developers can use Dark Sky API to gain access to this data.
• Stunning Weather Visualization: Offering the current weather forecast is basic, but you can make your app interesting with beautiful maps allowing users to explore weather in the past as well as the future. This is a significant feature as it enables users to check the entire weather data of past & future times. Data for this kind of app can be gathered through OpenWeatherMap API.

These basic features would make it easier for your users to use the application and help you make an impact in the market. If you think these features are enough, then think again!

Our experts share here some other significant features that would make you stand out from the crowd.

Additional Features of Your Weather Forecast Application

The basic features would only make your application deliverable. What makes it interesting are the features and the functions that are exceptional in the market. Our best weather prediction app development team makes it a point that the product delivered to you offers the most features in the market.

 

• Include a feature that informs your app users regarding historical temperature trends & changes in the various areas.
• Integrate the comment feature as well, like today the temperature is 45 degrees, which is higher as compared to last year.
• You can also integrate the drought monitoring & forecast tab. This will surely attract an audience from the agriculture industry.
• If you’re keen on creating the most accurate weather app, then give a thought to integrating a map that displays global climate changes.
• It’s just that here the app needs to be regularly updated. The best example for the same is Earth Now, which offers unique features to keep users updated on climate changes globally.

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These are a few points that would make you stand out of the crowd and help you earn a great user base in the digital domain.

Some Design Ideas for Weather App

Any application would determine the strength of user engagement with the help of its aesthetics and ease of navigation. When our experts are asked how to create a weather forecast app they simply respond with the help of a great UI/UX Design team.

Even though the idea to design a weather alert app may appear very straightforward, ultimately the app will be forecasting current weather. However, there are some unique ways to deliver this information. So, keep some designing tips in mind while you create a weather app. They are:

• Lend a distinctive feel to your Weather App;
• Going for the Clean and Minimalistic look is a win-win situation;
• Add graphics & captivating custom elements & transitions;
• Give your users appropriate dressing advice based on the weather.

With a simple design and easy-to-navigate user interface, it becomes really easy for the mobile app development team to bring on the stage the best weather prediction app.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Weather Mobile App?

An important aspect to consider when you decide to enter the market with such an application is the cost of how to make a weather app. The investment in such applications is really less and can help you get into the profits really quickly.

The cost of a weather app development may vary depending on the app complexity & number of features integrated. Other factors that affect the development cost are:

• Developer’s rate
• Time of development
• Number of devices you want to develop the app for
• Developer’s team qualifications, etc.

Keep in mind that an app that falls under the category of basic utility apps’ with restricted features won’t perform a lot of tasks. However, its making will cost relatively less: from $1000-2000. However, an app offering a customized design & additional features is going to cost more, maybe somewhere around $30000.

Thus, if you want to get affordable and interesting solutions that can help you earn great profits in a limited time, then you can hire our weather prediction mobile app development company. We make sure to communicate with you from the beginning to ensure that your business objective is in line with the development process.

Top-Rated Weather Apps In the Market

Popular applications available in the marketplace have their own reflective presence. The idea behind their creation motivates its users widely. It measures the real-time temperature, snow, fog, visibility, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction, and everything instantly.

1. Weervoorspelling (4.5*)

This is known as one of the best weather forecast apps in the market, to analyze daily and weekly updates of the weather in real-time. You can get yourself updated every time, from everywhere.

With the features like detecting weather with current location automatically, you can measure the humidity, atm pressure in the surrounding, visibility, get the weather information of future forecast, instantly on your palm. Get the instant report of weather, manage multiple locations, notifications, unit wise temperature detection in temp (C/F), time format (12h/24h), wind speed (km/h,m/s), pressure (mmHg, mBar, hPa), and precipitation (mm, inch).

 

2. The Weather Channel (4.7*)

The weather channel comprises top features. It includes local forecast and temperatures to check daily and hourly updates, get the local weather and temperature alerts, sweat index, and umbrella index to check the rain forecast and reports of temperature and news, live storm radar; stay safe with food alerts from your rain tracker on palms, get a prepared report of air pollution as well as live weather.

In addition to these features, this weather forecasting software is a good companion of yours with GPS maps and live tide forecasts of the weather. So whether it’s dry or dusky, wet or cold, the weather channel helps you to prepare all reports at your hand.

3. Weather Underground (4.6*)

Weather underground is the best hyperlocal weather measuring app to calculate the weather radar details, severe weather alerts, crucial satellite maps, etc. with the capacity to generate the accurate live status from more than 2.7 lakh personal weather stations, from the precise locations.

Top features: Track the precise weather status update from the nearest satellite. Check out the different predictions of the weather, like wind, speed, humidity, visibility, and many more. Customize weather widgets for your screen in chunks of colors.

4. FlowX: Weather Map Forecast (4.5*)

Flowx is a great app to fetch global as well as local services to get the most accurate weather reports. For the premium user, you can customize maps, graphs, widgets, etc.

Flowx is for everyone for fishing, sailing, cycling, surfing, hiking, cycling, or storm tracking.

For Freemium: The user gets the histogram representation of data on a map, gets the weekly weather graphs from different data sources, and gets the quick update of the graph widget on the home screen.

For Premium Users: Flowx offers different subscription packages to their subscribers. Bronze, gold, and silver.

GDPS and GFS 7-day forecast, get the index of air quality, storm, and hurricane tracks, sun/ moonrise/set, smoke ratio, etc.

5. 1Weather 

In the play store, 1Weather is known as the number one app trusted by millions of users across the world. With top-rated features like hurricane alerts, snowstorm tracker, rain forecasts, live temperature, and live radar maps.

Other features include; 10 days weather forecast, 25+ live radar maps, 48 hours temperature and rain forecast, hurricane, snowstorm, flood, fires, air pollution index, the Sun & Moon tracker, and many more.

Wrapping It Up!

When it comes to the development of a weather forecast and alert mobile app, all you need is to hire mobile app developers. They would understand your business proposal and work on the application making sure that each aspect of the application is reviewed before being turned to an app feature.

Over the years our experts have gained experience and information on how to build a weather app that can help you earn great profits.