Apple killing Dark Sky for Android and Wear OS later this year after acquisition

guest · Mar 31, 2020

Apple killing Dark Sky for Android and Wear OS later this year after acquisition
March 31, 2020
https://9to5google.com/2020/03/31/apple-kills-dark-sky-android/

Apple this morning revealed the surprising acquisition of the excellent Dark Sky weather app. In the process, Dark Sky for Android and Wear OS will be killed by Apple later this year.

Dark Sky is a hyperlocal weather app that offers “down-to-the-minute forecasts.” Geared towards rain, the app is centered around providing predictions for the next hour with timely notifications.
The Android and Wear OS clients will shut down this July, but should otherwise continue to function until that deadline. In the short term, the apps will be removed from the Play Store, though both are still available as of this morning’s announcement.

Existing API customers and third-party apps will have access until the end of 2021, but no new signups will be accepted moving forwards.
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Apple killing Dark Sky for Android is surprising [...]
More broadly, this move is a great loss to the Android ecosystem. Dark Sky was one of the few weather apps to not engage in nefarious location harvesting schemes. In fact, the developers cited “privacy” in joining Apple.

The perfect revenge would be Google acquiring Carrot and killing the iOS app https://t.co/85rSH5N7XP
— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) March 31, 2020
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Apple acquires popular weather app Dark Sky

The announcement was made by Adam Grossman on Dark Sky's blog on Tuesday and reads, [...]

The terms of the deal are not yet known. However, this may mean some changes to the Weather app are finally coming in a future release, likely during the iOS 14 cycle this fall.
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Dark Sky: Dark Sky Has a New Home

Our goal has always been to provide the world with the best weather information possible, to help as many people as we can stay dry and safe, and to do so in a way that respects your privacy.

There is no better place to accomplish these goals than at Apple. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to reach far more people, with far more impact, than we ever could alone.
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guest · Apr 1, 2020

What Apple buying Dark Sky could mean for iOS 14, iPad and Mac, and developers
April 1, 2020
https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/01/apple-dark-sky-ios-14-weatherkit/

Dark Sky is an incredibly useful weather app that’s been on my radar since I joined 9to5Mac in 2013. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Dark Sky announced that it was joining Apple. Within minutes, the Dark Sky app joined Apple’s list of software in the App Store.
We know Dark Sky is now dead on Android and the weather data provider API for other apps is going away, but what happens next for Dark Sky at Apple?
iOS 14
Depending on the size of the task, however, I could imagine a future iOS 14.1 or iOS 14.2 update that shows us why Apple bought Dark Sky.
If Apple’s only goal of buying Dark Sky is to have its own weather data provider to replace The Weather Chanel, a problematic provider for privacy, perhaps an under-the-hood data provider switch will be the first sign of change in iOS 14.
iPad and Mac Catalyst
Maintaining a standalone Dark Sky app has immediate benefits. Apple can pre-install Dark Sky, finally bringing a weather app to the iPad, and we could expect a Mac Catalyst version of Dark Sky for iPad to come to the Mac.
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WeatherKit
Another angle on Apple’s Dark Sky acquisition is the developer story. A lot of popular iOS apps will lose access to a quality weather data provider when the Dark Sky API goes totally dark.

Replacing The Weather Channel with the new in-house weather data from Dark Sky would be similar to replacing Google Maps with Apple Maps. Benefits like no licensing cost negotiations for features like turn-by-turn directions and offline maps could apply for weather data.
Rahul Matta, developer of a run logging app called Tempo, hopes to see new developer features enabled based on Dark Sky.

“I would love to see some kind of WeatherKit, extending DarkSky’s both Time Machine and Forecast API, as part of the SDK available for app developers,” says Rahul.
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guest · Jun 29, 2020

The Best Dark Sky alternatives for Android
June 29, 2020
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-dark-sky-alternatives-for-android/

Dark Sky is no more, at least for Android users. After Apple’s acquisition of Dark Sky, the popular weather app is being pulled from the Google Play Store and will cease working for Android smartphones and Wear OS devices on July 1.
Thankfully, there are plenty of worthwhile Dark Sky alternatives for Android, many of which are often more accurate than Dark Sky.

Additionally, many of them provide the kind of local weather forecasts that Dark Sky prided itself on, and they also don’t ask for unnecessary permissions or harvest needless amounts of personal data.
Android users may mourn the passing of Dark Sky for now — it will live on for Apple users, likely in iOS 14 — but we will learn to love another Android weather app instead. Here are some of the best alternatives.
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TheVerge: Dark Sky alternatives for Android weather watchers

Dark Sky is going away on July 1st, but here are other weather apps that may work for you
Update June 29th, 3:42PM ET: This article was originally published on April 1st, 2020, and it has been updated to include two new apps and to update several of the entries.
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LoneWolf · Jun 29, 2020

I has Dark Sky on Android for quite a while, shame that it's been axed.
I've tried many, settled on Shadow Weather, so far so good.

Trooper · Jun 29, 2020

LoneWolf said: ↑

I has Dark Sky on Android for quite a while, shame that it's been axed.
I've tried many, settled on Shadow Weather, so far so good.
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I tried that app but had some issues with refreshing. I guess nothing for you?

LoneWolf · Jun 30, 2020

Trooper said: ↑

I tried that app but had some issues with refreshing. I guess nothing for you?
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I believe a recent update has fixed that issue if I'm not mistaken. No issues here that I can tell.

Trooper · Jun 30, 2020

LoneWolf said: ↑

I believe a recent update has fixed that issue if I'm not mistaken. No issues here that I can tell.
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Good to know thank you. I will install it again and give it a go.

guest · Jul 1, 2020

Dark Sky delays shutdown of Android app until August 1st
Dark Sky for Android is Officially Dead (Updated: August 1!)
July 1, 2020
https://www.droid-life.com/2020/07/01/dark-sky-for-android-is-officially-dead/

UPDATE: Dark Sky weighed in today and said that existing users and subscribers will actually get to keep using the app until August 1, 2020. At that point, they plan to shut it all down and give customers refunds.
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guest · Aug 1, 2020

Apple shuts down Dark Sky for Android and Wear OS
August 1, 2020
https://9to5google.com/2020/08/01/dark-sky-shutdown-android/

Apple made a surprise acquisition of Dark Sky in March and there are signs that it’s already live in iOS 14. As part of this, the weather forecasting service is gradually being deprecated for non-Apple devices and clients. The Dark Sky shutdown is now complete for Android and Wear OS, but the website sees a reprieve.

August 1st is now here, and Dark Sky has stopped working. All weather data in the app returns a value of zero degrees, while there is an orange “The Dark Sky app has shut down” message.
Those that are still subscribed to the $2.99/year plan will receive a “full refund.” The Play Store is sending out the following email this morning:

Your Dark Sky – Hyperlocal Weather subscription from The Dark Sky Company, LLC on Google Play has been canceled.
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The website was supposed to follow today, but Apple provided an unspecified extension on weather forecasts and maps. However, embeds look to now be disabled. This delay serves as a workaround for mobile users.
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Dark Sky: Dark Sky Has a New Home (Updated: August 1, 2020)

Update: The Android and Wear OS apps shut down on August 1, 2020. Subscribers who were active at that time will be receiving a full refund. Weather forecasts and maps on the Dark Sky website remain active.
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guest · Dec 31, 2022

Today is the last day to use Dark Sky on iOS before it shuts down
Pour one out for the king of weather apps.
By Igor Bonifacic @igorbonifacic - December 31, 2022

The time has come to say goodbye to Dark Sky. Nearly two years after Apple purchased the much-loved weather app, and more than a year after announcing its impending shutdown, Dark Sky is about to stop functioning. Since September, an in-app notification has warned iOS users the software would no longer work come January 1st, 2023. In September, Apple also removed Dark Sky from the App Store (following an earlier delisting from the Play Store).

If you’re looking for an alternative, it’s worth revisiting Apple’s own Weather app before turning to the App Store.
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That said, if you’re set on trying a third-party alternative, a few that are worth checking out include AccuWeather and Carrot Weather.
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