It seems like today there is an application for every need and taste, with weather applications taking a considerable place among them. What to wear to feel comfy during the whole day, what activity to plan for the weekend: golf, picnic, or sun-bathing? What clothes to take with you on your trip to another country? All these questions are answered by thousands of weather applications. Some of them have hit the top-20 most popular applications at AppStore and Play Market and some were downloaded less than 1,000 times in 2 years.

What differs a successful application that brings money to its creator from a below-the-average startup that has never hit the point of cost recovery? It turns out, there are some peculiarities the most popular applications share with the high quality of forecasts being only one of them.

Let’s have a look at the most popular, successful, and unique applications for Android and iOS in 2020.

The Weather App – What’s the Point?

Today there are more than 10,000 active applications with the word “weather” in their names, and you might think that yet another one is not the best idea for a startup. However, weather app development is still popular as it is irreplaceable and can be beneficial for several businesses. Check out our portfolio to see how we help other companies to grow with the help of personalized software.

1. Agriculture

Though modern technology protects farmers from natural calamities and weather conditions, major changes in temperatures and humidity still greatly affect crops. Having reliable forecasts at hand helps farmers to protect their business.

2. Logistics

Companies can amend routes of their vehicles to make sure that their ships and aircraft avoid hurricanes, rainfalls, and stormes. 

3. Governmental sector

Governments can also benefit from the weather app development as with their help they can communicate with people and notify them of extreme weather conditions and emergencies. In this case, a weather app can be a great part of the information strategy, namely, with the help of a mobile application, the government can inform its citizens about the steps it takes to protect them from natural calamities. 

5. Tourism

Integrate a weather forecasting feature onto your touristic app and you offer more than an all-inclusive vacation to your users. Build a true connection with your clients by showing them that you care about them and this will make them loyal forever.

6. Sports and healthcare

Sports companies can inform their clients if it’s convenient to run, ride, surf, or play golf with the given situation outdoor. Healthcare organizations can provide people with information on UV radiation, the level of air pollution and pollen in the city, etc.

Most Successful Examples of Weather Apps

To understand how to build a weather app that will be successful, we need to know what do the most popular services have in common.

Today weather

This app uses several sources of information including multiple satellites and weather stations that allow it to provide the most precise forecast to its users. Along with notifications about rains and other weather conditions that might affect your outfit, this application also shows you data on the quality of air, the level of UV activity, and pollen. The popularity of this service can be explained by the precise data it offers and a nice easy-to-use widget.

Dark Sky

It used to be probably the best weather app for Android and Wear OS, but in summer 2020 it joins Apple and will be unavailable for Android subscribers. Its API doesn’t accept new subscribers as well. What made Dark Sky so popular is its extreme preciseness in forecasts as well as its clean design and the willingness to support new Android features. Now the application will be integrated with Apple devices like Apple watch.

Weather Channel

This is the free app available both in Play Market and AppStore. It provides precise forecasts about weather conditions and notifies its clients of extreme situations. It also has a radar map that shows views from satellites, the speed of the wind, and more. Thanks to the latest updates, the application knows the level of pollen in the air and notifies you whether you should go outside or not. 

WeatherBug

What differs this popular weather app from the rest is its interactivity. For example, its Spark option tells you where the closest lightning stroke is. With this application, you can also keep an eye on the weather live, with the help of multiple cameras it has around the globe.

Yahoo! Weather

Apart from the complete coverage of all meteorological data, this app offers amazing design with photos of real weather conditions. It also sends its customers notifications about changes in the atmosphere and the weather.

Living Earth

The uniqueness of this application is its design and its approach to the planet. Living Earth demonstrates 3D Earth simulations and describes how the weather conditions are formed thanks to the cyclone tracking system.
These companies certainly know how to create a weather app that will be popular. Prompt alerts, constant updates, nice design, and meteorological data from the most reliable APIs are a must, but what puts them apart from thousands of applications on the market is their uniqueness. 

How to Monetize the Weather Forecasting App?

Weather apps share the same monetizing methods as most of the applications on the market. However, advertisers appreciate weather apps more as with their help, they can reach the specific target audience. The thing is, to provide its clients with accurate data, a weather application needs to know at least the geographical location of the device. Let alone the type of device and social media accounts if the weather app is linked to them.

What is good about in-app advertising you can use to monetize your creation is that you can choose a type of advertising that you find more appropriate:

• Native ads
• Videos
• Banners
• Interstitial ads

Most of the apps cooperate with ad networks and get money for clicks, views, installs, and other actions of your clients.

With this being said, some applications decide to go ad-free and monetize their efforts by offering subscriptions for their service. Another way to fill your wallet is by offering additionally paid options. The monetization strategy should be discussed with the mobile application development company you chose to help you, as your way of getting profit will affect the features of your app and the price of its development.

How to Make a Great Mobile Weather App

To create weather app that will be popular, you should take into consideration a lot of things with the accuracy of data being the major but only one of them. Here are the core features every weather application should provide:

1. Humidity: when and how heavy the rain or snow will be
2. Temperature: both in Celsius and Fahrenheit
3. Sunrise and sunset
4. Wind: its force and direction
5. Forecast for 1 hour to 30 days

You can also add some specific information to your application to make it unique. These features will help you answer the “How to make a weather app original?” question.

1. History. What were the max and the min temperatures this day through the history of meteorological observation?
2. Notifications. Show that you care about your subscribers by sending notifications about the changing weather conditions beforehand.
3. Level of UV radiation. Show the level of solar activity to help the subscribers of the weather app to choose the best outfit and outdoor activity for the day.
4. Level of air pollution. Link the information about traffic to your app to show your clients what’s the smog level in the city and their particular district.
5. Level of pollen. Choose an API that provides this information and reminds the customers prone to allergies to take their meds.
6. Moon’s phase. Astronomical data is another way to customize your app. The more original information you provide, the more unique your application will be.

TOP 5 APIs List: Where to Get Weather Forecast Data

1. Accuweather.com. This is a global API translated into 100 languages which provides information to over 2 billion people. Another advantage of this API is that it is constantly updated and now sends not only precise information on the weather conditions but can also be used by governments to send alert notifications about natural calamities to certain communities.
2. Open Weather Map. Along with coherent data which includes meteorological observations through history, UV radiation level, and more, this service is also easy to use. Developers will appreciate that with this API you can get multiple data with one call.
3. World Weather Online. This API is not free of charge, however, it offers various plans for different businesses, namely, tourism. World Weather Online is the best choice to have a customized set of data according to the needs of your subscribers
4. Weather Underground. This API is available in 80 languages and it has a lot of data to offer. Get historical and astronomical observations, check out the moon phase, and get weather forecasts by sending the name of the city or its geographical location.
5. Yahoo! Weather. Though this API provides less information, this service is quite convenient for developers as it is based on both Jason and an XML. It can be used for free to some extent unless you use it for commercial purposes.

Design is the King: Best Ideas List

How to choose a weather app design? Have a look at the best ideas and templates and choose what suits you the best. You can always opt for premium templates that will cost you less than creating a personalized design from scratch but don’t forget that the customization and interactivity can make your application unique, though the latter approach may increase the price of your app development.

These are the tools popular applications use in 2020:

1. Animation. Let the lightning sparkle and the rain fall in your smartphone.
2. Photos of actual places. Pictures of locations you’re searching for will entertain your subscribers.
3. Minimalism. Minimum colors and only the most important information.
4. Illustrations. Refined or lovely: choose for yourself.
5. Live. Integration with cameras around the globe will make this approach possible.
6. Micro-copy. Small pieces of text like “wolverines went for a hunt” for a full moon or “sun plays find-and-catch with the clouds” for the clouded sky will add uniqueness to your application.

If you’re not sure which approach to choose and whether you should opt for a free template or create a unique design of your own, submit a contact form and we will see how we can help you with your weather app development.

Costing of Weather Forecasting App Development

The final price of the product mainly depends on the following variables. If you want to know how much will a weather app development cost, think of the following issues:

Platform

To make your application coherent, opt for both Android and iOS platforms or just only one of them to lower the price of the development.

Features

What information will the application provide to its users? Remember that the more unique the features are, the more chances your app has to be noticed by the public.

Design

This is the prominent component of any application uniqueness, so cheap layouts won’t do if you want to create a successful weather app. 

Development

The developers’ fee is the major part of expenditures for your application. Multiple companies and freelancers will promise you to create a top-notch app and your choice should depend on your particular instructions and your budget. In any case, you should opt for reliable companies that have shown their efficiency.

Conclusion

Though the market of weather apps is saturated, you can still find a niche for your application. Weather apps can also boost your business and help you to take care of your community. If you want your application to stand out, the weather app development is something you should entrust to professionals with vast experience in the field. Read customer references about us to make sure that Flytika is the right company to assist you with your development and don’t delay filling in the contact form. Let us help you to make your business flourish.