AccuWeather App Review. Palm Pre Weather Forecasting At Your Fingertips

AccuWeather App Review. Palm Pre Weather Forecasting At Your Fingertips
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Overall (4 out of 5)

AccuWeather as a company is one of the most popular weather reporting agencies worldwide, looking at the companies Palm Pre application it doesn’t take long to figure out why they are so popular. The web 2.0 look of the app fits well with the devices overall “feel” in terms of graphics. Actually it quite reminds us of the HTC today screen output. Here’s a look at the hour by hour display option:

palm-pre-accuweather

As you’ll notice the display takes up a good majority of the Palm Pre display, the main screen featured in the bottom left button is the 5 day forecast option which displays basic but useful information including weather conditions (rain, sunny, cloudy) along with high and low temperatures. While the 5 day forecast is good for a quick glance the display screen shown above actually peaked my interest more. Using the hour by hour function (shows 4 hours at one time) users are able to see humidity levels, dew point and wind speeds. Because the application updates on its own when launched these different variables are constantly updated for accuracy.

You’ll also notice that the AccuWeather hourly forecast offers a “RealFeel” temperature. This is what it actually feels like outside based on all of the variables gathered by the application. We tested the temperature on a humid day where it was in the 80’s but felt more like the 90’s and we must admit the applications 92 degree read out for the ReelFeel temperature seems quite in line with the way it felt outside. I’m not sure how accurate this option is in cold temperatures but my first impression was solid.

The AccuWeather app also allows users to easily check out radar conditions in their area. Simply click on the third button on the bottom of the display and up pops the weather radar which displays any incoming storms, unfortunately it does so as a static screen with no time lapse function to better understand future weather conditions. Here’s a quick look provided by AccuWeather:

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We would have also liked to see a zoom option for the radar option, unfortunately at the present time you can only view the entire state view which doesn’t help if a storm is overhead but you can’t tell the severity in your own area. AccuWeather online offers a more pinpointed option but it was sadly left off this otherwise useful weather program.

Conclusion

There are definitely some issues with the AccuWeather Palm Pre Application such as the limited radar information and inability to zoom in on specific areas. However those issues also existed on the iPhone version until an update was issued, which we assume will happen on the Palm Pre version as well. In the meantime refreshing your data is as simple as switching from one display type to another, while the information provided including the “RealFeel” option are useful and simple to navigate. Overall we recommend this application with the hopes that an updated version will soon reach market.