[Workaccount2]

If anyone is curious, weather apps tend to be some of the most egregious and common offenders of this. Obviously people want their weather widget to update with where ever they are, and on the back end these weather apps (which are just passing you freely available NWS data) are selling everything they can on you.

[theptip]

This was a big reason for Apple’s purchase of the DarkSky app I believe. Fold in the tech to the native weather app to close the security hole of external apps.

[ginko]

Check out Yr from the Norwegian meteorological institute. Completely ad free and works for pretty much any place in the world.

[jay3ss]

Thanks for recommending that app. Looks pretty great

[kevin_thibedeau]

> which are just passing you freely available NWS data

The Android weather widget gives more localized forecast data than the NWS web site which pretty much always locks you on to the local airport. Proximity to a great lake means that my local weather can be significantly different than the airport even though it's relatively near by. It all obviously comes from the NWS but they don't provide easy access to everything.

[NegativeK]

The NWS site may give measurements for the airport, but it'll give predictions for the much smaller area you select. It's the only site I've found I can trust for Yosemite Valley, for example, since I can have visual confirmation that it's actually talking about a narrowly defined area. Today, moving that patch of land around just slightly will show you forecasts that are 10 or 20 degrees cooler than El Cap meadow.

[hnburnsy]

https://www.nwsnow.net/

No ads No user tracking GPS not needed Unfiltered NWS data including forecast dicussions

[oefrha]

Unless you travel all the time, there’s no reason your weather app needs anything more than one (or two if your workplace is very far from home) static city/town/zip code. And most people don’t travel all the time.

[theptip]

With localized weather apps available, the precise location in town (east vs west say) does make a meaningful difference in many places.

For example DarkSky gave neighborhood-level forecasts.

[gruez]

This is a non-issue on both android/ios because they support "approximate" location permission for apps.