Review: Weatherbug Elite

[cjvitek]

Weatherbug Elite, from

Pros:

• nice information screen
• easy to find information you want

Cons:

• doesn't seem to offer any advantage over the free apps

I am currently on vacation at the beach (well, last day today). I decided to test out a new weather app - Weatherbug Elite - to see if it provided any more or better information that some of the free apps out there (like The Weather Station and Accuweather).

Much of the information provided by Weatherbug Elite is the same kind of information you can get from the other apps - forecast, temperature, humidity, etc. So ultimately it all comes down to presentation. In this arena, Weatherbug does very nicely.

When you start the app, you are given a nice summary screen including current temperature, wind direction and speed, humidity, etc. You can tap the screen to get more detailed information, including dew points, monthly rainfall total, and "so far today" information, like todays hi temp, low temp, rain, etc.

Like most other weather apps, you have a forecast screen, giving you a 7 day forecast as well as an hour by hour forecast for the current day. By tapping on the forecast day, you can get a little more detailed information (instead of just highs, lows, sunny, etc).

There is a video weather report by "Rachel" that is available to be watched as well . This is great for local conditions, but I don't know how frequently it is updated. Personally, while the vide is nice, I prefer to just read the weather reports.

I didn't see any weather warnings or extreme weather reports - so if you like in a hurricane, tornado, winter storm area, you may miss out of severe weather advisories. I did see a nice map feature which allows you to zoom in and out, so you aren't limited to just your local area. In addition, you can adjust the data displayed on the maps very easilly, resulting in a lot of information at your fingertips. Layers even include things like temperature forecasts. Relative to the data available from some other apps, however, there seem to be fewer map options overall. All maps did have an animation options, but the animation seemed very choppy - even over a wi-fi connection.

There is also a camera, showing some reagional weather cameras so you can see "right now" what it is like. I don't really know how useful these are.

All in all, this app has some nice data and is presented in a very clean manner. However, relative to some other free apps (AccuWeather and The Weather Channel) I am not sure how much more benefit this provides. I am not sure if it even provides that much more information that the free Weatherbug app! The information it does have is presented nicely, in an easy to read and easy to find format. And the price is certainly not a hinderance ($.99). But if you can get the same thing for free, why spend money? Three out of four apps, mostly because if doesn't seem to offer anything that makes the price worthwhile, relative to the free apps.

Rating scale:

* = No redeeming qualities or features, probably not worth it even if it is free
** = Few redeeming qualities, or is simply isn't worth the price
*** = Some good features but also some clear flaws.
**** = A solid app, worth the money if interested, a few flaws or problems or slightly overpriced
***** = Top of the line app, no problems or drawbacks.

Price is factored into the ratings. Ratings are lowered if I feel the price of the app outweighs the benefits/enjoyment/features it provides. Likewise, an app that is a good value for the money will have a higher rating.

[GadgetGuru72]

Thanks for the review, but as you said, it doesn't seem to offer anything that you can't get on The Weather Channel app for free.

[RyanMitchellGames]

I still love the weather channel app. The layered radars are NICE. The speed with my non 3g stink a little but still really nice. Weather Channel all the way

[Tornado Alley]

You must be missing something in the video's with Rachel. She is HOT!!! Always watch that every day to see what she's wearing. And i think Elite blows away the Weather channel app.

[sting7k]

The only thing it over the free version is no ads. One advantage over The Weather Channel is it lets you select specific weather stations instead of just giving you a city to choose so you can get one right next to your home/job/school/etc.

It also does give weather alerts for the selected weather station when they are issued by the NWS. They will appear on the main screen in red and you can read the full details of the affected areas and why. If you don't read it a badge will appear on the icon when you close the app if you missed it.

[badphoneguy]

same here, it isnt any better than the free one...but good still none the less.

[applejosh]

I've been looking over the various weather apps available and trying the free versions when they exist. I abhor ads in these apps, so I would gladly pay a couple of bucks for their removal. (I have not done so yet.) I do like that you can choose weather stations close to your location (aided by the GPS of course). I do like the WeatherChannel app (again, free version) and its layout, though. Choices choices.