G-Weather 1.1 – check the daily forecast in style with animated weather on Windows Mobile

Developer : Ageye

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Weather applications are a given on any mobile device. Phones either come preloaded with a basic app embedded in the user interface or you can effortlessly find third party products that can keep you aware of daily weather forecasts. The developers of the famed G-Alarm software have decided to create a nice looking weather app for Windows Mobile, but can it compete with the army of existing weather apps available? Read our review of G-Weather and find out.

G-Weather

One thing I always expect from an Ageye product is a pretty user interface and G-Weather is no exception. The Ageye team has done it again with some beautiful eye-candy and a finger friendly interface. If you’re familiar with HTC’s TouchFLO 3D and its animated weather effects, then you will surely appreciate the hard work the team has put in to bring that style to a standalone weather app. Many people appreciate the weather tab of TF3D, but do not like the entire interface or simply do not own a newer HTC device. When they disable the UI, they lose the opportunity to access the weather part of it. Now users can feel free to detach themselves from TF3D and still use a beautifully animated weather app.

Current Weather

The animations, as noted above, are breathtaking. Partly cloudy forecasts animate by colliding clouds with the sun. Rainy weather shows clouds with drops of rain coming down. If there’s a storm, lightning will strike from the clouds. There’s also animation for snow. Something I like about the G-Weather animations over TF3D animations is that they’re continuous. As in, the animations don’t stop and will refresh automatically, which adds to the general experience of using the app. Sometimes I find myself staring at them like I’m in a hypnotic state. I guess that’s what happens after years of using apps with poor, static weather images. We certainly need more developers like the Ageye team to boost Windows Mobile’s reputation for gorgeous apps. There are several mesmerizing image sets too, which can be seen in the video at the bottom of this review.

Detailed Weather

Fast loading time is important for a weather app because you want to find out the information quickly and efficiently. G-Weather starts just as fast as any other app. You can add many cities and it’ll load the first one on the list (which can be interchanged). I found that the database holds many cities, so you shouldn’t have a problem picking a location near you. Swiping your finger on the launch screen will let you switch between cities that you’ve already configured. Updating weather can be done in various ways: on startup, when you add a city, when there’s an ActiveSync connection, or when there’s a WiFi connection. Once the weather is updated, the animated images transition to show the current weather on the top half of the screen. I was happy to see that the current weather actually shows the exact temperature and not just the high and low (like on other, more expensive apps). The next three days are shown underneath the current weather. To view detailed weather stats and the full five day forecast, click on a day and the page will slide to another screen with more details. On that screen you will find morning, noon, evening, and night weather information with separate animations for each. This will keep you updated for the entire day. Chance of precipitation and wind speed are also displayed. Swipe your finger on the screen and you will move to the next or previous day.

Radar and Rain Images

G-Weather offers one of the best interfaces I’ve seen for a weather app and it does it in a stunning manner. Ageye has offered great customer service in the past, so I would bet that hasn’t changed with G-Weather either. Although the price may be high, it seems to be worth it if you’re looking for a weather app. The great part is that Ageye offers a 14-day trial of the software, so you can review it and see if it’s worth the price for you. It passes our test for one of the best Windows Mobile apps around, certainly in the weather category.

Video by Developer

Pros:

• Animated weather graphics
• Detailed weather forecast (5 days)
• Finger friendly
• Integration in G-Alarm to show weather when you wake up
• Advanced features for some regions
• Fast loading
• Current weather displays exact temperature, not just high/low
• Today plugin available

Cons:

• Price
• On rare occasions, exact temp. on current weather didn’t display
• Advanced features only limited to few regions

Possible Improvements:

• Visual feedback for pressing on certain days would be nice (like a highlight)
• In the future, would love to see different styles of weather animations

Tested on : Touch Pro2

G-Weather

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Price : 9.99 €

Version Under Review : 1.1

User Interface Rating:

Features Rating:

Ease of Use Rating:

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Overall Rating:

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