November 13, 2013 at 12:57 p.m. PST
Unlike the iPhone, the iPad does not ship with a stock weather app. This is actually a good thing. The App Store has many weather apps to choose from. Some are even better than Apple’s weather app. Let’s take a look at the best free weather apps for the iPad.
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is the most popular weather app in the App Store, by far. With over 7,000 reviews, the app has a solid four-and-a-half star rating. The rave reviews are well-deserved. While it isn’t the best looking weather app, it is aesthetically appealing. The sliding hourly forecast is innovative and a pleasure to use. This UI control also allows the user to scroll through the data presented in the tabbed display.
AccuWeather features a 15-day forecast. This trumps every other weather app, however, extended forecasts are typically inaccurate. The app also features maps with doppler radar, so you can see where it’s raining and snowing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer an animated visual forecast of precipitation. The animation simply shows the last hour of weather conditions on the map, which is not very useful.
AccuWeather also features news, video forecasts, and social networking options. These additional features make for a very rich user experience. The app has a banner ad at the top of the screen, but does not bombard the user with pop-ups. Overall, this is one of the better weather apps in the App Store.
Weather+
With an almost-five-star rating and thousands of reviews, Weather+ is the second most popular weather app in the App Store. It’s a fairly good app, but seems to value style over substance. The weather information is accurate, but not detailed. Unlike other weather apps, you only get a 5-day forecast. Instead of an hourly forecast, the details are presented at three-hour intervals. There’s no maps or radar provided.
Some may appreciate the style of this app. I think it looks like an HTC smart phone from 2010. The flip-clock just doesn’t work for me. They clearly put a lot of work into the UI. The animations are detailed and the graphics are professional. The skeuomorphism of the flip-clock is just a turn off for me. The graphics are a bit ostentatious. The app seems over-designed, particularly when compared to the overall look of iOS 7.
Weather+ is loaded with ads. I don’t mind the passive banner ads at the bottom, but this app has pop-up ads, which I find annoying. I wouldn’t put pop up ads on my site, and I don’t like them in apps. You can purchase the ad-free version in the App Store. I would recommend it if you really like the user interface and overall app design. It’s not a bad app, but the skeuomorphic flip-clock and lack of detailed weather information are unappealing to me. Nonetheless, this is one of the most popular weather apps in the App Store. It’s worth downloading and trying. You may like it. I think gold iPhones are gaudy, but they’re also the most popular.
Intellicast HD
While not the most popular, Intellicast HD is the best weather app of the bunch. The app features a simple design, but is loaded with useful content. It is not heavily adorned with graphics and animation. The map-based precipitation forecast is a very useful feature that’s not included in most weather apps. With this map-based forecast, one can see exactly where rain or snow will fall in the near future. The 5-hour duration of the radar forecast is ample and more than other apps provide. After all, longer forecasts are typically inaccurate.
The weather map has many different modes, including cloud cover, storms, temperature and wind speed/direction. Intellicast offers a comprehensive list of map overlays which can be assigned to the “quick pick” toolbar. This is simply the most versatile and complete weather app available.
The weather map is the key feature of the app. It’s the default view. Current weather conditions and the 10-day forecast appear below the map. I think this is exactly what most people want to see. Intellicast isn’t just about gimmicks and fluff, like flip-clocks and animation.
Intellicast also has every other feature you’d expect — 10-day forecast, hourly weather forecast, and weather alerts. Its SkyTime feature offers a clock and 5-day forecast set against an animated background, for those who want an aesthetically pleasing weather dashboard. This feature is great if you leave your iPad mounted on a display stand. Even the free version of the app is ad-free in SkyTime mode. Intellicast offers in-app purchases to remove ads with subscriptions to their boating and storm tracker services. Each 6 month subscription costs $1.99.
UPDATE: Intellicast just added a weather stations layer to their iOS app. This layer will display the temperature and wind conditions for different weather stations. This is very useful for people who live in areas with microclimates, such as the SF Bay Area. Users can now see precise weather conditions from the nearest weather station. Tap the layers button on the toolbar to turn this layer on.
MyRadar Weather Radar
MyRadar, as the name implies, offers a radar-centric user interface. The app is adequate, but nothing special. It offers professional weather maps with accurate doppler radar data. Unfortunately, competing apps offer this functionality as a feature, in addition to other content. With MyRadar, the maps are pretty much the bulk of the app’s content.
Beyond radar maps, MyRadar doesn’t have much else to offer. There is a 5 day forecast available on the main map screen. It just doesn’t stand up to the competition. A 5-day forecast isn’t sufficient and there’s no hourly forecast. The forecast doesn’t even have wind speed and direction information.
When you start the app for the first time, it offers detailed instructions. This is something I wish more apps would do. Most apps are pretty easy to figure out, but there’s often a few features that aren’t so obvious. It’s ironic because MyRadar is fairly simple, rendering user instructions superfluous. It would be great if some of the more complicated apps offered a quick primer.
Overall, it’s a decent app if you just care about doppler radar maps. The problem is that there are better apps that offer maps and much more. If this app could offer an animated forecast on the doppler radar map, it would be worth downloading. Perhaps the developer could look into improving it. Nonetheless, this app is quite popular.
It’s a free app, with a $1.99 ad-free premium version. In-app purchase enable National Weather Service alerts and a hurricane tracker, but are rather expensive at $3.99 and $2.99, respectively. These features may be compelling for people living in vulnerable areas.
The Weather Channel
Given the ubiquity of The Weather Channel, it’s a bit surprising this isn’t the top weather app in the App Store. The overall quality of this app may be indicative of why it’s not the top app. The app is functional, attractive and stable, but nothing special. It’s not terrible, but one would expect something better from The Weather Channel. Reviewers give the app four stars, which seems appropriate.
On start-up, the app displays the 10 day forecast for your location. Tapping on each day reveals the hourly forecast. The user interface is appealing and simple.
The radar feature is decent, but the user can only choose one layer at a time. Furthermore, the future rain forecast animation only provides two hours of estimated precipitation. This pales in comparison to the excellent radar maps provided by Intellicast HD.
Other features include video forecasts along with information about flu and pollen. There’s a surprising lack of social media features — no Twitter or Facebook integration. At best, one can email different forecasts.
The Weather Channel app is decent. The problem is, there are better weather apps out there. Before writing this article, this was my go-to weather app. It was even in my dock. Now that I have discovered Intellicast HD, I’m going to delete The Weather Channel app and replace it with Intellicast.
Intellicast HD is the Best iPad Weather App
If you only have space for one weather app, go for Intellicast HD. It’s an attractive and stable app that provides comprehensive weather information. While other apps are more ornate, Intellicast has the best radar maps, offering a 5+ hour map-based forecast of precipitation. If you prefer a more decorative app, go for AccuWeather. It also has a 15 day forecast, but long-range forecasts tend to be inaccurate.
Apple doesn’t always make the best apps. Perhaps it’s a blessing that the iPad doesn’t come with a weather app. It forces users to branch out and download something better. The five apps featured in this article are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s too many weather apps to count.
I hope this article inspires you to look beyond what Apple has provided. Third-party developers have created better apps than the ones that shipped with your iOS device. Many of these are free. Beyond replacing your weather app, you can replace Reminders, Stocks, Calculator and even Safari with better third-party apps.