In today’s world, we are used to seeing the weather change with little notice – and sometimes no notice – at all. From flash floods and hurricanes to knowing exactly how ungodly it’s hot outside, a reliable weather app on your side can make a big difference. There are plenty of options to choose from if you’re looking for the best weather apps for Android, and we’ve rounded up some of our favorites here.
These are the best Android apps for time
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It’s easy to understand why Accuweather is one of the best Android apps once you download it. All your relevant information is laid out in an easy-to-view interface, while MinuteCast offers some of the most reliable notifications when rain starts or stops.
Today Weather is a wonderful app that makes it easy to get a quick overview of what to expect for the day. You can also explore the app and find all the detailed information you want.
Not everyone wants to open an app to get information, and with 1 Time widgets, you won’t have to. The app offers tons of beautifully designed Android widgets to choose from, so you can see what to expect at a glance.
1. Accuweather
If you’re trying to find the best weather apps for Android, it’s hard to ignore Accuweather with its simple design and great information. The app offers a clear layout, providing all the information about what to expect from the day. After downloading Accuweather, the app displays an analysis of the expected weather, along with an overview of the next day.
At the bottom you have shortcuts to the today view, along with hourly, daily and radar views for your area. But instead of just watching the radar for the next few hours, Accuweather actually offers several different mapping layers to choose from. This includes a satellite view, any watches or warnings in your area, and even a five-day precipitation forecast.
The app is free to download, but you will have to deal with some ads placed in it. If you want to get rid of the ads, you can do so via in-app purchases in the sidebar. Accuweather has even gone so far as to include a persistent notification that displays the current temperature in your status bar, along with the current weather conditions. Plus, it has a Wear OS app that will work great with some of the best Android smartwatches out there.
2. Today’s time
There’s a reason Today Weather is a fan favorite for those who don’t want a bunch of redundant information at their fingertips. The app itself offers a fairly simple layout, but the real power of Today Weather comes with its plethora of widgets. There are actually a total of 19 different widgets to choose from, all moving in different sizes to better fit your home screen design.
Inside the app, you can see some basic information at the top, including temperatures and expected precipitation. But as you scroll down, you’ll see more detailed details about the day. This includes “real feel” temperature, humidity level, UV index and even dew point. There are numerous sources that the user can choose from, including AccuWeather, Dark Sky, and Yr.no, a Norwegian forecasting service that can produce more accurate forecasts for many parts of the world other than the Americas. Scrolling down even further reveals the hourly and daily forecast, so you can quickly and easily plan when you’ll want to grab an umbrella or snow boots.
3. 1 Time
At first glance, there isn’t much that 1Weather has to offer that isn’t already available through other apps on this list. However, after opening 1Weather for the first time, you can definitely see the appeal. After sharing your location data with the app to get precise updates, you’ll be asked if you want to see “weather facts” whenever you open the app. This is something unique and we haven’t found it anywhere else.
As for the interface itself, all the information you need appears at the top, along with some ads scattered throughout. There are different tabs you can switch between depending on whether you want to see the forecast for the week or find out when the sunset is. Scroll down from the main screen and you’ll find “1Weather Shorts”, which are short videos about major weather events, along with 1Weather TV. This is a local forecast show that you can listen to if you prefer a news broadcast style to find out what the weather will be like.
There are a few flaws we found in our extended use of 1Weather, such as the app not always updating immediately upon reopening, but the app works well and looks good while it does.
Some other great weather apps for Android
There are more weather apps in the Google Play Store than you can count on. This means that while some of our favorites may be great for most, it’s even better to have options. So here are some of the other great weather apps for Android.
Yahoo Weather
Instead of relying on a bunch of extra features to display weather information, Yahoo Weather does things a little differently. The app uses various images from Flickr to provide a background for that day’s weather conditions. Scrolling down provides the forecast and other smaller details, while the large (+) button in the upper right corner makes it easy to add other cities to scroll between.
In fact, when you first start Yahoo Weather, the app asks if you want to add any other “destination” locations. These are just the big cities so you can daydream about the warm weather in San Francisco as the snow storm descends on the East Coast. Yahoo even lets you set daily notifications so you know what to expect before you even look outside.
RadarScope
Some people just want to get an overview of what to expect from the weather for the day, but others want to dive a little deeper—and by “a little,” we mean a lot. Radarscope is one of the best radar apps in the Play Store with the ability to display a radar overview for countless locations. You can select specific radars from different areas of the world or just enter your own location and see the radar display from there.
The ability to view the radar allows you to see how big or small that storm is. Plus, it’s easy to get a better idea of how severe a storm is, which is why Radarscope is used by meteorologists and storm chasers alike. Unlike the other weather apps on this list, you won’t find a daily forecast or anything like that. You only get good old scrolling radars. This app also has secondary subscriptions for high resolution radar scans and other features.
Overdrop
Some weather apps don’t offer any options when it comes to choosing a weather forecast source. For many, that will be fine, but finding an app that lets you switch between sources is pretty awesome, and that’s what you’ll get with Overdrop. On the main page, Overdrop shows you current weather details, with more information that can be expanded with the dropdown arrow.
The app itself has a fun design with multiple themes to choose from during the initial setup. Additionally, you can opt to use a persistent notification in the status bar, which shows you the current weather conditions. There is a weather forecast section that shows you the temperature, wind speed and rainfall over the next 24 hours. Overdrop even includes more than 50 different widgets to choose from if you want to see the weather forecast on your home screen. But to unlock the customization options of these widgets and persistent notifications, you’ll need to sign up for OverDrop Pro. This also unlocks several other themes, so you can really personalize your weather app in every possible way.
Flux
Flux is a newcomer to the fierce competition for the best weather apps for Android. Despite being relatively new to the list, it does extremely well at what it does. Flux has a nice and simple interface for viewing the weather forecast, along with several different themes to choose from. The app will even let you choose different themes to display when your phone is in light or dark mode.
In the lower toolbar, Flux is equipped with a daily overview panel, which acts as the main interface. There are also radar overview panels for your location, along with a summary panel to see what’s in store for the rest of the week. There are several different widgets to choose from if you want to add a weather forecast to your home screen. And Flux even allows you to customize and change the order of the “tabs” when viewing the main overview panel. Flux is a really great app and we hope the developer will continue to bring new themes and features for everyone to take advantage of.
Pleasant weather
One of the biggest reasons for using Dark Sky was its combination of features combined with a sleek design. After Dark Sky left the Play Store, Appy Weather tried to take over the main role as a weather app while continuing to rely on Dark Sky (and other services) for its forecasts. Appy Weather has succeeded in its endeavors and is surely one of the best Android apps in the weather category. The app even won Google’s “Best of 2019” award. for Everyday Essential thanks to its beautiful design.
The Appy Weather app is easy to use with a unique timeline view. There are three viewing options on the main page, which allow you to switch between hourly, daily and the aforementioned timeline view. However, if you want to unlock Appy Weather’s full potential, you’ll need to sign up for its Plus, Pro, or ⚡️Pro subscriptions.
The Plus subscription includes widgets, notifications, the ability to view the temperature in the status bar, and removes ads. Meanwhile, the Pro subscription offers some premium weather providers, along with custom notifications. Finally, ⚡️Pro unlocks all the different map layers possible, including storms, fires, lightning, air quality and more. While Appy Weather is good enough to use without adding another subscription to your list, you’ll definitely want to subscribe to unlock its full power and versatility.
MyRadar weather radar
It’s one thing to have a weather app that tells you when it’s going to rain, but it’s quite another to be able to track a storm system as it moves. With MyRadar, you can determine how fast a storm system is moving. With this information, you can decide whether you should cancel your plans or just wait until the storm passes.
In addition to providing an accurate weather radar for your area, these are some of the most professional-looking radars you’ll find in any app. MyRadar even lets you customize them to different map types and layers to display different information. What also helps MyRadar stand out from the crowd is aviation data from SIGMET and AIRMET, so even pilots will know what the conditions look like.
Time whenever you need it
With so many great weather apps to choose from, you’ll have no problem finding out what the weather is like in your local area, at any given time. If we had to choose the best, Accuweather would be our choice. Despite the inclusion of removable ads, its simplicity and easy-to-use design offers some great features, such as a temperature bar and mapping layers.
There are many more apps to choose from if Accuweather isn’t for you, and Today Weather and 1weather are also highly recommended. Whatever you choose, you can be confident that any of these apps will give you what you need when you need that all important weather forecast.