The Best Weather App for Android

Android has what seems like a billion different weather apps available, but when it comes to getting the most information in an easy-to-read fashion, WeatherBug is the best around.

• Current weather conditions, hourly, and detailed 7-day forecast
• Real-time severe weather alerts
• Animated radar and satellite with multiple layers
• Lifestyle and health forecasts that include conditions for golf, outdoor nature, aches & pains, or allergies
• Live weather cams to see the weather in any area
• No ads (Elite version only)

Weatherbug has everything you need, in an easy-to-read and easy-to-find layout. Your home page has tons of information about the current conditions (focusing on the stuff you actually wan to know), as well as the day's forecast and a quick look at the next few days. You can tap on any of the items for more detail on that day, then tap on them again for an hourly look at that day's weather.

The strip along the bottom takes you to the more detailed sections, like the week-long forecast, the super-customizable radar map, lifestyle information, and even a weather camera. It has everythign you could possibly need, right there, without cluttering up the screen with useless junk.

WeatherBug's main issue is its speed. The app feels a little slow when you try to navigate through it; tapping on an item in the navigation bar takes a second or so to "register" and switch to the screen you want. Once you load the information for the first time it becomes a little faster, but still just feels "off" a little bit. That said, it still organizes its information better than anyone, so we're willing to put up with a little bit of lag.

Of course, WeatherBug isn't the only weather app on Android by a long shot. WeatherBug is an app that provides tons of information, but if you want something a bit more minimalist, our other favorite is Eye In Sky Weather. Eye In Sky has one of the cleanest, most easy-to-read interfaces around, and is super customizable when it comes to icons and widgets (in fact, it's a staple in our weekly featured home screens). Honestly, it's a pretty tough call between Eye In Sky and WeatherBug. If you don't need things like the moving radar, lifestyle info, and other advanced features of WeatherBug, Eye In Sky is what you should download.

Most of the other apps are similar to WeatherBug, with very minor differences. AccuWeather is pretty good, and faster than Weatherbug, but it sacrifices a bit of readability in the name of looking "cool," it seems, with its giant icons and colorful layout. It does have video forecasts, though, which is pretty nice.

Similarly, The Weather Channel app provides everything you need with a good set of speed, though it wastes a lot of space on screen. it has a whole top bar that the other apps don't have, as well as a second tab bar where you can choose your type of forecast. At first, that seems nice, but once you put it all together, you have a much smaller screen for looking at the actual weather, which is just annoying.

These are far from the only apps in the Play Store, but they're the most popular and the best we looked at. If you have a different favorite of your own, be sure to mention it in the discussions below.

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Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/IQ8Fyxkam9A/the-best-weather-app-for-android

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