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You’re sending your kids off to the bus stop but the skies look as if rain might start pouring any minute.
You’re headed to a business lunch but aren’t sure whether to bring an umbrella in case the predicted storm hits before you’re done with dessert.
You’re ready for your morning run when it starts to rain. You want to know if the rain will end soon or whether you should head out now and brave the weather.
There are times when you need to know the five-day forecast but there are plenty of other times when you need to know the weather within the next few hours. SkyMotion is a free weather service that gives you real time hyper-local weather with impressive accuracy.
How SkyMotion Works
SkyMotion is a mobile app and a website that can give you immediate weather information in an exact location. SkyMotion gives you temperature as well as predictions about rain, snow, hail, sleet and other forms of precipitation.
You can use SkyMotion on your mobile device or your computer. SkyMotion can either find your location or you can type in an address.
[note] SkyMotion can also tell you your location. If you want to find the address of where you are, SkyMotion can tell you that too. [/note]
Skymotion will show you the temperature and predict the likelihood of precipitation at your location within the next two hours in five-minute intervals. The service will also tell you how heavy the precipitation will be.
The app is simple to use and easy to navigate. You can save favorite addresses and set your temperature readings to Fahrenheit or Celsius. You can also set your weather intervals to one, five or fifteen minutes apart.
My Test
The first time I tested the app, I compared SkyMotion to four other weather apps I have on my iPhone. I woke one morning and opened SkyMotion which told me that the temperature outside was 38°. I checked with other weather apps, including The Weather Channel, Weather Bug, and Outside, as well as with Siri which uses the iPhone native weather app. Each of the other apps told me that the temperature where I was located was 54°, a 16° difference from SkyMotion.
I then went old school and consulted my trusty thermometer. In the battle of SkyMotion vs. my other weather apps, SkyMotion won by a landslide. The thermometer read 38°.
How could SkyMotion be so right when the other apps were so wrong? SkyMotion used my exact location instead of my street address. The other apps based their information on the town where I live, not my precise location.
SkyMotion’s predictions about precipitation were extremely accurate as well. A couple of times when the skies were quite gray, I checked with SkyMotion to see whether rain was in my near future. SkyMotion correctly assured me that rain wasn’t in the immediate forecast.
The predictions sometimes aren’t as clear-cut as yes or no. Sometimes the app says that rain is likely or highly likely. but the app never was completely wrong in the weeks that I have been testing it.
Availability
SkyMotion is available as a free app for Android at Google Play, and for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store. SkyMotion is also available free online through the SkyMotion website.
Update: SkyMotion is now available free for Windows Phones at the Windows Phone Store.
SkyMotion has information on over 16 million zones in the lower 48 states of the US and in Canada. The company has plans to expand into Europe with coverage coming to the UK soon.
Your Thoughts
Have you been looking for a weather service that gives you immediate information? Have you ever been steered wrong by a weather service? Do you like the idea of a weather service that can give you hyper-local, real-time weather forecasts? Let us know in the Comments section below!
* Red Umbrella image by Stefano Corso.
Hi Carolyn
This looks good, it will be popular in the UK. We need psychic weather forecasting here so we don’t miss the odd occasion when the sun comes out.
You asked me what phone my Chinese student brought over from China – it’s the Xiaomi M1, she has just done a Power-point on how it would be marketed internationally.
She wants a camera now, I think she might take my advice and not spend too much money. Some students have expensive cameras, but it’s amazing how much stuff they lose in the halls. Lost property has lots of laptops, all in Chinese! I wonder if there any smart phones! I know the person who runs lost property!
Hi Mike, That’s just what I was thinking, this service would be perfect in the UK! The developer said that he gets daily requests for it and they’re working hard to bring it there, though there is no date yet.
When Chinese students visited our school here in the US they definitely went on a buying spree because electronics were so much cheaper in the US even though many of them were made in China!
That Android phone looks very cool. She already has a very good camera on her phone, though I imagine she wants a dedicated camera in addition to a smartphone camera. 🙂
Sounds good Carolyn!
To be able to get the exact weather forecast sitting at the comfort of your home, what more can you ask for. I think just the fact that it shows the exact temperature is worth noting because most other apps we use, do show a variation, which makes it tough to decide which one we should really trust. Ultimately like you, I also use the thermometer. 🙂
I wish such an application was present our end too, but yes, they might just stretch this far some day. Yes, we do have such sites where you can go and check your weather, but they are never accurate, nor is the weather forecast we get in the newspapers. Some-days, it is, while on most of the other days, what it says never is the same.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, it’s funny that we want new tech that works as well as old tech (a thermometer). But there was a big difference between the temperature given on the apps. When I recommend for my girls to put on a coat before they head to the bus stop I like to check the temperature on my smartphone. SkyMotion will be the app I check now (it’s a bit dark outside to check the thermometer that early in the morning).
Often I delete apps off of my phone after I test them, but this one has a place on my home page! I really hope this service comes to India soon, Harleena!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, Harleena! 🙂
You are the Queen of Valuable Content. I’ve already downloaded SkyMotion and will be using it for my upcoming half marathon.
Hi Lizabet, Thank you. 🙂 I love sharing great tech with people and SkyMotion is not only great tech, it’s free!
I’m so glad this is helpful for you. Best of luck with your half-marathon! (*)
Hi Carolyn
I use the built-in weather service in my HTC Radar. The wether forcast is not always that great so it would be nice with an alternative. Looking forward to the service to hit Europe 🙂
Hi Thomas, Yes, I think most weather apps work based on your post code or zip code. SkyMotion figures out exactly where you are and gives you weather information based on your exact location. I also liked that the app will tell you the exact address where you are. I found SkyMotion to be more accurate than some of my GPS apps!
I hope that SkyMotion arrives in Europe soon, Thomas! 🙂
Sounds good and useful info Carolyn.
I use AccuWeather and Thermometer. But Sky motion’s exact location specific weather sounds really interesting. Though I like AccuWeather, still it’s location driven not exact address driven.
Technically, It looks Sky motion works as similar as Google Map address search with GPS latitude functionality to find the accuracy. Let me surely download and see how it works. 🙂
Thanks for sharing the info.
Hi Manickam, You’re right, SkyMotion does appear to use Google Maps. Google Maps thinks we live in a town that is different from our postal address and SkyMotion uses Google Maps’ address, not our proper one.
I hope you enjoy using this app, Manickam!
Luckily I’m not out much that I’m not already aware of what the weather is suppose to do. The funny thing about the weather here in Houston is my brother and I joke that we should have been a weather forecaster. It’s the only job you can have where you’re always wrong and never get fired.
Our weather changes so quickly it’s not even funny. They are always predicting some type of rain here but out city is so large that it’s definitely going to be raining someone. You just never know what part of town.
That’s a cool app though Carolyn and I’m sure one that would come in very handy for a lot of people.
As always, thanks for sharing.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Lol, that’s so true! I used to think the easiest job in the world would be to be a weather forecaster in Tampa, FL in the summer, “Highs in the 90’s with a possibility of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon.” Done.
We dog owners often struggle with when to walk our dogs. Do we wait until the rain is over or will it be too long of a wait to impose on our pooches? This app/website is a great indicator of breaks in the rain so we can sneak in a dog walk.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Adrienne!
Wooww… what a cool app this is! 🙂 I have actually never used any weather forecasting app but I would surely like to try 1… & the fact that SkyMotion is for free, I am surely going to use this app! 😀 😎
Hi Zainil, You’re right, this is a very cool app (and website). I hope you enjoy using it! 🙂
I actually get horrible migraine headaches when it rains. Perhaps this app can help me intervene preemptively! If I know it’s going to rain, I can make sure that i drink enough water, get enough sleep and even take a headache tablet before I’m in dire straights. For me…this app could be a lifesaver :-)! Definitely uploading!
Hi Ruth, Wow, I’m so sorry you have to endure that every time it rains. I think I would head to the desert if I had headaches every time it rains. Definitely stay away from England!
I hope this app will help you anticipate precipitation in your locality, Ruth! 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Unfortunately the app flunked my test. My thermometer reads 53 and SkyMotion says it is 61 outside. Hopefully it’ll do a better job on the rain. None is forecast for my a.m. walk in a few minutes.
[I loved that pic with the red umbrella. Where did that come from?]
Lee
Hi Lee, I’m so sorry that the app didn’t work for you. I have found it to be extremely accurate in various locations. Did you have a dry walk?
The umbrella picture comes from Flickr. There is a link at the end of the article that will take you to the picture on Flickr.
Hi Carolyn
SkyMotion sounds like a cool app and it’s coming to the UK!
I currently use WeatherPro and MetOffice on my iPhone but they don’t pinpoint my exact location, although the MetOffice one has always been very accurate.
I’ll keep an eye out for SkyMotion though as you can never tell what the weather will do next in Scotland!
Hi Tim, Yes, it’s a very cool app. Although I’ve already written this article, I am keeping this on the home screen of my phone. I’m still consulting it constantly to figure out what is going to happen with the weather.
Yes, predicting the weather in Scotland is very challenging, so this service would be very useful there.
Hi, Carolyn – I learn so much from The Wonder of Tech!! I am excited to use SkyMotion and just uploaded it to my droid. I’ll share it with my two kids in college – will help them decide how to dress for getting across campus in the next 5 minutes!! From one of your non-techie fans!! Jan
Hi Jan, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m very glad you found this article to be helpful. Yes, this app will be very helpful for college students who need to know whether it will rain on the way to and from classes.
Enjoy SkyMotion, Jan! 🙂
Too bad it is for such a short time. Wish it were longer.
Hi Jerry, You’re right, ideally SkyMotion could predict the weather wherever you are years in advance. Plan your wedding on a day with sunny skies. Avoid major weather events by knowing ahead of time when they will occur.
Perhaps some day we will have that technology! 🙂
This is awesome. I am downloaded my SkyMotion app right this moment. It’s chilly down here, and I bet my current weather app is off. My joints tell me so.
Hi Amberr, Wow, with such reliable joints you may not need this app, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
This looks great. But, since I’m living in Norway I have stopped using any type of weather service. I’ve actually stopped thinking about the weather at all. It’s close to impossible to predict anything here. I can walk outside and the sun is shining, five minutes later it’s raining like never before, and ten more minutes it’s snowing 🙂
Right now, I’m all wet after walking to the office in what I thought was going to be ok weather 🙂
Hi Jens, That’s exactly the predicament that SkyMotion is designed to prevent. I hope that SkyMotion gets to Norway soon, Jens so you never get caught in the rain again!
I have the Android platform, it’s good that they wrote:”Hi there, this is Clare the Community Manager for SkyMotion Research. We’re actually working hard on the Android counterpart to have it out soon. We’ll announce it when it happens so stay tuned but in the meantime, you might find our web app useful. Oh and Yes we are Canadian :D”
Thanks, Did not even know that there are any apps like this, I bought it recently).
Hi J, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thanks for letting us know about this. I didn’t try the app on Android in Canada so I didn’t realize that it wasn’t available there yet. But you’re right, you can use the web browser on your Android phone to get SkyMotion information.
Hi,
The app is actually available across North America both on Android and iOS devices. It’s equally available online so that users without a smartphone device can also have access to the technology as well!
Hi Roberto, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! That’s great news. Thanks for giving us the official information from SkyMotion!
I have always been looking for a weather report app like this. The weather telecast shown on TV have always steered me wrong. Sometimes even there is no sign of rains; they show that it is going to rain. I am having a great experience using SkyMotion app and definitely the idea of getting a weather report of everything is great. Thanks for such an informative and indeed helpful post.
Hi Thomas, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am glad you found this app to be helpful to you. Yes, general weather reports on TV don’t show you exactly what the weather is where you are. That’s why SkyMotion is incredibly useful.
I hope you enjoy SkyMotion, Thomas! 🙂
Hmm… that’s really seems impressive. I haven’t seen any application so accurate but you’re saying this is the one very much accurate. I’m certainly going to try this app on Samsung Galaxy.
Hi Aasma, I have found SkyMotion to be extremely accurate. I hope you have similar success with this app. Please let us know how it works for you. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this article.It was quite interesting reading this post and I have downloaded this app for my iPhone.Sky motion is quite accurate and it has been the best app so far compare to other apps available online.Also it can give instant weather updates and so it is quite helpful.The best thing about Sky Motion is that it can find out your location even if you do not enter the address.Although there are few instances when Sky Motion is not very accurate but overall it is the best weather app and the accuracy is also quite good compared to other apps.
Hi Steve, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, you really seem to understand why SkyMotion is such an exciting app.
I hope you enjoy using the app, Steve!
Truly amazing app! I have tried using this app on my iPhone and it really works out. The app provides accurate information about the weather forecast.Thanks for sharing an informative post with us, Carolyn!
Hello Jack, I’m so glad you tried SkyMotion and found that it worked well for you. I think it’s an incredible app and it’s free!
Thanks for stopping by and letting us know your experience, Jack.