How to Create a Weather Forecasting App

Weather plays a crucial role in our daily lives, influencing everything from our clothing choices to travel plans and outdoor activities. Its impact extends beyond mere convenience, shaping our experiences at work, during vacations, and even our overall well-being.

The unpredictability of weather necessitates reliable sources of information to help us make informed decisions. While we cannot foresee the future, technology offers a solution in the form of weather forecasting apps.

In this inclusive blog, we will guide you through the process of developing a weather forecasting app that not only meets but exceeds the demands of users. Whether you are preparing for a scorching heatwave, an unexpected downpour, or a chilly day, having a dependable weather app can be the key to avoiding unpleasant surprises.

So, let’s embark on this journey to create a user-friendly and accurate weather forecasting app, ensuring that users stay ahead of the weather and are well-prepared for whatever conditions come their way.

Which industries benefit from weather forecasting?

Firstly, before diving into mobile app development, let’s understand for whom it is beneficial to build a weather forecasting app like Flowx.

Well, the benefits of weather forecasting apps vary across multiple industries and sectors. These apps offer valuable data on climate change, inform on meteorological activities, and help in planning and decision-making. Be it for personal, operational, or organizational use.

Here are some industries that can benefit from these apps:

1. Travel and Tourism

A tours and travel agency know very well how weather can create a difference in the experience of a trip. Therefore, they depend on weather forecasting apps to plan trips effectively for you.

The weather reports help them to create an itinerary and make informed decisions about travel routes and outdoor activities for you. Weather forecast apps can provide accurate and timely information about weather and climatic changes, improving travel experience.

2. Online media and communication

Online media includes news websites, TV channels, social media, and radio stations. For news publishers, it is a crucial part of reporting to inform weather updates to their audience, as many viewers look at online media for the latest weather forecast.

These communication platforms inform the general public about weather changes, helping them to plan their daily activities, like deciding whether to take an umbrella to plan outdoor events.

3. Agriculture

The farmers benefit from weather forecasting apps to plan their planting and harvesting of crops time. The latest weather reports help them to make decisions about crop management, irrigation, and protecting crops from natural disasters like flooding, hurricanes, snowflakes, and ice balls.

5 Steps to Build a Weather Forecasting App

1. Do market research on your weather forecasting app idea

Before switching directly to mobile app development, conduct market research on your weather app idea. Understand your target audience’s picks, the features they want in a weather app, and how to outstand other apps.

Never underestimate the process of conducting market research. You can identify the latest market trends, know how your competitors are doing, and understand what you can do differently from your competitors by doing proper market research.

You can evaluate customers’ ratings, reviews, and feedback on rival apps to find what they like and dislike. It includes services, features, and UI/UX design of the apps. You can also look for mistakes made by your competitors. Moreover, you can get help from professional market research agencies for a detailed report.

2. Define essential features to include in your app

After you complete your market research, define the basic and advanced features you want to include in your app idea. Here are some features you can add while developing a forecast app:

• Rain Forecast

The rain forecast feature provides users with crucial information about rainfall in their area. This comprises the probability of rain (in percentage), expected rainfall amounts (mm), and the duration of rainfall (how long the rain lasts).

For example, this feature tells you if it is going to rain or not, helping you decide whether to carry an umbrella or plan outing activities.

• Integrate Wind Indicator

Wind indicators are vital for users who want to know about current and predicted wind conditions. This feature includes information about wind speed and direction.

It shows how strong the wind is blowing, so users know if it’s a windy day or an average day.

• Show Sunrise, Sunset, and Moonrise timings

This feature offers information about sunrise, sunset, and moonrise timings, allowing users to plan their day or night activities accordingly. Moreover, it adds a practical angle to the app, helping users plan outdoor activities, photography, and even meteor and astronomical observations.

• Integrate the Earth-time Lapse Feature

The Earth-time lapse feature provides users with a visually engaging experience, showcasing how weather conditions change over a specific period. In short, it’s a cool feature that lets users watch a sped-up video of how the weather changes over time, giving a visual journey of the day.

• Climate Map

The feature is the collection of different climate-related data that allows users to study and compare climate conditions globally. It also displays a map that shows various weather conditions in multiple areas and helps users understand the overall climate.

Some additional or advanced features of the weather forecast app:

• Drought Monitoring

Drought monitoring provides users, mainly those in agriculture or regions prone to drought, with data on long-term water availability and soil moisture conditions. This feature checks the land conditions that might lead to drought situations by helping farmers plan for water scarcity in advance.

• Hyper-local Forecast

Hyper-local forecasting feature takes accuracy to the next level by providing detailed forecasts for specific areas or street-level precisions. This feature is for users who want exact weather for their location, so they know what to expect right where they are.

• Impressive Weather Visualization

This feature focuses on creating attractive and informative weather forecasts. It could include 3D weather models or aesthetically satisfying designs that increase the user experience.

This feature makes the weather data fun and engaging with graphics and designs, converting weather forecasts into an exciting experience.

3. Hire an experienced mobile app development company

Once you decide which features to add, the next thing is to look for top app development companies. Think about partnering with experts from a reputable mobile app development company. While searching for top app development companies, check if they’ve previously done similar projects.

Look for a team that has experience with weather apps specifically.

When you find top app development companies, request them for a quote. If their quotation matches your project expectations, plan an interview to discuss further project details.

4. Develop a forecasting app and design its UI/UX

After finalizing the mobile app development company for your project, begin with the development process of your weather forecasting app. Imagine your app as a robot. Just the way a robot needs a brain to think and process data, your app needs a “backend.”

The backend stores and manages all the data, like the weather information your app will show. So, you can start by creating a necessary backend. This ensures that your app can think and effectively process data.

At the same time, don’t forget to think about how you want your app to look and feel from the user’s perspective. It’s like deciding how your robot looks and how users will interact with it. Make sure your app is easy and convenient for users to use. For example, when they touch buttons or swipe on the screens, they should feel it is quick and simple to interact with.

5. Launch and market the app

When you are done with the development and designing part, test your app and launch it in the market. To share your app with the world, you need to optimize it so that people can find and download it easily on the App Store.

The next big thing is to spread the word among your target audience by marketing the app on different platforms. Share exciting posts about your app on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Tell people what makes your weather forecasting app awesome and why they should check it out. Get creative! Consider other ways to spread the word, like partnering with influencers who can showcase your app to their followers or running special promotions.

Choose the right keywords, write a catchy description, and use attractive visuals to increase your app’s visibility. Engage with your users! Respond to their comments, listen to their feedback, and make them feel heard.

Read Also: How To Develop A Video Conferencing App Software? Features and Cost Included

Cost to build a weather forecasting app

You must know that building a weather app costs money, and the amount can vary depending on a few things.

• It relies on the features you want to integrate into the app.
• The complexity of your app can change the cost. If it’s super complicated, it could cost more.
• Lastly, the development cost depends on how much the company building the app charges for their work.

After considering all these pointers plan your budget carefully, keeping them in mind. Not only consider the initial development but also the testing part to ensure everything works smoothly.

In addition, think about the money you might need to keep the app running well over time. By budgeting correctly, you can ensure your weather app is not only successful when it starts but also stays the same in the long run.

Check Out These Top 5 Weather Apps for Inspiration

AccuWeather	Accurate forecasts Minute-by-minute precipitation forecasts Severe weather alerts and warnings	Free	iOS, Android
1Weather	Location tracking up to 12 places on a single screen Animated weather maps Sunrise and sunset times and moon phases	Free	iOS, Android
DarkSky	Hyperlocal weather information Advanced radar animation Weather timeline for the day	Paid	iOS (Now integrated with Apple Weather)
Weather Underground	Temperature and conditions from the last 24 hours Customizable Smart Forecasts for outdoor activities Interactive weather map with layers	Free	iOS, Android
The Weather Channel	Climate coverage with short weather forecast videos Hourly to 15-day forecasts Hurricane and tropical storm tracking with live updates	Free	iOS, Android

How Codiant can help you develop a forecasting app?

Creating a weather app is not an easy task. But if made correctly, it can profit your business exponentially.

By partnering with Codiant, you’ll get a team of experts who can help you create your very own weather forecasting app. With their expert guidance, vast experience, complete app services, and smooth development process, you can turn your weather forecasting app dreams into reality without any unwanted complexities.

So, if you’re thinking of building a weather app and need expert help, Codiant has your back. We can make your mobile app development journey smoother and more successful.