It has taken way too long but finally they are here:
Configurable Forecast & Weather Widgets for iPhone and iPad!
Widgets have long been on my to-do list but for reasons I will talk about later in this post, I had to postpone their development again and again. Let’s first have a look at the new widgets and what you can do with them.
If you can’t wait to try them out, you can download the update on the
Weather is perhaps one of the best use cases for widgets. Yet, for some reason, all of the widgets I have come across so far lack at least one of the following aspects:
The new Sonuby widgets solve all these problems and allow you to create your own personal weather dashboard directly on your home screen.
The first version comes with three different widgets, each with its own focus and functionality:
If you’re a more visual person, I have recorded an update video where I’ll show you the latest changes.
I use short-term forecasts to decide what to wear when I go for a walk, whether to bring my jacket to my coworking space, and if I should put on sunscreen before leaving my apartment. I know you’re supposed to do that every time, but who does that anyway?
With 9 different reports to choose from you can create your personal short-term forecast dashboard.
The Now & Next Hours widget is designed to give you these answers with just one glance.
It is based on the Live Overview forecast already available in the app and depending on the report you choose (via widget settings), you’ll see different variables.
If you’re new to Sonuby and haven’t heard about the concept of reports yet: Sonuby is built around the idea that forecasting needs are different depending on the situation you’re in and the activities you do. For example, landscape photographers are affected differently by the weather than surfers or hikers which is why there are Photography, Surfing, and Hiking reports in Sonuby.
On iPad, the Now & Next Hours widget has an extra large variant with up to 42 hours of forecasts.
The Now & Next Hours widget comes in four different sizes: Small, medium, large and extra large for iPad users. The size of the widget decides how many variables and hours you’ll see.
Let’s talk about interactivity.
As I described earlier, most widgets simply open the app when tapped and therefore require you to navigate to the information you want to see.
Tapping the Now & Next Hours widget opens a specially designed Live Overview in the app showing the information you just saw in the widget plus all variables that were not displayed. From there, you can also open the daily overview and switch between different days.
This seamless experience allows you to quickly access the data you need without any extra navigation.
Tapping the “Mount Haidinger” Now & Next Hours widget opens a detailed snow & mountain forecast.
For data nerds, I’ve come up with a special version of the Now & Next Hours widget:
The Now & Next Hours (Extended) Widget.
It offers the same functionality as the standard Now & Next Hours widget but with twice as many forecasting variables. Of course, this reduces the amount of hours you can see at once, but that’s a trade-off for having more information in one place than any other weather widget out there.
More data, less hours: the Now & Next Hours (Extended) widget.
The widget comes in medium, large and extra large sizes and is available to Enthusiast subscribers only.
As the name suggests, this widget provides daily forecasts for up to 6 days on iPhone and 12 days on iPad.
It is based on the 14-Day Overview forecast available in the app and depending on the selected report, you’ll see different variables.
Daily forecasts for different variables: the Next Days widget.
On iPad, the Next Days widget has an extra large variant with up to 12 days of forecasts.
Like the Now & Next Hours widget, the Next Days widget comes in four different sizes: Small, medium, large and extra large for iPad users. The size of the widget decides how many variables and hours you’ll see.
Tapping on a specific day in the widget opens all forecast variables for that day in a specially designed Daily Overview in the app. From there, you can also swipe between different days and open a 14-day forecast for single variables.
Now this is where it gets interesting!
Configuring your forecasts the way you want them to be displayed has always been a core principle of Sonuby. Live Overview and 14-Day Overview forecast modules already allow you to change order and visibility of forecast variables.
And of course this is what I wanted for the widgets as well.
But how do you configure a widget?
Let’s say you have selected “Mount Haidinger” as your widget location and the “Snow Sports” report in your widget settings. To configure the widget:
The widget configuration is only available for Enthusiast subscribers.
Moving the thunderstorm risk forecast to the top: on the left is the unchanged Now & Next Hours widget, the widget configuration screen in the middle shows the thunderstorm risk being moved to the top and on the right is the configured widget.
Widgets have been the most upvoted feature request on Sonuby’s feedback board since the release of the app in 2023.
The primary reason why it took so long was because Sonuby is built with Flutter, a technology which allows to develop apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase. While it is great for many reasons, it also means that some features are more difficult to implement than they would be in a native app.
To support widgets, I had to write the entire forecast, location and synchronization logic once again but in iOS native (Swift) code. As you can imagine, this was a massive undertaking and took about five months from the first line of code to the final version you see today.
The second reason was that after one year of working full-time on Sonuby, I ran out of resources and had to temporarily start working as a freelancer again.
The third and last reason was that I wanted to make sure the widgets are not just a gimmick but actually useful. I knew right from the start that the goals I had set myself were quite ambitious and that there was a reason others haven’t implemented them before. But looking at the result, I’m glad I didn’t settle for anything less.
In addition to the widgets functionality, there are several other improvements that have been implemented in this update. These include:
Within the coming days, I will release a minor Android update that will add the new languages as well as all in-app improvements (except the widgets).
The past five months have been quite intense and I will soon take two weeks off to recharge and test the widgets while hiking in the Alps.
After that, I will either start implementing widgets on Android or I might focus on the new meteogram forecast I wanted to implement for a long time.
Both features will eventually be available, but after five months of widgets I might need a break from them first :D
As always, I’m committed to making Sonuby the best and most user-friendly weather app out there.
Thank you for your continued support of Sonuby. I’m excited for you to experience these new features and improvements. Your feedback is incredibly important to me, so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions via the Sonuby Feedback Board.
If you’re enjoying Sonuby, please consider leaving a review on the
Julian
