Your iPhone’s Weather App Is Getting a Huge Update with 12+ New Features « iOS & iPhone :: Gadget Hacks

One of the best changes to the Weather app came with iOS 16, where you can tap on the forecast to see rich data and charts for the 10-day forecast. Apple’s making this view even better on iOS 17 with the ability to view yesterday’s weather.

The new feature lets you know the actual conditions for the previous day, such as how much rain you really got at the location or how many feet of snow dropped. So, you no longer have to use a third-party app or visit a weather website for historical data for the previous day.

Just tap on today’s forecast or the 10-day forecast for the city of your choice and select the previous day in the top calendar view. The wording will change to reflect that it’s historical data, and you will be able to see most of yesterday’s metrics except for things like air quality.

On iOS 17, the “Temperature” component of the 10-day forecast has been renamed “Conditions” and includes additional information. You’ll still see the temperature chart with the highs and lows and the text-based forecast (for the current day) or daily summary (for future days). But there’s also a new graph showing the chance of precipitation (see #3 below), and the present day also offers a daily comparison (see #4 below) of the high and low temperatures with the previous day.

While the detailed forecast view has a category specifically for precipitation, the chart only shows you the amount of rain, sleet, or snow for each hour of the day. In the new Conditions view, there’s now a Chance of Precipitation graph that shows the likelihood of precipitation as a percentage, and you can drag your finger across the timeline to see the actual probability for each hour.

Tapping on today’s forecast or the 10-day forecast for any city will also show a new section for most metrics called Daily Comparison. It’s only available for the current day and not future days, and it compares the current forecast with yesterday’s weather, shown visually as a bar chart with a brief description.

There’s a new tile for Averages on the main view of each city that shows you today’s high temperature and the average high temperature over the last 30 days, then shows you the positive or negative difference.

Tap the tile to see a 24-hour chart showing the temperature of each hour for today contrasted against the normal temperature range for the last 30 days. A summary gives you a quick lowdown of the average, and there’s information about the normal range and averages too. And there’s a Monthly Averages section to show the highs and lows of each month from January to December.

Apple’s Weather app also now features a beautiful new moon phase view for each city. It’s available as a new tile, displaying the current moon phase, its illumination percentage, moonrise/moonset time, and the number of days until the next full moon.

Tap the tile to open a new modal view with a timeline for the moon that you can scrub through to change the metrics at two-hour intervals for the current, previous, and next month. The image of the moon animates to show its phases, and the data points for illumination, moonset, moonrise, next full moon, and the distance from the current location also change along the timeline.

Below that, a calendar depicts three months’ worth of moon phases and shows each month’s full and new moons. There are also explainers for illumination and moon distance if you need them.

Wind speeds can be critical to many folks who do various outdoor activities, from working to camping or sailing. On iOS 17, the Weather app can show you a wind map, not just the current wind speed metrics.

To view the new wind maps, tap the map icon under the forecast for any city, then hit the layers icon and choose “Wind.” You’ll see the wind movement patterns and predicted speeds over 12 hours, but you can’t narrow the play head down to the next hour like you can with precipitation.

If you want to change between cities quickly, tap the list icon to choose another location; the list also displays the current wind speed and gusts speed with the wind direction.

In previous versions of the Weather app, you could only change between showing Fahrenheit (ºF) and Celsius (ºC) temperature readings. All other units were based on your iPhone’s default locale in Settings –> General –> Language & Region –> Measurement System. With iOS 17, Apple introduces more measurement units for each metric, and you can change them per metric directly in Weather.

To choose the units for temperature, wind, precipitation, pressure, and distance, tap the list icon in the bottom toolbar, hit the ellipsis (•••), choose “Units,” and then pick the metric and choose the unit type. If you want to return to your region’s default units, select “Restore Defaults.”

The Wind metric in the detailed 10-day forecast view now features a Beaufort scale that you can use to visualize the wind and its effects. Apple notes in its description of this feature that “the Beaufort scale may make it easier to understand how windy it will feel or how much effect the wind could have.” As you adjust the unit options on this view, the scale will update to reflect those changes.

Apple’s new Standby feature on iOS 17 can show widgets on your screen when your iPhone sleeps in landscape orientation while charging on a stand. It works for any iPhone model, but only the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max support always-on Standby mode. A new Weather app widget lets you see the current conditions, temperature, and the high and low for the day at a glance.