Weather app: Apple buys Dark Sky and discontinues Android version

Dark Sky is now part of Apple. The weather app uses its own forecasts and wants to provide particularly accurate results, especially for local weather forecasts. Dark Sky does not play a major role in the German market because the app is not offered in this country. Due to the Apple takeover, the Android version of Dark Sky was removed from the Play Store with immediate effect; it is no longer possible to purchase the app on an Android device.

Dark Sky for iOS is still in the US version of the App Store available for $ 3.99. Apple is already mentioned in the developer information. For now, there is no information on how long the iOS version of Dark Sky will be offered. Otherwise, there are no changes to Dark Sky for iOS so far.

Dark Sky for Android can still be used until July 1, 2020, the same applies to the weather forecasts on the Dark Sky website. Anyone who has paid for the Android app should receive a refund after this deadline. After that, weather forecasts will only be available for iOS users.

Dark Sky API can still be used until the end of 2021

Dark Sky also offers its weather data as an API and plans to provide this interface until the end of 2021, after which the API access will be terminated. Anyone who has not used the API before can no longer register for it. With regard to the use of the Dark Sky API, Apple’s data protection agreement already applies to customers.

How much Apple paid for Dark Sky is not known. No details of the company’s purchase have been released.

The founder of Dark Sky sees the opportunity through Apple’s takeover to reach more customers than before. This indicates that the company’s knowledge, including weather forecasts, will be integrated into the iOS weather app in the long term. Exact plans for this have not yet been announced. It is conceivable that the surface of the iOS weather app will be revised and designed more in the way that Dark Sky looks.

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