I check the weather daily as a hobby, even when I don't need to, and I'm always trying new apps to see what they offer.
I've been an ardent user of Today Weather, simply because it gets the job done.
But after switching to several free open source (FOSS) apps, including a file manager, I thought I'd try one for weather tracking.
Weather apps help you plan your day, vacations, or outdoor workouts, and FOSS weather apps have come a long way.
Breezy Weather is an impressive alternative to consider
A feature-rich weather app
I like apps with a minimal yet informative user interface (UI) that is easy to understand and includes useful widgets.
That's a tall order for an app, especially if I want it to prioritize privacy and avoid ads or subscriptions.
If you look at the Play Store, few apps fit all those categories. But Breezy Weather ticks all the boxes and then some.
It's a feature-rich weather app that pulls forecasts from 50+ sources, including national services, NWS, and Open-Meteo.
Breezy provides real-time information on AQI, UV Index, humidity, precipitation, and other key weather data.
It categorizes these into blocks that I can rearrange as I like. I use the AQI, UV Index, and Precipitation trackers most, and I've arranged them accordingly.
What's neat is that you can mix and match the various sources offered for each measurement to your liking and location accuracy.
I can even get severe-weather alerts for my area, which is essential since I live in a tropical place that often floods. Key alerts let me plan my grocery and chore runs and beat heavy rainfall.
The app also follows Google's Material 3 Design, which, in my books, makes it the closest clone of Google Weather.
Meteo Compare compares 21 different models for data
No traditional forecasting
Meteo Compare is a relatively new FOSS weather app that compares 21 models instead of giving one forecast.
The app clearly shows which models agree or disagree and presents the information so you can judge for yourself. It's a cool concept, but it took a bit more time to decipher than a glance.
Still, Meteo Compare includes all the relevant information, including a 10-day forecast, a built-in rain radar, and notifications for tracking and model disagreements.
What I like about Meteo Compare is that it lets you track forecasts as they change over time. Weather forecasting isn't an exact science, and forecasts can change every 24 to 72 hours.
It also has a coastal mode for surfers who want information on waves, swell, estimated tides, and sea temperature. It's basic but a nifty feature for those who spend a lot of time at the beach.
However, using Meteo Compare can be quite jarring. It's a bit too technical for my liking and mainly uses Open-Meteo's service.
It also lacks long-range animated radar, which can be frustrating on road trips.
QuickWeather does exactly what its name suggests
A glance is all that's needed
QuickWeather is a no-nonsense weather app I use mainly for quick weather updates.
Unlike Meteo Compare, QuickWeather's core feature is to deliver information quickly, without fancy animations.
This means the app loads extremely fast; it is the fastest FOSS weather app I've tested.
It has a clean design that only focuses on the weather information you need. Folks who like aesthetics may find this app jarring, but it delivers on what it promises.
One standout feature is the fullscreen radar, which lets me see rain movement in real time, something I use often.
QuickWeather also shows the essentials: feels-like temperature, wind, pressure, dew point, humidity, and visibility.
If I want a quick temperature update, QuickWeather shows updates in the notification panel, so I can glance at them while clearing other notifications.
The app uses Open-Meteo as a source, but OpenWeatherMap subscribers can also use their API key in the app for tracking.
But the caveats of using QuickWeather are hard to ignore. For example, the app has no option to track AQI and UV index, which in my opinion is now a necessity.
Compared to other FOSS weather apps, customization isn't as comprehensive, which isn't a big deal for me but could be for many users.
Finally, the design might be functional, but it reminds me of early Android days, when apps didn't follow a design language and looked basic.
WeatherMaster looks a lot like Pixel's weather app
A clean and modern alternative
Unlike QuickWeather, WeatherMaster is another FOSS weather app that fits my requirements.
WeatherMaster has a clean, modern design similar to Breezy's interface.
It also brings back the frog animation we loved from the old Google Weather app. But what makes WeatherMaster a capable weather app is its host of Breezy-like features.
It categorizes key metrics in the same block style as Breezy and follows an almost identical design.
You can even choose from many weather sources, including AccuWeather, Open-Meteo, NWS, and more.
Just like Breezy, you can pick a different source for each location.
There's also a comprehensive selection of home-screen widgets that show current conditions, daily forecasts, AQI, UV, and other essentials.
If you have a Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy device, there's an AMOLED theme, which I prefer over the default dark theme.
When compared to Breezy, WeatherMaster needs a bit more polish. It also offers fewer customization options, and if you like charts, it's quite basic.
Even though WeatherMaster offers an extensive list of sources, some require their own API keys.
Lastly, I wish the radar data were more detailed and supported every source on the list.
A basic open source weather app that has a long way to go
Only the essentials
I found another weather app I was curious about, not because of its interesting design or features, but because it's so basic. Weather: Cool and Hot might be the most basic and lightweight weather apps I've ever come across.
It only shows the basic current conditions and pulls the forecast from OpenWeatherMap. That's about it.
Even though the app uses my phone's location, I found it extremely inaccurate; it detected me five miles away.
For folks who want a super lightweight weather app, Weather: Cool and Hot takes less than 3MB of your phone's storage.
It has no settings or extra features to tweak, and it doesn't offer detailed charts or radar data either. The only setting I could change was whether I wanted to view the data in imperial or metric units.
I'm not entirely sure about this weather app, as it is still a relatively small project that gets very few updates. It was worth downloading and checking out, but it didn't meet my expectations.
There was only one open source weather app that was worth keeping
After trying five open source weather apps, only one was worth keeping.
While most of the apps I tried offered something unique, Breezy was the most reliable and comprehensive, and I enjoyed using it.
The app has a clean interface that presents all the information clearly. I can customize categories to my liking and use multiple sources for different cities.
If you're using your phone's stock weather app, I highly recommend Breezy for its extensive features and better weather-tracking experience.