Crowd sourcing information is a huge thing right now with everyone contributing information about the world around them. One popular app that made great use of crowd sourcing was that of Waze, which is a very good, community driven mapping app. Well, the people over at Ourcast want to make use of community driven information, but instead of using it for traffic, they want to use it for precise, short term weather forecasts.
Like most weather apps, Minutely will show you what the current temperature and weather is using data from Weather Underground. It will even showing you weather data on a map, which is provided by Open Street Map. Unlike other weather apps however, you can report what the current weather is like in your area. You do this by tapping on the “Report” button and then choosing from a list of what you think the weather is like in your area. You however can not choose temperature. After you do so, your current weather will appear as what you just entered. This allows everyone around you using Minutely to see what the real current weather is in your area. Others around you will also contribute their data and make the weather forecasts on the app that much more accurate.
For long term weather forecasts, Minutely again uses info from Weather Underground. You get a good 7-day forecast on here. If you want, you can also view a full map of your area to get a better view of how the weather is around you and how many active Minutely users there are contributing to this.
Overall, Minutely has promise. If more people would use it, short term weather information would be much better and much more accurate especially if it’s coming from people who are actually there. Sadly in my case, Minutely is still pretty new so there is maybe only 1 other person I can see of that is using this in my area. Hopefully, more people will start using this but in the meantime, it’s a neat app to play around with.
App Store Link: Minutely
Version: 1.1.0
Developer: Ourcast, Inc.
Price: Free
Compatible Devices: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Description
Minutely is the completely new app from the team at Ourcast.
” Ourcast reminds me of Back to the Future 2 when Doc Brown can tell the precise moment that it will stop raining. ”
– Dan Rowinski, Read Write WebCORRECT THE WEATHER
Minutely is the first App to combine the power of crowdsourced data (allowing anyone to contribute to our unique weather forecasting model right from their phone) with traditional weather forecasting data. The result is an incredibly accurate short-term, hyper-local weather forecast – down to the minute. And it lets you get some of that frustration out when the weather man gets it wrong!3D REAL-TIME RADAR
Minutely also provides the worlds first real time 3D Radar right on your phone. Understand the true size of whats coming towards you with never before seen volumetric data. You wont find us massaging the data with our pretty animations.FULL FEATURED WEATHER
Minutely is a full featured weather app that gives you all the information you will need to make the right decisions when planning your day.
Going for a run? Riding to work? Or Just want to know how hot its going to get and when. Check Minutely and plan your outdoor activities with confidence.– 9 day (2+7) weather forecasts covering anywhere in the continental USA
– Hyper-local 2 hour weather forecasts covering anywhere in the continental USA down the the minute.
– Night mode with moon-phase animation based on your location.
– Current temperature reading with high / low for the day.
– 24 hour temperature with chance of rain graph.
– Sun rise and sun set times.SOCIAL FEATURES
– Report your own weather conditions right on the app’s home screen, making forecasts more accurate for everyone.
– See your own reports and others around you.
– Share your weather conditions easily on Facebook and Twitter.Join the Minutely community today! We’re working to solve weather together.
NOTE: For best experience we recommend iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 due to the upgraded graphics hardware in those devices.
[via App Store]
The Gamer With Kids 