Will Apple ever figure out how to make a weather app for the iPad?
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
The iPad is without a doubt the most popular tablet out there and by a big margin.
In the US alone, data by researchers from StatCounter shows the iPad family has a more than 55% market share, nearly triple the volume of biggest contender Samsung.
Yet for years, the iPad has shipped without one key application: Weather!
Yes, the simple weather app is nowhere to be found on the iPad and it is hard to understand why. Not only that, the Calculator app is also nowhere to be found on an iPad. The situation with the Calculator app is even more interesting as it used to be available on earlier iPad models, but was intentionally removed later on.
Last time we heard from Apple about those issues was in the middle of 2020, when software chief Craig Federighi gave a weird explanation with the official company position. Federighi then said it would be very easy for Apple to just scale the iPhone Weather app to the iPad, but that's not something the company wants to do, instead looking to create an app that makes use of the larger screen of the iPad in every possible way.
The explanation sounds logical, but only if you forget that the iPad has been out since 2010. That makes it 12 years of Apple trying to figure this one out. It really shouldn't be that difficult!
And if Apple cannot figure it out on their own, they could just use some inspiration from designer Timo Weigelt who just recently created this beautiful weather app concept. We would totally love having it on an iPad. Also, that seems pretty easy to do, Apple, don't you think?
Weather app concept drawing by designer Timo Weigelt
We ought to admit that Apple has made some tiny progress with this. In 2021, iPadOS 15 finally brought users the ability to add a full Weather widget to the iPad home screen. Still, once you actually tap it, it directs you to The Weather Channel’s website in Safari rather than an app, which is kind of annoying.
At the same time, you also have the now owned by Apple Dark Sky app for iPad. It is a great alternative, even if it costs $4 to get outright, so at least you have some options that come directly from Apple.
The company has shown that it is taking user feedback seriously in the past year or so. It brought back an SD card slot to the Macbook Pro series after having removed it on earlier models. The poorly received TouchBar is now also gone on the latest Macbooks. So we are hopeful that the company is indeed evolving and 2022 might finally be the year that we get the much anticipated Weather app for iPad.
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