Apple buys Dark Sky weather app, immediately kills Android version
Dark Sky, one of the most popular weather apps in the world, has been acquired by Apple. The Cupertino company will shut down Android and WearOS versions of the app in July. Dark Sky co-founder, Adam Grossman, announced the news in a blog post.
Grossman wrote: "Our goal has always been to provide the world with the best weather information possible, to help as many people as we can stay dry and safe, and to do so in a way that respects your privacy. There is no better place to accomplish these goals than at Apple. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to reach far more people, with far more impact, than we ever could alone."
According to the blog post, there will be no changes to Dark Sky for iOS for the time being and it will continue to be available for purchase in the Apple App Store for $3.99. For Android users, you can no longer download the Dark Sky app from the Google Play Store. Existing users and subscribers can continue to use the app until July 1, 2020, at which point the app will be shut down. Dark Sky confirmed that subscribers who are still active at the time of the shut down will receive a refund.
The Dark Sky API, which is used by many other apps and weather services, is not changing yet, but the company is no longer accept new signups. The API will continue to function "through the end of 2021", states the blog post. That means that third-party weather apps will eventually be unable to access Dark Sky's weather data.
Dark Sky has already switched its branding to 'Dark Sky by Apple', and is now also subject to the Apple Privacy Policy. Some users have already reported 'weather alerts' being pushed to their smartphones to announce the sale.
playing around with other Android weather apps and this popped up in one as a severe weather alert because it uses Dark Sky's API (Dark Sky used a severe weather alert to announce the acquisition) pic.twitter.com/kwUlD2WH8J
— dan seifert (@dcseifert) March 31, 2020
What do you think about the news the Dark Sky will become an Apple exclusive? Let us know below the line.
Via: Dark Sky
Dark Sky sold out, not surprising. Just hope I get a refund!
Deal with it. It's nothing more than business. OTOH, there are a number of alternative weather apps out there just as good, if not better than DS
"We want to reach as many people as possible." With the Android app they already reached this goal. Now they are making a huge step back. It's all about money. Nothing more and nothing less. Everything Grossman wrote is bullshit.
Just one more reason to hate Apple.
Totally agree.
Well this sucks.