What is the best weather app for 2012? In short, there's not one! Each have their pros and cons. Try them all out and see which one you prefer. Here's my breakdown on some of the most popular ones...
The Weather Channel
A very good app with a lot of information. The temperature readings were fairly accurate, the radar was ok, and the alerts worked really well. It contains a ton of information that may or may not be useful to you. It pulls from the National Weather Service (as do they all) as well as local stations (such as airports or schools). The one problem I had was the advertisements. I wish there was a paid version. TWC has the best alert system/features.
Weather Bug Elite
Almost identical to TWC, just has a different skin. The location finder seemed to be slightly more accurate and I liked the UI better than TWC. The radar seemed to be better than the rest, but the one "flaw" I found was temperature readings. It would sometimes be off by as much as 10 degrees vs. the local stations on TV. This may have been fixed with updates as I have not used it in a few weeks. While it does have alerts, you can't pick and choose them like you can with TWC. I could care less about fog alerts or whether it was going to be hazy.
Accuweather Platinum
It started off nice, but then I found its major drawback: location accuracy. On any given time/day, while sitting at my house, it would tell me I was in one of five different cities/towns. The temperature readings were very accurate, the radar seemed to be ok, but it does not show precipitation chance as a % (the others do). I also noticed that it did not auto update the weather until you actually opened the app. Bleh.
I have tried others as well (Go Weather, Underground, etc), but these "Big 3" were the ones I was the most impressed with outside of their individual drawbacks. YMMV.
The Weather Channel
A very good app with a lot of information. The temperature readings were fairly accurate, the radar was ok, and the alerts worked really well. It contains a ton of information that may or may not be useful to you. It pulls from the National Weather Service (as do they all) as well as local stations (such as airports or schools). The one problem I had was the advertisements. I wish there was a paid version. TWC has the best alert system/features.
Weather Bug Elite
Almost identical to TWC, just has a different skin. The location finder seemed to be slightly more accurate and I liked the UI better than TWC. The radar seemed to be better than the rest, but the one "flaw" I found was temperature readings. It would sometimes be off by as much as 10 degrees vs. the local stations on TV. This may have been fixed with updates as I have not used it in a few weeks. While it does have alerts, you can't pick and choose them like you can with TWC. I could care less about fog alerts or whether it was going to be hazy.
Accuweather Platinum
It started off nice, but then I found its major drawback: location accuracy. On any given time/day, while sitting at my house, it would tell me I was in one of five different cities/towns. The temperature readings were very accurate, the radar seemed to be ok, but it does not show precipitation chance as a % (the others do). I also noticed that it did not auto update the weather until you actually opened the app. Bleh.
I have tried others as well (Go Weather, Underground, etc), but these "Big 3" were the ones I was the most impressed with outside of their individual drawbacks. YMMV.
