It’s a sad day for Android users of the popular Dark Sky app, which shut down today following an acquisition by Apple.
The app, which gained prominence largely due to the relative accuracy of its rain duration feature, was sold to Apple in March, with the iPhone maker vowing to shut down all other versions and immediately pulling the Android app from the Play Store.
This weekend, Android users were greeted with a message explaining that the “app has shut down” (via Ars Technica). The Android app was slated to stop working on Android phones on July 1, but the deadline was extended.
In an updated blog post the company wrote: “The Android and Wear OS apps shut down on August 1, 2020. Subscribers who were active at that time will be receiving a full refund. Weather forecasts and maps on the Dark Sky website remain active.”
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For now, there’s still a stay of execution for the web-based version of the service, which is accessible through the browser, but Android users must now seek an alternate weather apps moving forward.
As Ars reports, the change also affects a host of Android developers who used the Dark Sky API to power their own weather products. Those folks will have until the end of the year to find a suitable replacement, but it may be hard to match the quality on offer from Dark Sky.
It is now thought Dark Sky will power a future version of the stock Apple Weather app that ships on iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad models.
A blog post from the Dark Sky creators back in March said: “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.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
