One of the requests I see most often for S60 is applications that will download weather forecasts. I don’t know if everyone lives in Texas, where the weather can change completely within 4 hours, or what, but it seems to be a popular request. At the Symbian-Guru Store, we have Handy Weather available for $25, and conveniently, Epocware will transfer your license for Handy Weather when you get a new phone!
So it exists, and it’s affordable, but how well does it work? I took the application for a test drive (you get a 14-day trial period) and I have to say, it works really well! There are several different views you can use, and there is a host of options within the application, as well.
First off, Handy Weather starts you off with incredibly informative helper prompts, to assist you in setting up the application. While annoying to a seasoned S60 user like myself, these little popups offer a complete explanation of each step in a very clear manner. For someone coming to S60 from a different platform, these little texts would surely be a welcome assistance. There is also an option in the settings to disable them, for more advanced users who don’t want to hassle with them.
Handy Weather can be used over a data connection or WiFi, which can help you save on data costs. You can also choose how it often it updates its information in the settings menu. There are three different types of weather information screens within the Handy Weather application: Current Conditions, Graph, and Maps.
The Current Conditions screen shows you the typical graphic with a summary of the day. A sunny day gets you a little sun icon, or it may have clouds, or rain, or whatever is appropriate. You also get the high-low temperature, right next to the icon. Below that is the wind conditions, including direction and speed, alongside the UV Index and humidity level. You can also tab to the right to get the next 5 days’ forecast in a similar layout.
Graph view is less useful, in my opinion, though some may like it better. The graph view gives you the 5 day forecast all in one screen, with the icons depicting the conditions along the top of the screen. The estimated high temperatures are plotted on a line graph, so you can follow the temperature through the week visually with ease. Dates are listed along the bottom of the graph. You can add multiple cities, and then tab to the right in the Graph view to switch between cities.
Map view offers a visual geographic map, with an overlay of either Temperature, Pressure, or Satellite. I would like to see a Radar map added in the future, but otherwise, the maps are helpful. You can zoom in on the maps, and rotate them, to give you the best view. You can update these maps by individual city, or all at once, if you have multiple cities.
One feature that I felt was odd not to be advertised in the software itself is the screensaver. When you install Handy Weather, you also get a screensaver, which can be activated through the Themes menu. The screensaver uses a white background, so it’s easy to see even with the backlight not active. As you can see, the time is easily visible, as is the date, any applicable notification icons, and the weather for today and tomorrow. It’s avery handy feature, and easily one of the main selling points, yet the only way I knew about it was from the reports of others. There’s no option within the application to activate the screensaver, and there was no notification that it was included, either.
All in all, Handy Weather is indeed a great solution if you’re looking for weather on your S60-powered smartphone. With support for multiple cities, the ability to update over cellular data or WiFi, and the various ways to view the information, it’s an all-around solution to a growing problem.
However, the application is not without issue. First, I’d definitely like to see them add an option within the application to activate the screensaver. New users won’t know it’s there, otherwise. I also had issues with the maps automatically updating – they didn’t. A radar map would be a really nice inclusion, I hope to see it in a future version. Also, I would *love* to see Epocware be able to put the weather on my Active Standby screen, so that I can easily see it without using the screensaver.
There’s a 14-day full trial of Handy Weather available here at the Symbian-Guru store, or you can go ahead and get a lifetime license for $24.50, which Epocware will transfer to a new IMEI if you get a new phone.
What other features would you like to see in future versions of Handy Weather?
