Version 609 Available for Apple Users and Android Beta

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APPLE USERS: Version 609 is available now on the App Store!

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/instant-weather/id1495672013

ANDROID USERS: 609 coming to beta soon and it'll be released after a bit more testing!

NEW:

- Coloured icons! (Switch back to 1 colour in settings)

- All locations on "Locations" page auto-update condition details!

- Animation on top of "Hours" product

- Snow animation option available in settings (Avoid if your device isn't very fast)

- "Allow Notifications" permission will pop-up immediately for users who have location Services disabled & not just the second time they open the app

- Fix for duplicate "Following" locations

- Other minor bug & performance fixes!

Thank you!! Woohoo!

- Adam & Teresa

Update

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Good morning! So much to talk about! :)

COMPLETED:

- We have finalized changes to our radar loading process to ensure there are no missing or mixing of tiles. Smooth sailing here on in if you have version 1.0.507!

- Coming up in the next version, we've successfully added Apple Maps, on both iOS and Android, as an alternative to Google Maps. This should help users on Android who find the Google Map to be glitchy or on a couple devices, won't load at all.

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TO-DO:

- We continue to develop the widget for Apple and Android users and we're so excited to finish an MVP, test it on as many devices as possible, and eventually send it out to all users when it's ready to rock! It will take some time to make all of this happen but we're so very excited to get it launched!

- We're working on adding more notification types to the app. Eg. Rain, S***, Lightning, Winds, etc. Please let us know if there's anything you'd personally want to see as far as notifications are concerned. Customization perhaps? "Only notify me for [3cm] or more [snow] expected between [6 AM] and [9 AM]". :D

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UPCOMING ANDROID FIXES (Apple below):

- We're getting much closer to launching a fix for the "Hours" loading bug that some Android users are experiencing since the new app version. For those having this issue, our apologies and please use the "Minutes" product in the meantime until the next update. "Minutes" goes out 6.5 hours or so and has all the same data that "Hours" has except with even more detail (15-min), and a rain/snow animation for intensity.

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UPCOMING APPLE FIXES:

- Apple users with older devices running iOS version 12.4 or older are having problems with our radar not loading with version 1.0.507. The map seems to work fine but the loading wheel just spins. Our apologies for this! When Apple upgrades to a new iOS version, they support older devices less and less (as you likely know). This is quite frustrating as we'd like to continue supporting as many older devices as we can. Nevertheless, we'll work hard to support them as long as possible and get this radar issue fixed!

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WEBSITE:

Now that we've added Apple Maps, launching the website version shouldn't take much time at all! The website will work in Canada, the US, and worldwide! US alerts will be unavailable until we're finished upgrading our US alert system to be instantaneous. We can't, in our right minds, launch a weather app called Instant Weather in the US with alerts that are delayed. Once that's finished, we'll also launch the app in the US for Apple and Android!

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We're so thankful for this wonderful community and thank you for all your support, feedback, and weather reports! <3

Adam

Important App Update 495

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1. Version 495 of our FREE app Instant Weather includes clickable links to our Instant Updates™!

Anytime we post a custom severe weather forecast to our website, we can now instantly notify those in the affected area that the forecast is available! Then, with one click inside of our app, you'll be directed right to the full forecast on our website with a map, detailed write-up, etc.

We plan to eventually add our custom forecasts directly inside of the app, including an interactive map, etc. All in due time! :)

2. We've also added Humidex & Windchill as the default option for "Feels like" temperature. This works in the "Current Condition" and also in the "Minutes" & "Hours" products. You can switch back to the original "Hybrid" option in the settings if you prefer the way the app previously handled "Feels like".

3. We've added Humidity & Pressure to the "Minutes" and "Hourly" products as well and have increased the size of the UV a bit.

4. On our servers, we've made significant improvements to notification speeds, especially when it's a widespread alert. We'll have more improvements to notification speed in the coming weeks but this should already be a big improvement!

5. We've added and refined our Instant Updates™ for localized severe weather and other important notifications

6. Other bug and stability fixes (more coming!)

Thank you so much to all of those who have subscribed to our "Upgrade Radar" & "Remove Ads" options! You're the reason we're able to make the app free for everyone else so a HUGE thank you to everyone who has subscribed!

Sincerely,

- Adam, Teresa, & the IW team!

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Version 495 and server improvements

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Version 495 is now available. We also made some improvements on the server side.

  • One cool change is clickable links in the alert bar details.

  • We've also switched to kPa instead of hPa for pressure as that's most commonly used in Canada. If you like hPa, simply move the decimal point in your minds-eye. Eg. 101.35 kPa is 1013.5 hPa. :) We plan to add hPa as an option eventually. Thank you for your patience!

  • Humidex & Windchill added for "Feels like". You can choose between the hybrid feels like that includes wind and cloud or the more traditional Humidex/Windchill.

  • Humidity & Pressure for "Minutes" & "Hourly" products.

  • Big improvements to notification speed, especially for a large alert. More improvements coming soon!

  • Added & refined our Instant Updates™ for localized severe weather notifications .

  • Other bug and stability fixes (more coming!)

  • Great news! We’ve launched a fix on our servers (no update required) to combine alerts that are located in one alert-area into one single notification instead of several.

    Eg. Barrie, Oro, Collingwood

    Please keep an eye on it and let us know how it works! 

You can choose under settings the method used for the feels like calculation

You can choose under settings the method used for the feels like calculation

Humidity and pressure added to minutes and hourly products

Humidity and pressure added to minutes and hourly products

Hybrid feels like

Hybrid feels like

Humidex feels like

Humidex feels like

Note wind, humidity, and new pressure units

Note wind, humidity, and new pressure units

Upgrading to RN

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Hi! Now that Instant Updates™ and some major server updates are completed, we have one more server upgrade to finish and then we’re going full blast with our plan to upgrade to the React Native platform! RN is what Facebook and many other world-class apps are built upon.

Some reasons for this are, it loads extremely fast, not just on iOS like our current app but also on Android. It makes it much easier to create a comprehensive widget which is a big priority. It allows us to use Apple Maps on iOS as well as a more stable version of Google Maps on both platforms. It allows us to mix with other unique mapping platforms down the road which would allow us to bring back cool features like 3D radar. And last but certainly not least, a few of the remaining device-specific bugs would likely be solved by simply switching platforms.

Thankfully, we built the current app using React JS (through Cordova) and this means, half the work of switching platforms is already done! Another huge benefit to originally building the app in Cordova is that we can launch the website version very soon! 🙂

Exciting times! Thank you so much for making this possible!! ❤

Adam

Huge App Update version 480

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HUGE APP UPDATE!
Version 480 is available to download on the App Stores! Woohoo!

iOS: http://apple.instantweatherapp.com

Android: http://android.instantweatherapp.com

1. No more missing radar imagery. Yes!!!

2. Improved severe weather notification system (custom Instant Updates for severe weather now included)!

3. When the app is minimized and opened, it stays where you were. Only when the app is completely closed does it open back to your top location

4. Alert pop-up box for all notifications that can be dismissed or take you to the new alert by pressing "Display"

5. Fixed UV colours

6. Several bug and performances tweaks

Woohoo! Thank you!! - Adam

US alerts and US app availability

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Tornado🌪 related alerts are now up and running on our US Facebook pages! Woohoo! From California Tornado Watch to Florida Tornado Watch, we have a Tornado Watch page for every US state. This also means, the next version of our app will include all US alerts (tornado, flood, snowfall, etc.) and therefore, we’ll be launching the app in the US App Stores shortly there after! More details ASAP!

Adam

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