Apple Acquires Hyperlocal Weather App Dark Sky

In a blog post published today, the popular hyperlocal weather app - Dark Sky (which was on my list of must-have iPhone apps) - announced that Apple has acquired the company. While this is great news for Apple customers who have been clamoring for a good weather app for years now, the news doesn’t bode well for Dark Sky’s Android users. 

According to the post, the app will no longer be available for download on Android and service to existing users and subscribers will terminate on July 2020. Similarly, weather forecasts, maps, and embeds will continue only until July 1, 2020. 

As far as Dark Sky’s API is concerned, the company will no longer take any new signups and the API will continue to function through the end of 2021. You can find the full blog post below:

Dark Sky Has a New Home

Today we have some important and exciting news to share: Dark Sky has joined Apple.

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.

What happens to our existing products?

iOS App

There will be no changes to Dark Sky for iOS at this time. It will continue to be available for purchase in the App Store.

Android and Wear OS App

The app will no longer be available for download. Service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, 2020, at which point the app will be shut down. Subscribers who are still active at that time will receive a refund.

Website

Weather forecasts, maps, and embeds will continue until July 1, 2020. The website will remain active beyond that time in support of API and iOS App customers.

API

Our API service for existing customers is not changing today, but we will no longer accept new signups. The API will continue to function through the end of 2021.

As part of this transition, use of Dark Sky by Apple is subject to the Apple Privacy Policy, which can be found at apple.com/privacy.

Thank you!

To our customers, family and friends, we are grateful for your support over the past eight years. We look forward to continuing to build great products, so stay tuned…

The Dark Sky Team

I welcome this as an Apple customer, but I hate that Android users will no longer be able to use this excellent weather app. Also, many popular iOS weather apps including “Carrot Weather” use Dark Sky API. It will be interesting to see how they will handle this development. At least they have more than a year and a half to figure it out. What do you think about this news? Let us know in the comments below.