Weather Atlas’ new app brings a refreshed UI that’s optimized for iPhone 8

Is the sun-and-cloud icon on your weather app looking just a little too dull these days? Don’t you wish you could just switch it out for a more substantial-looking egg yolk, or perhaps an ombre, grapefruit-red icon? No? Okay, me neither, to be honest.

I didn’t give much thought to the fact that my sun and moon icons could be a lot cuter and more like Line stickers until I tried out Weather Atlas from Contrast, the maker of nerdy-yet-simple iOS apps like Rando and Launch Center Pro. Now I’m pretty much sold on the adorable UI and wish I could change out the ugly oranges in my Discover card app and my Headspace app while we’re at it, because they clash badly with my bright violet and pink wallpaper.

The developers at Contrast released its original weather app in 2013 called Perfect Weather, but what started out as an update to Perfect Weather eventually grew into Weather Atlas. Contrast founder David Barnard explains, “As we started kicking around the new user interface and all the features we wanted to add, it became clear we’d have to re-build from the ground up rather than just updating Perfect Weather.” Both apps give you a map and the weather, but Weather Atlas is definitely more visually pleasing and cleaner.

Weather Atlas is basically a map of the US, in which you can favorite certain cities and then check out the hourly weather, or on a 10-day forecast. It also shows hurricane warnings on the map. New York and Cupertino were automatically bookmarked for me and now I can see an excessive heat warning for Cupertino tomorrow. You can also tap a play button and the map will play back for you the past 30 minutes of weather on the US map, which I think is cool, but I see no practical use for it unless I decide to become a casual meteorologist some time soon.

Weather Atlas is available for download exclusively on iOS and only the premium version of Weather Atlas ($4.99 a year or $0.49 a month) lets you customize icons, block ads, and more. The app is optimized for iOS 11 and the expected taller screen on the iPhone 8, and in a few weeks, after I ditch my water-damaged iPhone 6 in favor for the 8, I’ll be able to confirm for you personally if that is true.