Google’s Weather app has long been a no-frills method of quickly deciding if it’s a rain jacket or sweatshirt kind of day. While it’s always been reliable, the app has finally received a makeover that simplifies the design. Over the last six months, we have also seen an improved weatherforecasting modeland a newPixel-exclusive weather app. Pixel users were the first to receive the newGoogle featuresas usual, but non-Pixel Android users are also starting to benefit.
Google’s new Weather redesign rolled out to Pixels in October. But Google’s Weather “app” is not really an app (although it’sstarting to become one) — it comes built into the Google Search app on almost all Android devices and can be accessed with a simple search of the word “weather” on your phone. The redesign is a significant improvement over the old design. The only downside is the rollout has been slow, very slow. Luckily, as9to5Google notes, the redesign is no longer Pixel specific and is starting to appear on Samsung and other non-pixel Android devices.
The redesign makes it simpler to view the three weather options: today, tomorrow, and a 10-day outlook. Instead of the old design, which swapped tabs to change the view, the new design opts for a simpler approach. The improved layout keeps the hourly and 10-day forecasts on the same page. Users can scroll down and dive into wind speeds, humidity, UV, and other details about the weather. Google Weather still uses Google Nowcast and Weather.com for forecasting and data. Most importantly, Froggy, the Google weather mascot, has survived the redesign and will continue to greet you whenever you open the app.
The redesign successfully simplifies the layout of the weather app, but it is only one of the many changes Google has made to its weather operations. Many places around the world rely on weather predictions to prepare themselves for severe weather events. Google has leveraged its AI research lab, DeepMind, to create a new model to make medium-range weather forecasts. They dubbed the modelGraphcast, which is already one of the top forecast models. Google adds GraphCast to its already impressive stable of weather prediction systems. Graphcast joins its regional Nowcasting model and MetNet-3 model, which are both used in Google’s Weather app. Amazingly, Google will be open-sourcing the code to Graphcast. This way, scientists and forecasters can leverage its capabilities.
While the new UI has been spotted by several Galaxy phone and tablet users, as well as some with other brands, it doesn’t appear to be widely available just yet. Reports seem to be getting more frequent, though, so we’re betting this is the beginning of a staged rollout. With any luck, you could be seeing the new UI on your non-Pixel phone by the end of the year.
