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There are a lot of weather apps already on the appstore, so what’s different about shine, and why is it worth buying?

Lets start with the User Interface. Shine is no doubt a beautiful app to look at. A lot of effort has been put into the UI and it shows. They haven’t just cracked the looks though, the whole interface is extremely simple and intuitive to use.

At a glance you can view the current weather with an image that suggests what it may be like outside. A long with the current wind speed. Below this it shows a forecast for later in the day and then in the evening as well as the following day. With an horizontal slide of the finger you can view a brief forecast for the the rest of week.

You can also slide vertically to view an hourly breakdown of a forecast for the next 3 days. Which can really help if your planning something specific to time it for the perfect moment or get an idea how long the weather may last.

This is essence is what shine is all about. Giving you the weather quickly and effortlessly all wrapped up in a sleek finish.

My only criticism was the decision to omit the degrees symbol. Sure it looks cleaner and its obvious which number is the temperature but I would still like to see the symbol there as it’s just ingrained into me that one should be present. Hardly a deal breaker though.

Overall I have tried literally dozens of weather apps with all sorts of gimmicks and features. Of those I still have 5 installed (inc the default weather app). And Shine has already become my favorite of the bunch which really says a lot about it’s potential.