Dark Sky has finally come to Wear OS, with the company behind the hyperlocal weather app announcing today that the watch extension will be available as part of its premium subscription on Android.
A relatively big name like Dark Sky making the jump to Wear OS is the sort of thing that would have been encouraging for the platform a few years ago, but now just feels like ticking a box on a feature list. Wear OS has felt like a half-dead zombie of a platform for years, dogged by poor software support from Google and poor hardware options from partners, to say nothing of third-party app developers. And seeing one notable app come aboard doesn’t change much.
Add in that Dark Sky is somewhat frustratingly unreliable at times (I’ve had months where it forecasted almost prophetically, mixed with weeks of just utterly useless predictions), and the fact that the Wear OS app is only available as part of a subscription, and it’s an even tougher sell. Unlike the iOS version, the Android version of Dark Sky needs a $2.99 annual subscription for its hallmark features like notifications and next-hour forecasts.
Dark Sky has been available on iOS for years and came to Android in 2016. While iOS users have been graced with an Apple Watch app from the platform’s launch, there’s been no such luck for the long-suffering weather fans on Wear OS until now. I’m sure that there are a few Wear OS owners who are also specific enough about their weather app needs to pay an annual fee for forecasts, and I’m sure those 38 people will be very pleased with the news.