The creators of the popular Dark Sky weather app, acquired by Apple in 2020, have launched a new independent consumer application called Acme Weather. Co-founded by former Dark Sky team members Adam Grossman, Josh Reyes, and Dan Abrutyn, the app promises more reliable forecasts and unique features, including notifications for phenomena like rainbows. It is currently available on iOS, with an Android version planned.

The team is bootstrapped and includes both former Dark Sky employees and new hires. The launch marks a return to independent development for the founders, who cited the ability to experiment more freely outside of a large corporate structure like Apple's.

A Different Approach to Forecasting

Acme Weather’s core innovation is presenting users with multiple possible forecast outcomes, not just a single prediction. The app generates its own forecasts by leveraging various numerical weather prediction models, satellite data, ground station observations, and radar data. Alongside its primary forecast, it displays alternative possibilities as gray lines on its graphs.

“Forecasts are often wrong — it’s the weather, right? It’s one of the hardest things to predict,” co-founder Adam Grossman told TechCrunch. “And our biggest pet peeve with a lot of weather apps is you just get their best guess, and you don’t know how certain they are.”

Grossman explained this approach is particularly useful for planning around uncertain events like winter storms, where the difference between snow and rain can be significant. Seeing if all models agree or disagree provides an intuitive sense of forecast certainty.

Features and Business Model

The app is offered as a direct-to-consumer subscription costing $25 per year, with a two-week free trial. Grossman stated this model helps cover the expensive costs of accessing the various weather data sources and models required to build their own forecast engine.

“Most of our time has been spent on building our own forecast — our own data provider, in a way. And this lets us do things like build multiple forecasts…[and] create any map we want, rather than having to rely on a third-party map provider,” Grossman noted.

At launch, Acme Weather includes a range of maps for radar, lightning, rain and snow totals, wind, temperature, humidity, cloud cover, and hurricane tracks. A ‘Community Reports’ feature allows users to share local conditions to improve real-time reporting.

Experimental Alerts and Future Plans

Beyond standard alerts for rain, lightning, and severe weather, the app will experiment with more whimsical notifications in a dedicated “Acme Labs” section. These may include alerts for predicted rainbows or particularly beautiful sunsets, though Grossman said predictions will be conservative due to the difficulty.

Users can customise notifications to focus on specific weather events they care about, such as wind speed or UV index. Regarding a potential API for developers—a service offered by Dark Sky and later evolved into Apple’s WeatherKit—Grossman said the team has not yet decided if it will be part of Acme Weather’s offering.

Reflecting on the move from Apple back to an indie startup, Grossman said, “I absolutely love Apple…but as a big company, it’s difficult to try weird, new, experimental ideas. If you have a billion users, mistakes are costly.” He emphasised the appeal of shorter development cycles and fewer stakeholders in their new venture.