If you use an iPhone, it’s easy to see weather conditions right in your notification center or on the weather app. But Apple doesn’t have its own weather app for Mac users, which means if you want to check the weather on your computer you usually have to do a web search for your specific location.
What if you could get a live weather update just by glancing at your menu bar? It would save you a lot of hassle and last-minute searches, especially on those busy mornings when you’re rushing out the door.
Forecast Bar is an app that can make it happen. It allows you to easily access accurate and specific weather information from your menu bar, without the need for googling or glancing at the sky.
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What is Forecast Bar?
Forecast Bar is a weather application that provides very accurate weather forecasts for all your Apple devices, even an Apple TV or Apple Watch.
With Forecast Bar, you can see a live weather update, hourly temperature points, and a 9-day weather forecast. It also includes lots of additional information about weather conditions such as the dew point, UV index, and other specialized information.
It also includes the ability to check the weather for days in the past, which can help when you’re planning a trip or trying to verify information.
How Does Forecast Bar Work?
After you installed the Forecast Bar on your Mac, it will appear in your menu bar. You can see a small icon of the weather with a temperature like the screenshot below.
Accurate Weather Forecast
Forecast Bar’s most important function is to give you an accurate weather forecast so you can be prepared for your day. It pulls data from The Weather Company and Dark Sky, to offer the most precise weather forecast possible, minute by minute.
If you just need a local weather update, Forecast Bar can automatically determine your location and get things running for you. The main interface will make it easy to determine the possibility of rain throughout the day and is very helpful when you’re making plans.
Forecast Bar can also give you a 9-day weather forecast. In the 9-day view, you can click the day you’re interested to see more detailed hourly weather, as shown below:
Besides the temperature, Forecast Bar also provides additional information about dew point, humidity, wind, pressure, sunrise/sunset times, visibility, UV index, and air quality on a particular day.
If you click on the upper panel that contains the simplified daily info, it will expand to include these extra details.
This is great because it puts important information all in one place, saving you several web searches or visits to various sites. Instead, the details are right at your fingertips.
Visualized Radar Map
Forecast Bar includes a radar map, which is a special feature that not all competing weather applications offer. You can open the radar map by clicking the small satellite icon in the top left of the main panel.
This map shows the precipitation forecast for the area.
However, you can change what is displayed on the map. For example, Forecast Bar can show you a temperature map for the entire world.
Besides temperature, you can also see cloud cover, wind speed, UV index, pressure and etc. All of them can be visualized on the map.
Weather Time machine
One powerful feature of Forecast Bar is the weather time machine, which allows you to check the weather condition up to 70 years in the past or future. It’s most useful when you’re trying to plan a trip that’s too far away for a normal weather prediction.
Instead, you can look at historical data for the trip dates to get an estimate of what the weather will be like this year.
Price and Platform Compatibility
Forecast Bar is available for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. You can download the app from App Store.
Once you have the app, you’ll need to pick a subscription for the Forecast bar. They have a wide variety of options- the cheapest is $0.99 for a month of 60 minutes updates while the most expensive is $11.99 for a year of 10-minute updates.
If you aren’t sure, then you can use the 7-day trial to see if it works for you. If you don’t like it, just remember to cancel the subscription before the trial ends.
If you have a Setapp subscription ($9.99/month), then Forecast Bar is available for you to use for free. If you want to try Setapp without committing to a subscription, there is a 7-day trial period you can take advantage of.
>> Get Forecast Bar on Setapp <<
Is Forecast Bar Worth It?
If your everyday activities are sensitive to weather changes (such as seasonal allergies, outdoor activities, or your daily transportation method), then the Forecast bar is definitely worth a try.
When it comes to providing an accurate forecast, down to the hour, Forecast Bar is pretty unbeatable, especially since it includes special information such as the UV index and air quality.
It’s important to know when it’s going to be raining, snowing, or muggy out. When your events are dependent on the whims of mother nature, you’ll want the simple and sleek Forecast Bar application on your Mac.
Wrapping Up
Forecast Bar is a powerful application that you can get an accurate weather forecast. Wherever you are or plan to be, the information is at your fingertips.
Since it offers support for many kinds of Apple devices, Forecast syncs across your entire set of devices and is super convenient to use. All in all, it’s a great weather app!