I saw the final episode of Game of Thrones yesterday morning. I was disappointed, heartbroken, sad, angry, pained, etc. To say the least, I was feeling several emotions at the same time. I had fantasized about several ways the show would end. The directors(of the show) just had to spoil my day for me. My fairytale ending (which I imagined) were backed up by analysis from several movie analysts. Their forecasts or predictions, based on their analysis solidified my imaginations of a perfect ending. In the end, their analysis were mere speculations. The show has ended, and that's that. Well, speaking about forecasts and predictions, that's what this article is about. But this time, it is not forecasts based on assumptions and speculations. Maybe it used to be based on those factors(assumptions and speculations) before. But now, it is science.
In this article, I will be talking about Weather Forecasting. But, not on a general scale though. I'll be talking about an app we could use to check out weather forecasts of/for the day.

Forecastie; A simple, opensource weather app for Android.

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Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Ecclesiates 11:4 NLT

The scriptural reference above talks watching the weather. Although not in the direction I wish to steer this article towards. In the case of the scripture above, King Solomon talks about someone(a farmer or anyone) who watches the weather before they take an action, and end up doing nothing. However, that scriptural verse didn't negate the importance of checking out the weather. In fact, checking out the weather has upped our productivity level(for those who aren't lazy). That's enough preaching for now. The essence of this article is to review 'Forecastie'.
I checked out several weather apps, but I decided to settle for Forcastie. I really dunno what prompted me to start looking out for weather apps. A weather app came pre-installed on my device. To be honest, it's a great app. But, I have always had an adventurous spirit(Like Arya Stark). And my adventure led me to Forcastie. So without further ado let's delve into the review.

Review of Forecastie. (A simple, opensource weather app for Android.)

A weather app would necessarily not be packing a lot of features right? Yes, that's correct. Forcastie is quite a simple weather app. It's not packing extraordinary features, but it is a good value for your device's storage.
Here are the features of Forcastie;

• Simple design
• Detailed 5-day forecast
• Multiple units
• Works with any city in the world
• Offline functionality

The 5 features above sums up the whole app. Since there aren't so many features, I'll talk about all of them in my review.

Simple design (User Interface).

Forcastie is simply crafted in terms of its user interface. It is materialistic though, which means that it looks good. All the other elements such as font, font size, and icons fit perfectly. I wouldn't have loved to have them any better. But that's not all. There are theme options. By default, the app uses the 'Fresh' theme. The theme is quite fresh as the word 'fresh' literally. The other theme options are;

• Classic
• Fresh dark
• Fresh black
• Classic dark
• Classic black.

If you judge me by my previous app reviews, you'd say that I'm using either of the dark or black themes. Well, if you said that, you'd be wrong. I'm using the default theme, 'Fresh'. For this app, the darks and blacks didn't do it for me. The 'feel good' factor which is a major determinant of choosing a user interface was felt only with the fresh theme.
Forcastie looks great, but when compared with my device's stock weather app, it falls short. If I'm being honest, it falls short by quite a lot. My device's stock weather app looks really cool. And it's got this sort of animated vibe to it. It was raining(yesterday) while I was creating this article. On the weather app(stock) I could see an animation of rainfall. It felt good to look at.

So I've shared screenshots of Forcastie and my stock weather app. Which of them looks better to you? (Drop your opinion in the comment section).

Detailed 5 day forecast.

Forcastie also gives us access to weather forecasts of/for the next five days. Knowing weather predictions for the next 5 days is quite important. With that information, you could;

• Plan your movements.
• Plan your dressing (there are different types of dresses for different kinds of weather conditions).
• Plan the accessories you'd take out. (Umbrella for rain, Handkerchief for a sunny day).

What I'm saying in essence is that, knowing weather predictions for the next few days help us to get prepared. Except you are like the person King Solomon described in the scripture I shared earlier on.
In this regard(5-day forecast), Forcastie draws level with my device's stock weather app. Or, I think Forcastie gives me a forecast for a day more than my stock weather app. So yea, I'll say Forcastie takes the win this time around.

Multiple units.

In Forcastie, you can tweak certain measurements in the units you desire. For me, I was okay with the default units set-up the app came with. But if you aren't satisfied, you can set it up the way you desire.
The measurement units are;

• Temperature
• Length
• Speed
• Pressure
• You can also set-up your preferred date format.

In terms of this feature, Forcastie once again emerges the winner when compared with my stock weather app. The measurement units available on my stock weather app are; temperature and speed.

Works with any city in the world.

I'm in Uyo, Nigeria currently. But sometimes, I love to spy or take a peek at the weather conditions of my friends in various cities. With Forcastie, I'm able to do just that(check out weather conditions in other cities). I think this is possible on almost all weather apps. It is possible on my stock weather app. So in comparison, Forcastie and my stock weather app are level.

Offline functionality

No Internet, no problem. Forecastie works even when you don't have an internet connection. And this is really important. But I'm rarely out of internet connection, so I have no worries regardless.

So that's it for my review of Forcastie. I'd ideally love to end this article here, but, I'll like to set some things straight. It's actually a kind of disclaimer.

In my introduction, I talked about how Weather forecasting is science now, and not based on assumptions. It is called 'Meteorology', which is a part of atmospheric science. Over the years, this part of science has improved, and is still improving. This means that weather forecasts are becoming more accurate. However, these forecasts are sometimes not correct. In essence, what I'm trying to say is; don't depend totally on them. And don't blame the people who provide us with this information.
Forcastie is an app with which we could check out daily weather forecasts. These forecasts are not manufactured by the developer of the app. Forcastie fetches these forecasts from 'OpenWeatherMap'. And like I said, these forecasts are sometimes inaccurate. So if you end up using Forcastie, and it tells you it's going to rain today, but you almost got burned by the sun, don't blame the developer. Don't blame anyone.

Summary.

Do you depend on weather forecasts to perform your daily activities? I think we all sometimes do. The weather is one of the factors that can affect our daily activities. So it's good to be conscious of weather forecasts.
In this article, I've reviewed Forcastie, and I've also compared it with my stock weather app. Aside from UI, my stock app fell short or drew level with Forcastie.
If you are into checking out weather forecasts, use Forecastie. If you are feeling adventurous like me, compare it(Forcastie) with your stock weather app(if your device came with one). Lemme know your findings in the comment(s) section.

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Oh! The weather forecast for today in my area is 'CLOUDY'. This forecast has been correct so far. I think it might rain later on(I'm speculating). Check out the weather forecast in your area today.

Links

• Project repository: https://github.com/martykan/forecastie

• App download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.casticalabs.forecastie

Resources:

• The content of this post was created based on my knowledge of the project, and mostly from my experience. The images used in this article are screenshots from my mobile phone or PC. Other images used, have their source links provided just below them.

Github profile:

• https://github.com/HarryHeights