In a world where everyone has their phone with them at all times, having a well-designed and highly functional app is an absolute must: it needs to be robust, elegantly organized, and highly relevant to a user’s daily life. Most importantly, a great app needs to be used regularly, as users will quickly grow bored and uninstall those apps which they don’t utilize regularly.
This is a tall order, certainly, and it explains why so many applications are so quickly deleted after installation; in fact, most users only interact with nine apps on a daily basis, despite the Apple App Store having only two million unique apps available. So how can you get your new product to be one of those vaunted nine, muscling out your many competitors? The answer might surprise you: a weather API, which allows you to show customized weather reports to users based on their location.
The many benefits of weather APIs stand true no matter what industry you’re in: every business, from games to gourmet cooking apps, can benefit from sharing accurate meteorological information to keep their users engaged. Today, we’ll explain why baking weather forecasting into your mobile app will make your app stand out in a crowded marketplace, regardless of what you’re selling.
Your app will remain evergreen to users if you’re providing daily or hourly updates
Weather is relevant to everyone, no matter their occupation, and all of us want to know what we’re facing when we step outside. Should you grab an umbrella, or do you really need that coat? Nowadays, we can make more informed decisions by checking an application – and if you include weather data in your mobile app, that check is all yours.
One of the worst issues facing developers is churn: people lose interest in your application and uninstall it after a few days or weeks. By presenting weather information in addition to your primary service, your app now has several purposes, making it less likely that a user will no longer find it of value and uninstall it.
Customers want customization, and weather information is one of the simplest ways to provide it
Gone are the days of assembly-line services that treat every customer the same: users want to feel that they are getting something just for them, whether that’s by mixing and matching features or just getting to pick out their profile picture. It might seem impossible to treat each of your thousands, or even millions, of users as their own unique individual, but including a weather API in your app is a great start.
Weather information helps you present highly targeted information to your users, which can drive more engagement or sales, depending on what your product is. You can adapt your storefront to highlight different options, spurring impulse buys: seeing a cute beanie when it’s snowing might remind the user that they need to replace a lost hat, while a sunscreen sale on a summer day could get a user preparing for a beach vacation while filling up their shopping cart. Much of the economy is built on these spur-of-the-moment decisions, and you can better tap into these by using subtle psychological nudges based on meteorological data.
You can draw inspiration for theming from the weather, keeping your app fresh and interesting
For example, your productivity app could use a blue sky background on a sunny day, but switch to a cheery rain scene when there’s a higher chance of precipitation in the area. It’s simple but incredibly effective, making users feel that they are being seen and understood by the application.
Many apps rely on small, thoughtful calls to action – related to their product or not – to connect to users, and messages related to the weather are a great way to build a relationship without making assumptions about your user’s needs, interests, or background. For example, you might have a rotating message on the front page that changes based on the weather details in the user’s region, such as encouraging them to pack a bottle of sunscreen when it’s hot out or suggesting they build a snowman when it’s snowing. These very human messages build an image of relatability and care around your app, which can be incredibly rewarding in terms of engagement.
The return on investment for weather APIs is high, no matter your field or product
Weather APIs cost very little to implement, and they are incredibly easy to add in: most, including Visual Crossing, provide all the documentation you need to get the most out of your experience. You can set it up in under an hour, then get to work applying it to your specific needs. Even if you’re not quite sure how to utilize the API yet, it’s an unobtrusive addition that can provide a wealth of benefits, whether it’s just a simple weather display or an adaptive, essential component of your product.