Poll result: Google's Pixel 9 weather app is proving incredibly polarizing

Alongside the new Pixel 9 series, Google rolled out its redesigned Pixel Weather app, which aims to please pluviophiles and minimalists alike. Google has a penchant for creating copies of apps it already has, especially since it only recently updated the older weather app. However, Pixel Weather will eventually trickle down to older Pixel models.

Beyond the visual changes, the app also introduces Gemini-powered summaries that reduce the swathe of weather factors and figures into a sentence or two that anyone can understand. The idea is to make checking a forecast as easy as possible without combing through numbers and icons across multiple hours.

That all sounds great, but what do our readers think of the Pixel Weather app?

Yes, the frog is gone

For the most part, the app’s reception has been positive. In a poll visited by over 2,600 readers, 45.4% of respondents like the look of the new app, despite the changes. However, the doubters follow close behind. 38.5% of readers don’t like the app, which once again highlights how divisive app design can be. The remaining 16% of readers are “indifferent.”

The vote is on a knife-edge, but the comments explain why that might be the case. Those in the positive camp are happy with the inclusion of some metrics, like the air quality index (AQI), while others were won over by the “simple looks.” Others were more reductive: “I like it,” writes one reader.

On the other hand, those who dislike the app seem to focus on two absent features. “Noooo, let me keep my frog, please,” cries one reader, while another writes, “I demand for the frog to stay.” Unfortunately, Google’s fan-favorite frog has been relocated from the simplified design, and so has its cutesy, animated, weather-related habitat.

Others lament the lack of a weather radar, which would allow them to view conditions in real-time throughout the day. “As a person who works outside, I just need an easy-to-access radar section. I hate the Weather Channel, but I’m forced to use it because it has the best radar I’ve seen,” notes one user.

My biggest bugbear with the app is its lack of granular information. Yes, it offers plenty of immediate and long-term forecast information, but it lacks extended wind, rain, and pressure visualizations. The movable widgets are also an odd choice. They don’t display as much information as the cards on the outgoing app and take up far too much real estate on screen. If minimalism was the goal, these elements suggest otherwise.

This is a new app, so expect Google to implement updates and tweaks throughout its lifetime. It will be interesting to see which elements the company focuses on going forward.

It’s worth noting that those running Android 14 devices can also snag the APK and experience the app for themselves. I’ve installed it on a foldable, and the hourly and 10-day forecasts are surprisingly serviceable on larger displays. However, owing to the issues I raised in the previous paragraph, I don’t think I’d trade this app for my favorite weather apps anytime soon. It seems many readers feel this way, too.