Have Pixel Weather app FOMO? This is the best alternative

Weather apps are an often underappreciated part of our daily tech toolkit. Checking whether the sky is falling or the sun is beating down is as integral to my morning routine as a strong cup of coffee. Some weather apps provide better coverage for particular areas, while others excel at offering easily comprehensible information. These factors make picking the perfect weather app an acutely personal decision. With its new Pixel Weather app, Google hopes you’ll choose it (by picking up a Pixel 9), but as nifty as the app is, you’re spoiled for choice when selecting a Pixel Weather app alternative.

As detailed in our hands-on, Google’s new weather app is a surprisingly comprehensive solution. It offers smart summaries, displays detailed daily indicators, and boasts a precipitation map for major cities. If you own an Android 14 device or an older Pixel, you can install the APK and give it a go. However, there are so many comprehensive alternatives out there that I struggled to decide which app fits the bill.

After reviewing my favorite weather apps and picking up some new examples, one stands out as a worthy competitor to Pixel Weather: Weawow.

Weawow is the best Pixel Weather app alternative

It’s tricky recommending a Pixel Weather app alternative, as there isn’t a pound-for-pound substitute. This is especially true if you’re using a Pixel phone. Its party piece is the use of Gemini to provide brief forecast snippets, simplifying the cloud-watching experience. However, beyond this novelty, Weawow offers much more to those who prefer a more customizable and info-rich experience.

The two apps couldn’t have more divergent design philosophies. Besides the frog’s untimely death, Pixel Weather’s design has grown on me since I started using it. I don’t get those sweet Pixel features, but it’s a modern Google app through and through, with its clean lines and soft textures. Weawow offers sharper angles and leaner fonts that may appeal to some and dissuade others. It’s not the prettiest weather app, but I’d take functionality over aesthetics any day of the week.

Weawow frontloads the current conditions and hourly forecast at the top of the homepage, below a real-world image that mirrors the current conditions contributed by its users. Some might like this feature, but I’m not a fan. Thankfully, it can be disabled.

The hourly forecast graphs the predicted temperature, rain, and wind conditions for the upcoming 24 hours. Tapping this section opens a stack of graphs (or a table, if you prefer) displaying hourly information on key indicators up to three days ahead. The layout’s wonderfully dense, and I understand if some find this too much for some, but this arrangement offers a broader graphical representation of near-future conditions. It also makes identifying major turning points in conditions is easier — important for planning outfits and activities.

This focus on dense information seeps into the weather provider breakdown — my favorite Weawow feature. Scroll down to the foot of the homepage, tap Weather Provider, and the app shows a stack of local and global weather sources on top of one another. All the major providers are here, including the NHS, Dark Sky/Apple, OpenWeatherMap, and MET Norway. You can donate to the developer to unlock AccuWeather and Foreca, too. I appreciate the ability to switch between temperature, precipitation, snowfall, wind, and other indicators Pixel Weather doesn’t display. The option to view this weather data in a summary, daily, or hourly format is also quite brilliant.

Note how all the providers offer slightly different forecasts. This screen makes picking the best option for your given area much easier, and if you are doubtful about your choice, viewing the alternative forecasts is as simple as pie. Pixel Weather’s sole provider is weather.com; you cannot select an alternative.

While the weather map might be Pixel Weather’s best feature, Weawow’s implementation is simply smarter. Pixel Weather limits its map to certain cities (and even continents) and only provides a precipitation visualization, but Weawow’s offers a global view and multiple indicators. While I usually rely on Windy, Ventusky, or Zoom Weather for higher-resolution radar and visualizations, Weawow’s map is slicker, quicker to load, and easier to use. I appreciate the massive two-week time scale, too.

As mentioned, one of Weawow’s main strengths is its customization options. The app’s layout can be tweaked to your liking, with forecasts, indicators, and segments moving up and down the homepage as desired. Text size, theme, and other display options can also be selected. You can even force the homepage to display Centigrade and Fahrenheit side-by-side.

The scope of Weawow’s broad adjustments also flavors its widgets and ongoing notification feature. There are 14 widgets in total, more than enough for even the most discerning user, and each offers similar customizations available in-app. There are options to display particular weather indicators, change the fonts and base colors, and adjust the widget’s size. The ongoing notification is as customizable, even allowing users to display a graph in the notifications section. Nifty!

Despite its strengths, Weawow isn’t perfect. Other apps offer better verbal summaries and more contemporary UI and layouts, but Weawow strikes an important balance. It’s more approachable than most weather apps without being too thin for enthusiasts. As a result, Weawow is an excellent Pixel Weather app alternative for just about anyone, Pixel 9 user or not. Not only is it free, it’s packed to the brim with customization options, data from various providers, and great widgets. Its weather map is endlessly helpful and includes a broad time scale and various indicators, making it perfect for tracking systems well ahead of time.

Are there any other great Pixel Weather app alternatives out there?

Beyond the better-known alternatives, like Weather Underground, Windy, AccuWeather, and the other best weather apps around, here are some Pixel Weather app alternatives also worth consideration:

• Weather Today: My go-to weather app for bite-sized info, Weather Today packs a tidy UI focusing on current weather alerts and an hourly forecast. It smartly uses icons and minor indicators to alert users to strong gusts or heavy rain and includes a weather map. Regrettably, this has always been the least reliable part of the app for me. However, its forecast feature with a “Next 7 days” summary section highlighting the week’s key weather events makes up for this little oddity.
• Breezy Weather: This open source weather app offers a pleasing and clean Material You-inspired layout complete with a detailed breakdown of indicators up to 16 days ahead. The app lacks a live weather map and picking alternative weather sources is far more complicated than it needs to be. It’s a solid secondary weather app, though.
• Rain: If you’re missing the resident frog of the previous Google weather app, Rain might help. While you won’t see the amphibian in this particular app, you get an adorable weather character in the current conditions section. If it’s clear, you’ll get a bright, cheerful sun or a cozy moon. If it’s raining, you’ll see a weepy cloud. Beyond these cute touches, Rain also displays some info you won’t find on Pixel Weather, including hourly shortwave radiation and a split between precipitation types.
• Bura: Another weather app that nearly won my favor is Bura. It boasts the most legible layout of any app on this list, putting an hourly breakdown up top, with the week’s forecast below. Tapping a particular day opens a graphic display of temperature, precipitation probability, and totals. Bura doesn’t let you change providers or offer AQI or dew point information. Nevertheless, it’s completely ad-free and perfect for those who appreciate simplicity above all else.
• Meteogram Weather Widget: Lastly, Meteogram is the best weather app available for those who can’t help but tinker. It has a steep learning curve and can be challenging to read for newcomers, but it offers so much information that I’d be remiss to neglect it. Unlike the apps above, it only displays weather information in graph form. Users can adjust the date span of the graph, select from a host of indicators to display, choose from a dizzying array of providers, and customize the graph style. Best of all, the developer is responsive, and the premium subscription is decidedly affordable for what it affords.

Do you agree with my pick for the best Pixel Weather app alternative? I’d like to hear your thoughts about your weather app of choice or Pixel Weather itself. Be sure to vote in the poll above and leave a comment below.