Two iPhone Apps

As I pointed out a while ago, once we get out, we want to get the most out of our outside experience and avoid unnecessary desasters. Therefore, checking the weather forecasts prior to the outside activity is prime.

You'll not only need to know how the weather will turn out be with all the details such as temperatures, humidity, wind etc, but also understand what it's all about.

And most probably, you'll also want to document your venture, maybe take a few pictures or record a video, for which knowing the conditions of sight and light is absolutely essential, in addition to weather.

Chances are, if you are an outside buff like me, that you're into basic [landscape, nature] photography and already know, that the best light for great photos is to find either at dawn or dusk. So, in order to to be there on time and to accomplish the best results, you'll need precise tools.

I have been obsessive about weather for years, as I am spending an important portion of my life outside, albeit my day-to-day job at the office. That is the reason why I've been looking for handy tools for the task.

I recently stumbled upon two apps for the iPhone 3G, which I found pretty useful:

Weather Pro

WeatherPro ($3.99 from the AppStore), which comes from MeteoGroup Europe, is the best Weather app I've had on the iPhone so far.

It provides high-quality, reliable forecasts (3-hourly and 7-day) for over 250.000 locations worldwide as well as reliable temperatures (highs and lows), dewpoint, windchill, gusts, precipitation, humidity, plus basic charts on future weather progression, radars for UK, USA, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and satellite pictures for Europe. 

I've been using WeatherPro here in continental Europe, mostly in Germany, so my recommendation will be limited for this region of the world.

In recent months I've tried a few weather apps like iPhone Weather App or FizzWeather, which both were okay for everyday needs, but lacked the details for the outdoor enthusiast, who wants to know a little bit more than the regular daily forecast.

The WeatherPro App is also compatible for the iPhone 2G and the iPod Touch and can be acquired through the iTunes App Store.

Sol: Daylight ClockSol: Daylight Clock ($0.99) is a simple 24-hour daylight clock, which displays the hours spent in daylight, nighttime and twilight respectively. In my tests it provided very accurate results, however it didn't find a few of the locations I searched for, despite its claims ablout 2,3 million locations worldwide. For a new location, it needs an internet connection at first, after that it operates offline.

In my case, as an amateur photographer seeking the best light of the day for my outside ventures, I was not only searching for the daily sunrise and sunset times, but also desperately looking for the exact twilight zones (dawn and dusk), as these provide outstanding lighting conditions for outside photography.

This app does exactly that and it does it beautifully. The display is simple, purposive and easy to read, the graphics are uncluttered and cleaned up. There are a few unworthy bugs, but overall it's superb value for the buck. My single wish would be some kind of a connectivity with iPhone's alarm clock.

Like WeatherPro, Sol: Daylight Clock is also compatible for the iPhone 2G and the iPod Touch, requires the 2.0 iPhone Software Update and can be acquired through the iTunes App Store.