Apple purchased weather app Dark Sky in 2020, and integrated many of its features into the iOS stock Weather app. The Cupertino-based tech giant announced support for Dark Sky would eventually come to an end. Now, with even more Dark Sky features baked into iOS 16, Apple is reminding folks the former will shut down as of Jan. 1, 2023.
Dark Sky’s iOS End Has Been a Long Time Coming
When Apple bought Dark Sky in March 2020, Cupertino made its short-term intentions clear. The Android version of the app went away in August 2020, but Cupertino stated it had no Immediate plans to end support for the iOS app. In June 2021, Apple updated Dark Sky to offer new Apple Watch improvements, but it had also been integrating most of the app’s functionality into iOS.
When Apple issued that June 2021 update, it announced support would only continue until the end of 2022. Now, the Dark Sky Weather app offers a reminder in its description that the end is nigh.
Support for the Dark Sky app will be ending on January 1st, 2023. Dark Sky’s forecast technology will be integrated into the Apple Weather app with iOS 16 this fall.
As noted, most of Dark Sky’s functionality is already included with the stock iOS 16 weather app. Since iPadOS 16.1 includes a Weather app now, the need for Dark Sky is truly fading. That being said, Apple can’t just switch the app off overnight, which is why the reminder is there.
Weather Data Used by Multiple Apps and Services
For years, app and web developers have relied upon Dark Sky’s website and API. That’s why Apple is issuing the reminder (and we’re passing it along to you, gentle reader.) Cupertino has rolled out a new WeatherKit API for developers to use to get forecast data for their apps and websites.
This new API is available to incorporate Apple Weather forecast data into apps and websites. It will work with iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS and the web. To offer developers time to adjust to the changes, Apple will keep the Dark Sky API and website functional until March 31, 2023.