The Weather app has become an essential companion. Whether you’re mapping out your work commute or deciding if that weekend beach trip is a washout, you’ll find yourself relying on it. However, this reliance also makes app malfunctions all the more disruptive. Imagine frantically checking Weather before an urgent trip only to find out that the app is not working on your iPhone. Or worse, it might be displaying outdated data.
Whatever the case, there are several troubleshooting steps you can try to get the app back up and running again. Let’s dive into them.
Why Is the Weather App Not Working on Your iPhone?
The Weather app on your iPhone can stop functioning for several reasons, including random bugs and glitches, incorrectly configured location services, and corrupt network settings. Service outages on Apple’s end can also prevent the app from fetching and displaying weather data.
How to Fix the Weather App on Your iPhone
1. Force-Quit and Re-Open the Weather App
Time needed: 1 minute
Force-quitting and relaunching Weather on your iPhone refreshes the app and helps resolve underlying issues causing problems. To do that:
- Bring up the App Carousel.
- Swipe over to the Weather card and drag it up and off the screen.
- Return to the Home Screen and re-open Weather.
2. Allow Weather Access to Location Services
If you travel a lot, the Weather app must know your location to show relevant local weather information. To confirm there’s nothing wrong with that:
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to Privacy & Security > Location Services.
- Tap Weather and make sure Allow Location Access is set to While Using the App or Widgets or Always. If you’d like Weather to have precise access to your location, the Precise Location toggle must also be active.
3. Check the Cellular Data Settings
The Weather app may not have permission to use your iPhone’s cellular data if it only updates over Wi-Fi. To fix that:
- Open Settings and tap Cellular.
- Locate Weather among the list of apps and make sure the switch next to it is On.
4. Check for Service Interruptions
It’s best to check for server-side issues before proceeding with the rest of the fixes. To do that, visit the Apple System Status page and look at the status next to Weather—a red dot indicates if the system is down.
Apple deals with system outages fairly quickly, so you can expect the Weather app to start working again soon despite any interruptions.
5. Reset the Location Settings
You might be dealing with faulty location settings on your iPhone if problems with the Weather app persist. To fix that:
- Open Settings and go to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Select Reset > Reset Location & Privacy and confirm your action.
- Open the Weather app and tap While Using the App or Always when it asks you for permission to access location services.
6. Update the System Software
Newer versions of iOS come with fixes for known issues with Weather and other native apps. To make sure your iPhone is up-to-date:
- Open Settings and go to General > Software Update.
- Tap Update Now to install pending iOS updates.
7. Reset the Network Settings
Apps that require constant internet connectivity, like Weather, could malfunction because of a broken network configuration. You can fix that by resetting the network settings in iOS.
- Open Settings and go to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Tap Reset > Reset Network Settings and confirm your action.
NOTE
It’s not uncommon for the Weather app to continue failing despite trying the fixes above. Sometimes, waiting a few hours—even if Apple’s System Status page says everything’s working—is the best approach. If not, consider temporarily switching to a third-party weather app.
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