Seasons is the sort of weather app I’d hoped for ever since I ordered my Vision Pro. It’s a unique mix of detailed forecast data combined with an immersive spatial computing experience. There’s a gee-whiz, proof-of-concept aspect to the app, but at its core, Seasons is a serious weather app and a spatial widget that’s a pleasure to incorporate into an everyday Vision Pro workflow.
What I appreciate most about Seasons is that it scales from a simple 3D widget that can be placed anywhere in your environment to a detailed forecast that’s packed with data. The app’s main forecast window takes advantage of a sidebar layout for switching between locations. The remainder of the window is occupied by the weather forecast, which is dominated by tiles for related sets of data points, including
- hourly and daily forecasts,
- wind, humidity, precipitation, and visibility data,
- the ‘feels-like’ temperature and barometric pressure,
- sun and moon rising/setting information,
- UV index and air quality data,
- and more.
Of course, the app also reports the current temperature and conditions as well as high and low forecast temperatures.
At the top of the window is a toggle for switching from the forecast to a map view. By default, the map displays temperature variations around your location, but there are multiple map layers for switching the view to show precipitation and other metrics. From the map view, you can also open a global view with a 3D representation of the Earth that floats in front of you and can be spun around to check weather conditions anywhere in the world.
That’s a lot of data, and it makes Seasons valuable for planning your day or week, or just nerding out about the weather for multiple locations. However, you probably don’t want to have Seasons’ large forecast window open all the time, even though the Vision Pro allows you to spread out in your environment. Fortunately, Seasons has you covered there, too. When you’re in the Home view, you’ll see a Widget button along the bottom edge of the window. Tap it, and the Home view’s large window is replaced with a 3D plant sitting on a table. Next to the plant is the time and charge status of your Vision Pro. Above the scene, the simulated weather conditions mirror what’s happening outside. It’s a nice, subtle reminder of the current conditions when you’re doing something else, but I’d love to see the current temperature reported here as well.
Seasons’ widget is just one example of the way the app weaves immersive features into a solid weather app. The Home view does something similar. If you look up while viewing the weather data, you’ll see the current conditions reflected in your environment. If it’s a sunny day, the sun will be shining above you, and if it’s cloudy, you’ll see clouds swirling on your ceiling. The effect gets more fun if it’s raining or snowing, with virtual precipitation falling all around you. The effects are executed well and made all the more realistic by the soundscape that accompanies them.
Even if it’s a beautiful, sunny day where you live, Seasons lets you experience a wide variety of conditions whenever you’d like. The Weather button along the bottom of the Widget and Home windows opens a grid of conditions for you to pick from, allowing you with just a tap to switch from a heavy snowstorm to a hurricane – both of which are far more fun to experience in the Vision Pro than in real life. The ability to conjure weather effects on demand is essentially a demo mode, but I’ve appreciated the ability to test each, and I like having the actual conditions at my location reflected in the app’s widget and Home views. The widget is probably the most useful of all because a quick glance at it lets me know if the rain has stopped and keeps me aware of the time and my battery level.
The final feature of Seasons is a series of environments that can be accessed from the Home view. The themes of each scene are similar to Apple’s, including options like a sunny meadow bordering a lake, the surface of Mars, and other space scenes. However, Seasons goes further than Apple with scenes of cities around the world, too. Like other third-party environments, it’s worth keeping in mind that Seasons’ environments are only available when you’re using the app. Also, although Seasons’ environments are nice, they are a clear step below Apple’s in quality, feeling flatter and more like a photograph that’s been stretched to fill your field of view. Still, it can be fun (although, admittedly, a little pointless) to open the sunny day at a lake environment and make it snow using the app’s Weather button.
What I appreciate most about Seasons is that it doesn’t skimp on the weather data. First and foremost, it delivers all the information you’d want from a detailed weather app in a good-looking UI. The spatial effects, features that reflect current conditions, and handy widget that you can place in your workspace are excellent extensions of the core experience, which is the icing on the cake. Finding the right balance between showcasing new technology and applying that technology in a useful way is tough, but Seasons has done an excellent job of achieving just that.
Seasons is available on the App Store as a time-limited, free download, after which it costs $3.99 per month, $8.99 per three-month season, or $24.99 per year. There is also a one-time purchase option for $49.99.
