4 Lessons From The Yahoo Weather App

Yahoo’s new iPhone Weather App continues to lead the Weather app charts in iTunes, and I’ve seen more normal people talking about it — in a good way — than any app in a long time.

1. Hey, look at that, Yahoo is capable of making something useful and beautiful. In mobile, no less; the future of its business. This is just one small piece of the puzzle, but it’s a good sign. (Then again, not everything they do is great. The new main Yahoo app seems mediocre.)
2. Anyone under the impression that old, simple problems — like accessing the weather — have already been “solved” is nuts. “Do we really need another weather app?” Actually, if it’s better, we do. Imagine if they’d stopped making new search engines after HotBot or new smartphones after the Samsung BlackJack.
3. Don’t neglect the icon. Never has an icon seemed so uninspired, relative to the rest of the app. Icon design is just as important as the app itself. This one’s a dud. This would actually be a great argument for some sort of subtle “live” icons, like Apple’s built-in Calendar app has.
4. The App Store is still a very capable hit-maker. And Yahoo still has some brand pull/recognition. Again, I’m surprised by how many people I know have been talking about this app. Of its ~7,700 iTunes ratings, 89% are five stars and 97% are at least four stars.