You’re using your iPhone weather app wrong – game-changing hacks to know

YOU may have a love hate relationship with Apple’s Weather app but it’s recent redesign aims to make it easier to use.

We’ve rounded up some of the Weather app features you may be missing out on.

1

The ‘secret’ Weather app dot

Open the Weather app on your iPhone or iPad and you may spot a small white dot on the colored bars of the 10-day forecast.

The dot only appears in the bar for the current day.

It indicates where the current temperature falls on the temperature scale for that day.

So if a high of 35 degrees is predicted and the dot it all the way at the end of the scale, you’re at the warmest part of the day.

The same dot appears on the UV Index scale and the Sunset times.

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The white dot on the UV Index scale lets you know how strong the UV is at that time and whether you need sunscreen.

The dot on the Sunset scale shows you how far the Sun is from the horizon.

This can help you watch the sunset at the right time.

Set up iPhone Weather app alerts

Updating these iPhone Weather settings can let the app warn you if you’re about to get soaked.

First, make sure you’ve updated to iOS 15 – go to Settings > General > Software Update.

Then grant the Weather app your location info, otherwise it won’t work.

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Weather and select Always.

You’ll get even better alerts if you grant Precise Location access.

Next, make sure the Weather app can send notifications.

Go to Settings > Notifications > Weather > Allow Notifications, and then select which type of alerts you want.

Finally, you then need to enable weather alerts.

Go into the Weather app and choose the list icon in the bottom-right.

At the top you’ll see an option called Stay Dry.

If that doesn’t appear, tap the three dots in the top right and then go to Notifications.

Tap Turn On Notifications, and then activate the switch for My Location.

Then tap Done in the top-right and it should work.

Hidden iPhone weather map

Your iPhone has a a hidden weather map that tells you exactly where it’s going to rain.

It’s also possible to scroll along the time of the day, so you can see when the rain will be at its worst in your local area.

To see it, make sure you’ve updated to the latest version of iOS.

Next, launch the Weather app – it’s installed on your iPhone by default.

Then tap the map icon in the bottom-left corner of the app.

Now, tap the three squares stacked on top of each other in the top right.

Choose Precipitation and you’ll be able to see a rolling forecast of rain as it moves around you.

Closer to bright blue means very little rain, while purple into yellow into white signifies heavier precipitation.

You can use the bar along the bottom of the screen to move through time.

And if that’s disappeared, just tap the screen to bring it back.

You can use the bar at the bottom of the screen to scroll along through the time of day.

This will show the precipitation moving across cities, countries and the world at large.

So you can see exactly where and when the rain will arrive – and when it’ll be at its worst.

Of course, this is all predictive so the map might not be exactly right – but that’s always the case with the weather.

There are some other maps you can also take advantage of in the iPhone Weather app.

A similar map in the same section reveals temperature using a heat map.

And there’s also an air quality map too – which may be depressing if you live in a big city.

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk