This Is the Best Weather App, and It Also Wants to Kill You
Carrot gives you more data than you can handle, with a killer robot twist.
There are really only two things I look for in a weather app: it needs to look great, and it needs to give me as much data as possible on a single page. For those looking to upgrade on the perfectly beautiful but limited Apple weather app, there are plenty of options out there, from the free and ugly to the expensive and… ugly.
One weather app breaking the mold pretty significantly is Carrot [iTunes App Store, $4.99], perhaps the most powerful, accurate weather app on the App Store. First of all, it’s endlessly customizable, right down to its icon on your home screen. Second of all, it’s stunning, somehow delivering a zen, uncluttered visual experience while also jamming as much info in your face as humanly possible, Third of all, it wants to kill you and your entire family.
For whatever reason, there’s a quirky AI assistant built into Carrot. You can toggle its personality based on your preferences, from its Professional setting: “Carrot will disable her banter, secret locations, and other… ‘fun’ features”, it promises; to Homicidal, “CARROT may threaten you and your loved ones with bodily harm.”; to Overkill: “CARROT will make creative use of profanity in her forecasts.” It is not lying. It also gets pretty upset if you accidentally tap its “eye” – a big red button that serves no purpose other than to add some extra killer robot flair to proceedings.
On top of its quirky cheekiness (it has five personality levels, and even an option for its “politics”) this is also one hell of a weather app, with some of the most concise and helpful rain predictions on the market. Even when it’s dry and cool outside, Carrot will tell you how far away the nearest rain is, how much it’s raining, and how much you’ll be getting the next time the clouds do deign to open. Whether you’re on the market for “the best damn weather app you’ve ever used”, or “the best damn weather app you’ve ever used that makes use of some very funny, disturbed copywriters”, Carrot should be your immediate go-to. It’s more than worth it.
