Very happy with the Apple Watch integration and complications but would really like the option for wind forecast. We use the Tempest at two marinas here on Oahu for our sailing programs and that is the most useful data we need! Currently using the built in Apple weather app wind forecast but that’s not true to where we run our teaching programs.
Thanks!
Agreed, for many of us the wind function is absolutely essential (Sailing, Surfing, etc.) I have voted in favour of the complication as I live in West Africa where the existing wind forecasts are not reliable.
Here in Sonoma County CA, we rely on local wind and rain info for our microclimates vs the general weather data . Now with all the fires, it would be nice to be able to have Tempest provide wind info as a complication for the Apple Watch as well as the ability to have alerts for rain and wind from the app.
I could add a wind complication, but it wouldn’t necessarily be “live”. I ask the watch to update the complications and Apple decides if it will update or not. Apple also has a limit/budget on updates you can make to the watch complications (one every 15min or so) which makes it so the “live” aspect of wind is not really possible. So you would end up with the same wind value for ~15 mins which is a long time when you are talking about active wind.
The wind can currently be found in the watch app when looking at a locations details. We also offer the wind forecast in the hourly section on the watch app. You can also tap on any of the days in the 10-day forecast to expand and see the forecast wind speeds/directions.
Yes, I can see wind readings from my Tempest when I open the app. What I am looking for is to be able to have the wind reading on the face of the watch like I can do with temperature. When setting up the complications to any of my Apple Watch faces, I can select all but wind from Tempest. Not sure why wind is the only one left out.
I explained why wind was left out in my post above, it comes down to the update frequency. I had it in, but due to the unreliable nature of updating complications it was better left out. I will discuss with the team about adding it back in, but it would be with an * where it wouldn’t be “live” wind. It would just be the last observed value when it updates (again, once every 15 minutes or so). The watch complications are not meant for up to the minute live data, just quick glances into the last received observation data.
Appreciate the input. Does the app poll the sensor when you open it or is it showing wind as of 15 minutes ago?
What about the ability to set alerts on rain and/or wind readings in the app. Such as a push alert when wind hits over 50mph or rain has reached 2". They do not have to be up to the minute as there is no need for a to the minute readings. For example, it winds reach 50mph, send an alert to my phone/watch.
Alerts are definitely something that we have talked about internally, I’ll bring your feedback to the team.
It updates on a rolling 15 minute schedule. So I tell watchOS to update every 15 minutes, which for the most part Apple adheres to, but sometimes they decide to take longer. When it updates it pulls the current values for that time and updates the complications. So you could be looking at data anywhere from “now” to 15 minutes ago. For most of the data this isn’t an issue, for example a 15 minute window for air temperature likely won’t have a ton of variation, or at least an observable one, but something like wind and rain are difficult. You could have a 20 mph gust followed by 15 minutes of a gentle breeze. It would be too inconsistent on the watch face.
Now one possibility is that I could set the complication to show the current hours foretasted wind/direction. That way you sort of get a big picture of what the current hour of time has/is going to experience as far as wind.
Hey, I do appreciate your interaction and willingness to discuss feature enhancements.
I love my Rachio controller and have been using it for years now. When I saw the Tempest, I was like, take my money. Bought and installed it. Then I felt that the app fell a little short on features when compared to others out there.
The ability to provide alerts on rain and wind is huge for us. The 2017 fires that destroyed a lot of Sonoma County was largely due to the 70mph winds. Rain alerts are good to have incase of potential flooding.
Again, I appreciate you taking the time. I hope to see some feature enhancements in the future.
Francisco
Could you add a complication that shows current wind speed and direction?
If I recall correctly, Apple Watch complications for third-party apps have limited update frequencies to conserve battery power. Would the wind complication that you are envisioning be useful if it could only be updated every half hour…or longer than that???
I’d be ok with that.
if you have votes left maybe add one on top on this post (I merged since it same request)
First, thank you for the detailed feedback on this issue. It is nice to be able to see what the developers are thinking and how much you are trying to work with the community.
Like others above, I both live on the coast and heavily rely on my PWS wind observations before and while paddle boarding in addition to severe storm observations. Your points about how you present useful wind data on our watch are quite valid.
My first thought is to send over the average wind speed as opposed to the actual speed observed on the 15-minute interval that data gets pulled. I also wonder whether you are able to do a longer average calculation that could send over a 15-min average wind speed to the watch. That would work perfectly.
Putting aside some of the complications of this request, having the wind speed available for immediate viewing on our watch face would literally be my top wish for any feature on my apple watch. Fingers crossed that there is a possible solution. Thank you.