MSN Weather - Forecast & Maps

Review by eFreeware

If you check the forecast most mornings before deciding what to wear or whether to move an appointment, MSN Weather is built for exactly that routine. It is a free app from Microsoft Corporation that puts current conditions, hourly readings, 5-day and 10-day forecasts and a set of interactive maps in one place. The idea is that you open it once, see what the day looks like and get on with things.

It has been on Google Play since December 2014 and now sits past a million installs, with a 3.9 average from roughly 43,800 ratings. That is a long run for a weather app, and it suggests a tool people keep around rather than try once. The developer's pitch is straightforward: plan your day around the latest conditions and forecasts.

What interests me most is the breadth. Rather than one number and a cloud icon, the app leans on detail: wind, humidity, visibility, dew point, barometer readings, the chance of precipitation, plus sunrise, sunset, moon phase and UV index. For anyone who wants more than a headline temperature, that is the appeal.

What the forecast screens give you

The core of the app is the forecast itself. You get hourly readings, a 5-day outlook and a 10-day outlook, so you can look at the next few hours or the next week and a half without switching tools. There is also a day drill down for a closer look at a single day, and historical weather averages if you want a sense of what a date usually feels like.

The detail goes beyond temperature. The app lists wind, visibility, humidity, barometer and dew point, along with the chance of precipitation. That mix suits people whose plans depend on more than rain or shine: a photographer watching the light, someone planning a long drive, or anyone who wants to know how strong the sun will be before spending the afternoon outside.

I would expect the hourly view to be the screen most people live in, with the 10-day outlook as the planning view. The historical averages are the quieter feature, but they are useful when you are deciding whether a date is normally a good bet.

Maps for when a number is not enough

The app includes interactive maps with several layers: temperature, radar observation, radar forecast, precipitation, cloud and satellite. That is a wider set than a simple radar view, and the radar forecast layer is the one I would reach for when deciding whether to leave now or wait.

Maps matter because they show movement. A percentage in a forecast tells you the odds; a radar view tells you where the rain is and which way it is heading. Having temperature, cloud and satellite layers alongside precipitation means you can build a picture of the day rather than reading it off a list.

For anyone who plans around weather rather than just checking it, these layers are the part that earns the app a place on the home screen. They are also the part that rewards a little patience, since a map with multiple layers takes more reading than a single forecast line.

Saved cities and severe weather alerts

You can track conditions in several locations and add the ones you care about to your favorites for quick access. Signing in saves your preferences, and favorites sync across MSN Weather on the web and the mobile apps, so the same list follows you between devices. If you keep an eye on a second city for family, work or travel, that is a useful arrangement.

Severe weather alerts are part of the package too. The developer describes timely notifications meant to help you prepare for severe weather, which is the kind of feature you hope never to need and are glad to have when you do. One thing to know: the most recent update removed the notification feature, so if alerts are the reason you are interested, that change is worth weighing before you install.

The same update added Android widget support and brought performance improvements and bug fixes. A widget puts current conditions where you already look, which fits the app's purpose better than opening it cold every morning. The removal of notifications pulls in the other direction, and the two changes together suggest a shift toward glanceable information over push alerts.

What you need before you start

Setup is light. The app is free to download, and you can add cities to your favorites and check forecasts without much ceremony. Signing in is what saves your preferences and syncs those favorites between the web version and the mobile apps, so an account is the piece that ties the experience together across devices.

You should also expect ads. There are no in-app purchases. The developer notes that availability differs by region, so what you get can depend on where you live.

The app carries an Everyone content rating, which tells you nothing surprising. The practical requirements are a phone and a reason to check the sky.

Who it fits best

This suits people who want one app for several places and a fair amount of detail. If you follow the weather in more than one city, like maps with more than a single radar layer, and prefer reading wind, humidity and UV index rather than a single icon, the app covers that ground. The syncing between web and mobile is a real convenience for anyone who checks forecasts on a computer during the day and a phone in the evening.

It also fits the morning-routine crowd: people who want a quick look at the hours ahead and a longer view for the week, with a widget to make that glance shorter. The 3.9 average from a large number of ratings suggests a broadly liked app with room for disagreement, which is about what you would expect from a free forecast tool.

The narrow points are worth naming. Some features vary by market, and the notification feature was removed in the latest update. If push alerts were the main draw, that is a change to factor in.

A dependable daily forecast with maps attached

MSN Weather is a sensible choice if you want a free forecast app that goes past the basics. Hourly, 5-day and 10-day outlooks, a day drill down, historical averages, detailed condition readings and six map layers add up to more than most people need and about what a planner wants. Saved cities that sync between web and mobile make it easy to keep an eye on more than one place.

The trade-offs are plain. The 3.9 rating from a large pool of users suggests most people find it useful without loving every part of it.

I would point this at anyone who checks the forecast daily, follows several cities and likes maps. If you want a single temperature reading and nothing else, the app offers considerably more than that.

What's new in version 30.2.260625002

Performance improvements and bug fixes. Removed the notification feature. Added Android widget support.