Apple buys excellent Dark Sky weather app, kills it for Android users

My favorite smartphone weather app is Dark Sky because it has a graph that shows you when it is going to rain, for how hard, and how long. Apple just bought Dark Sky and the first thing they did was pull the app from Android phones. Android users who subscribed to Dark Sky were informed that they will continue to receive service until July 1, 2020, after which they will be forced to throw their Android phone in the trash and buy an iPhone.

Former Dark Sky fans expressed their sentiments on Twitter:

So, @apple has bought my favourite forecast provider, #darksky. Now they will:* Leave the iOS app* Remove the Android app* Eliminate forecast and maps from the website in July* close the API at the end of 2021

No explanation provided.

Fuck you all.https://t.co/3JVrRtIGjj

insomniac (@insomniacslk) April 1, 2020

My email to the #DarkSky team after the announced that they will be "Apple Exclusive"

I think it's wrong that they have done this. pic.twitter.com/mqhjb69FYH

Matthew Wright (@MatthewW191) March 31, 2020

Just gutted that #darksky have sold out to Apple and are killing BOTH the Android app (of which I am a multi year subscriber) and their API.This is a huge blow to open technology. All at https://t.co/sELZt8Tz99 should hang their heads in shame.

thebaldgeek (@thebaldgeek) March 31, 2020

Apple buying Dark Sky is a good test for my general "acquisitions are bad" instinct: iOS having a great weather app is a good market solution, as people won't download any of the extremely shady third-party weather apps that sell location data.