BerryWeather 2.0: What’s it like?

by The PocketBerry Team

3 December 2009 One Comment

HiLo

Last night we gave you the heads up that BerryWeather 2.0 was going to release at any moment. The time finally came and we all got our hands on a copy to see what was to come of this new 2.0 build. A lot of you have been eagerly awaiting this release and I am happy that I can finally say “The wait is over!“. Last week some screenshots were leaked out so everyone could see that Bellshare was working on an upgrade for BerryWeather and now it is finally out. There have been quite a few people working with the developer to help create this awesome new weather application.

First and foremost the biggest issue with BerryWeather 1.0 was the information not always being correct. To fix this, Bellshare ( Link www.bellshare.com ) has partnered up with Weather Underground ( Link www.wunderground.com ) as it’s new source. Not only is the information accurate but it also added some fun new options.

Some people will enjoy the hi/lo feature on the wallpaper option for your homescreen. If you don’t want some thing so big, that’s fine. Use the new homescreen notification icon instead. Want to download and use your own icons? Change the size of those icons? That’s been incorporated as well.

Current condition

New menus have been added to organize and make customizing your application much easier.

Wallpaper selection

One thing that took a little getting accustomed to was the trackball/trackpad selection. You used to be able to click on it and change the view. Now you click on it and it gives you a menu to chose from. I wasn’t too sure about this at first but now I really like. I don’t have to scroll through it all to see the view that I want.

And the maps! I’m no techie when it comes to maps but the guys over at the Bellshare forums ( Link www.bellshare.com/forums ) have been really helpful in creating links to customized maps for me. Just head over to the forums and they will be happy to help out if they can. Tried to get you a picture but I had some difficulties. But trust me.. it’s very cool.

Now I know you are going to ask about pricing. The upgrade for all v1.0 users will be 3.99. Why? Look at all the time and effort that went into this application. Getting a new weather source is definitely worth the few bucks. As always, Bellshare is not charging a monthly fee for this either. Purchased v1.0 on between October 15th and present? There is a free upgrade. You need to contact the store where the application was purchased.

Here’s the description of BerryWeather straight from Mobihand. You can purchase it via the Pocketberry App Store.

BerryWeather is a visually stunning weather application for your BlackBerry smartphone.

Get instant access to current conditions plus detailed 7-day and 24-hour forecasts for over 72.000 locations worldwide. Get weather advisories and alerts for any location within the U.S.

Keep up to 10 locations at the same time and switch between them with a flick of the trackball (or on the Storm, your finger swipe!).

New in Version 2.0!

* Weather Data:
- New weather source: Weather Underground
- Get more accurate current conditions by switching to a nearby weather stations for any location
* Visual:
- New high resolution iconset
- See your current weather as a homescreen wallpaper, includes many customization options
- Full support for OS 5.0 screen transitions
* Weather Advisories:
- Get notifications only for specific advisories
- Support for BerryPopup, get a popup with advisory details in any app
* Radar Maps/Webcams
- Now you can use multiple custom radar maps/webcams
- Pinch-to-zoom radar maps on any touchscreen BlackBerry

Features:

NO SUBSCRIPTION!
Current conditions including “Feels like” temperature, wind, pressure, dew point, humidity.
7-day forecast with high/low temperature and precipitation probability
24-hour forecast with temperature, precipitation probability, wind and humidity
Easily switch between 7 different views (Today, Today with Daily Forecast, Today with Hourly Forecast, Full Daily Forecast, Full Hourly Forecast, Compact Daily Forecast, Compact Hourly Forecast)
ANIMATED RADAR MAPS (for US Locations only, add a custom radar map for international locations)
Track your location via GPS/CELL TOWER LOCATION so you always know the weather where you are. (Cell location for GSM devices only. GPS does not work for non-Storm devices on Verizon due to carrier restrictions)
Replace the default BerryWeather radar maps for any location with your preferred weather service’s radar maps!
Sunrise/Sunset times and moon phase
Weather advisory notifications, SUPPORT FOR CUSTOM LED COLORS VIA BERRYBUZZ
Customizable homescreen icon
See your current weather as a homescreen wallpaper, includes many customization options
Support for different themes (Widgets, Simple and Simple Dark)
Customizable background wallpaper
Customizable font size
Customizable icon size
Smooth animations

Those of you that have the newer BB’s on the market. I have this on my TMO 9700 and it works like a charm! Some of the testers switched to the Storm 2 during testing and it works great.

I have to say that I have been on quite a few alpha and beta tests for applications and this is by far the best company to work with. Bellshare has a reputation for listening to what the testers have to say and incorporating their ideas into the application as best as they can. Working with Bellshare is always a pleasure.