Space Weather receives massive update; celebrates by going on sale for you to gaze at cool science stuff

Space Weather. Name rings a bell, right? It should as the Windows Phone app has been with us since 2011, back when Windows Phone 7 was all the rage. The developer, Timothy Stewart has got in touch with us to reveal an update that has just been released. Version 3.0 of Space Weather is huge. Not only are we talking about a complete app rewrite, but there are some new additions worth mentioning.

So what exactly is Space Weather? As the name suggests, it's an app dedicated to relaying information on weather in space. If you have no interest in space, anything to do with solar activity, wind or geospace then this app is definitely not for you. Should you be at least intrigued by what's currently happening around Earth, Space Weather is a cool app worth checking out.

Space Weather

Those who take full advantage of Space Weather will be able to read up on real-time solar storm status alerts, forecasts, and other data that's presented in a good looking interface. Images, movies and news articles are also included, along with sky cams, solar images, solar recordings and more. It's really sweet if you're into science and space in general.

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space or the space from the Sun's atmosphere to the Earth's atmosphere.  Space weather affects our planet, our technology, and all living things in many different ways.  Solar flares, geomagnetic storms, and solar radiation are a few ways space weather can wreck havoc on the earth.  It can also create beautiful auroras can that be seen near the poles and sometimes much further. 

We noted above that Space Weather 3.0 has been built from the ground up, but what else is new? Here's the list available on the Windows Phone store listing:

  • Rebuilt entire app
  • Built a Space Weather API
  • Redesigned entire app
  • Native Windows Phone 8 App
  • Charting in app
  • You now get Space Weather reports
  • Space Weather alert ticker
  • Lock screen
  • Theme colored tiles
  • Optimized for light and dark theme
  • New Logo
  • New image gallery
  • New movie gallery
  • New RSS gallery
  • UTC time so you can compare to alerts and reports

Did we mention lock screen and full Live Tile support are also available? The former will display numerous images on the lockscreen with information regarding reports, while Live Tiles will provide quick access into the app (all tile sizes supported). You can download Space Weather from the Windows Phone store for $0.99 (both Windows Phone 7 and 8 - usually $1.99, hurry as deal lasts until September 11).

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.