Early one morning after switching from Pixel 8 to Galaxy S24+, I opened the Play Store and searched Google weather. I was looking for a weather app that added its own Play Store listing and app drawer icon to Pixel phones late last year, but I forgot at the time that it was exclusive to Pixel. Of course, I didn’t find it, but I did come across an adorable low-quality copycat app listed under the name “Frog Weather Forecast.”
Frog Weather advertises itself as a “simple and fun weather app” with a blue-and-white UI and illustrations of frogs doing cute things in different weather conditions, making it the perfect weather app for Google. It is clearly intended to attract users. It seems to be quite popular as it has over 500,000 downloads and a surprisingly high average rating, but it shouldn’t be downloaded for several reasons.
Is the frog weather nice?
Well, actually not
When you search for “Google Weather” in the Play Store from a non-Pixel Android phone, Frog Weather appears at the top of the results. It mimics many of the elements of Google’s weather interface. It’s a slightly older interface, before Google redesigned the whole thing last year. Like Google, Frog Weather also has a frog mascot who lives in a mushroom hut and does many of the same activities, including riding bikes, flying kites, and stargazing.
That’s all well and good, but Frog Weather goes so far as to mimic most of the UI elements of the old Google Weather interface. Scroll up from the full-screen frog illustration to access hourly forecasts and details about precipitation, wind, and air over time. You’ll also see an arc-shaped graph showing the sun’s path throughout the day. It’s not vague. The app is designed to look like a weather tool built by Google. However, Frog Weather feels distinctly low-budget, from the bug-eyed frog illustrations to his clunky UI design, which features awkward spacing and clashing colors.
Frog Weather has one advantage over Google. It’s a live weather map. However, the maps do not render correctly, are always heavily pixelated, and there is no legend for any type of map (precipitation, temperature, cloud cover, wind, pressure), so there is no way to know what is being shown. there is no. Every idiosyncrasy.
As you might expect, Frog Weather appears to have ads, and an optional $2 annual subscription is required to remove them.I say Apparently Because I’ve been using this app for a while and I’ve never actually seen any ads, even though many user reviews specifically complain about ads. This may only be set if you give Frog Weather permission to access your location, but the app will explicitly warn you that your location data may be shared with third parties when asking for permission. There is (I refused).
Even though the app’s list has recently seen a lot of 3-star, 2-star, and 1-star reviews, its overall rating on the Play Store is an incredible 4.6 stars, with many It’s more expensive than regular weather forecast apps. Also, surprisingly, it hasn’t been abandoned, and the app was recently updated in December (the changelog simply says “New frog, bug fixes”). But given its poor user experience, advertising and subscription model, and sketchy location permission requests, you might want to avoid it, especially if you have easy access to the real thing.
How to get Google Weather on a non-Pixel phone
it’s not harsh
I found this app just like I think most people do. I was trying to get a shortcut to the actual Google Weather app on my phone’s home screen. On your Pixel phone, it should already be in your app drawer. Other mobile phones require a little more effort. There are several ways to do this, and you don’t need to download a new app.
Adding the Google app Assistant overview Add the widget to your home screen and tap the weather icon to open Google’s official weather interface complete with a frog.If you need a home screen shortcut, search for the word “weather” inside Google appsTap three points In the upper right corner of the prediction card, tap Add to home screen. This will display a home screen icon that opens Google Weather.
There are many weather forecast apps for Android. If you like Google’s weather interface, it’s not difficult to access it on non-Pixel phones. So while I applaud developer giovsoft’s efforts on this bit, there’s not much reason to download Frog Weather, other than perhaps morbid curiosity.
Best Weather Apps on Android in 2024
No frogs appear in any of them, but
