The Weather Channel has remarkably thin skin, can't take honest criticisim of their iPhone app

If you’re an iPhone user like me, you’ve probably experienced the steady decline of the Weather Channel iPhone app, ever since the version 4.0 update, it has been getting steadily worse

Basically, 4.0 broke the radar map, it would not update tiles, moving or zooming the map required a stop and refresh, they also added more, and more intrusive ads and twitter integration

These problems angered many iApp users, and the overwhelming reviews of the app dropped to one star, and numerous requests were made to fix the map, make the ads less intrusive and to drop twitter integration

shortly after the release of 4.0, TWC released 4.1, the map was kinda-sorta-but-not-really fixed, the ads were still there, just as intrusive, and the stupid twitter crap was still there…

So, I decided to send a problem report to TWC, I notified then that I was still having map issues on my iPhone, and had tried deleting and reinstalling the app with no change, and asked nicely if they could perhaps makd the ads a little less intrusive, and perhaps move the twitter functionality onto the menu bar at the bottom of the app, perhaps give the end user the ability to disable it if they felt no use for it, my problem report was nicely written, not accusatory or confrontational, and was very professional, it was a nicely written “I’m having some problems, is there anything I can do to fix them on my end?”

…I went back to TWC forums today to see if there were any solutions to the 4.1 issues only to find that…

My IP address was PERMANENTLY BANNED!, I tried sending an email to the forum admin to find out why I was banned, only to find that the email itself was being bounced back as undeliverable…

these gutless morons banned me for submitting a legitimate problem report and I am unable to find out WHY I was banned (at least not from this computer, that is, they’ll be getting an email from my work account wondering why I was banned

I guess the only “problem report” they’ll accept are ones containing unadulterated praise, they can’t take honest criticism about a clearly still broken app

Screw them, if I don’t get a satisfactory answer from their admin team, then their app will be permanently banned from my iPhone

fuckers…

They seem determined to drive people to one of the many other Weather apps available.

Weather Channel got kinda nerfed on the Android as well. I use Weatherbug now, despite its rep on regular computers.

I just went to forums.weather.com for the first time and was told my IP address had been permanently banned. Either their webmaster is Keyser Söze or they have some problems.

forums.weather.com” is timing out for me. Perhaps they’re having a similar problem to what happened here a few weeks ago?

Marley’s an Admin there, also?
d&r

Is Marley23 banning everyone on the weather forum now? That guy sure gets around the internet!

They probably decided that the biggest problem with their App was the users, and decided to get rid of them.

Looks like they are having issues - my ISP is banned as well and this was the first time I’d ever been there.

I’ve never been there either, and I am similarly IP banned.

SanibelMan: It seems to time out if you don’t use https:// first. Which is a bit weird, for a forum.

MacTech, you broke their forums!

Naah, it was probably their crappy iPhone Dev. Team, they did a stellar job frakking up the iPhone app, taking it from a four star app (loses one star for annoying ads) to a ZERO star app (I’d actually rate it negative five if possible) in one revision update, and then steadfastly refuses to fix the issues end users are complaining about, and refuses to remove the irrelavent, useless twitter client, if I want to tweet about something, (not that I ever do, not a fan of social networking crap) I’ll use a twitter app, not my weather app

here’s what a good weather app should have in it;

Current conditions
Extended Forecast
Radar Maps
Emergency weather alerts

And THAT’S IT!

Thankfully, I found that Weatherbug Elite (.99¢, no ads) and AccuWeather Free (ignorable ads) do these things just fine, and don’t have useless crap like Twitter in them

…just reporting that I too have “been permanently banned from this board.” (Wellington NZ) And I’ve never visited that board before, let alone logged in!

I like the My-Cast weather app.

Also, this thread is cracking my shit up.

I’m banned too. Permanently! I guess MacTech pissed them off so much that they made sure he couldn’t post again, even from somebody else’s computer!

+1 The only app I’ve paid actual money for that wasn’t written by my brother.

I use weather underground on my computer, and I see they have an iPhone app. Anyone try it?

I’ve found very — emphasis on very — few iOS weather apps that are worth a damn, although I’ve tried a small portion (there might be more weather apps than anything but games). The only one I actually liked was MyWeather Mobile, but once abandoned by its developer it steadily broke; I don’t think it’s even been in the App Store for ages.

I really don’t mind paying a few bucks for an app if it works well, but anyone’s guess is as good as mine what weather app fits that description. I’m currently using an app entitled simply Weather (by Clink Apps). It’s very pretty and functional for me, although its three-star average rating appears to be due to bugginess for some people.

$0.99. Worth it to me despite bugs, because I fucking. Hate. Ads. YMMV.

weather.com was having timeouts last night when I tried to check the forecast from my PC. Don’t take it personally. But do find another app.

If it weren’t for the Hot Weather Chicks, that channel would be *completely *worthless.

What is an “app”?

Weather Underground, the website itself, works great with the iPhone. It formats nicely, has few ads, and is a joy to use.

I don’t actually see an iPhone app for it, though. There’s really no need - the website itself is great on the phone.