Weather Gods 3.0.0 Released - Subscriptions

By Weather Gods (Scott), 20 January, 2021

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi All,

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Weather Gods 3.0.0 is going through a phased roll out. This means everyone should get the update over the next seven days, however, you can update sooner with a manual update.

This update switches us from a paid model to a subscription model and hopefully means the app can cover its data costs going forwards.

Anyone who has previously paid should receive a lifetime premium subscription.

This needs to be activated by:

1. Load settings on the app
2. Tap explore to go to the subscription page
3. Tap restore purchases.

Having completed the restore please check the following are active:

1. Notifications
2. Severe weather alerts
3. Widget
4. Apple Watch
5. Follow Me if you use it and are lucky enough to be going anywhere at the moment :)

Please email using the feedback mechanism in the app if there are any problems.

We also have the tip jar if anyone would like to help feed the weather gods - all donations gratefully received. Thank you.

The update includes some bug fixes as well which causes some crashes from time to time.

Many thanks to our translators and beta testers who helped make this release possible.

Regards
Scott

Options

Comments

By Jo Billard on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I checked my apps and I can't find the update yet. Is there another way to do a manyual update?

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Jo,

I believe you have to find the app on the store and download that way.

I looked and couldn't see a manual update on my phone.

Sorry.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I also wanted to add that the app is free for anyone who wants a fully accessible weather app.

You only need to subscribe for premium features which are:
- severe weather alert notifications
- general notifications such as rain alerts, snow alerts, daily summaries, sunrise and sunset etc
- widget
- Apple Watch app
- Many different types of watch complications including the smart VoiceOver complication

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Scott,

I cannot find the update to 3.0.0. I've searched the App Store and it just shows that I all ready have Weathergods installed and only allows me to open, not update. I have also checked my updates in the App Store and it does not show the update, is their any way I can get the manual update option? also does the premium subscription option expire in case I cannot get the update in time?
thanks,
Daniel

By KE7ZUM on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I've got the update. I don't understand the line though, that says to restore the purchase. I paid for the app I want to say last year or maybe in 2019, I don't remember now.

Thanks for such a grate app.

By DrummerGuy on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I already upgraded my app. The update appeared in the App Store and I downloaded the new version.
Thank you, Scott, for such a great app.

By Blind I Am on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Just a quick note of thanks for giving past users of the app a free upgrade to the premium subscription. Not many developers would have done this, so thank you!

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi All,

Unfortunately the update schedule is out of my hands, Apple manage this on our behalf.

We opted for a roll out over 7 days in case of any problems with people getting their lifetime premium subscription. So far it's going smoothly.

I managed to force an update by finding it on the store and hitting the download link.

Please don't uninstall though.

Once you have an update, please do the following:

1. Go to settings
2. Tap the explore button, this takes you to the subscription screen
3. Tap the restore purchase button

The restore purchase links your original purchase receipt for weather gods with our 3rd party subscription tracker. It's this which keeps track of the lifetime across new devices. Otherwise next time you updated to a new device you would lose the lifetime subscription.

By Squirrel on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Upgrade installed, purchase restored, and all looks good ☺️

By Melissa on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I updated and found the restore. All went very smoothly! Thanks for a great app.

By Clare Page on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi! I updated Weather Gods manually this morning by going into the App Store, searching for Weather Gods, and then waiting till the button on the screen changed to Update instead of Open, which didn't take long. I followed the instructions above, including restoring my purchase, and all my settings are still as they should be, and of course the app still works as well as it always has. Thanks again to the Weather Gods developers for such an excellent app!

Thanks for the tip. I'm sitting on Weather Gods in the app store for about a couple of minutes now, and it still says open. I guess I can't update yet.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Interestingly we've had one use for whom is wasn't a complete success.

They have an iPad and an iPhone. The iPad worked and the iPhone didn't. Still looking into this. If anyone else has multiple devices then I'd love to hear if they all worked please.

Sorry Jo, I can't think what else to suggest.

By Jo Billard on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Thanks. I'll let you know if the update shows up. I'd really hate to lose my premium subscription.

By That Blind Canuck on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I too wanted to take a moment to thank you Scott for being so kind and generous and giving those of us who bought the app originally a free lifetime premium subscription. You didn't have to do that, but did anyway to reward those who bought it originally. I even took the liberty of going to the tip section and donating a bit.

Thanks again for a wonderful weather app.

Kronos23, the artist formally known as Blinken223

By Chris Roche on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Had no Problem restoring purchase in-fact it said thank you for subscribing before I restored but did it anyway just incase. Very clear instructions thanks.
Chris

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Thanks Kronos23, very much appreciated.

Subscriptions isn't going particularly well LOL. We have had more tip jar donations than subscriptions, which I never expected.

Hopefully some of the 5,000 users now on the free app will subscribe at some point.

By Troy B on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I went to the app store and tapped where it said weather gods, then I swiped to the update button and hit that and it updated. Everything went well after that and I restored the purchase.

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

finally got the update. how do you verify you have the lifetime premium after you select restore purchases? it said, complete. does this mean I have the afore mentioned subscription?
thanks,
Daniel

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I forgot to say how I finally got the update in case some did not get it yet. search for weathergods in the App Store. double-tap the name of the app, it should say, weathergods, artwork image. then their will be an update button. thanks Scott fr this lifetime premium subscription. weathergods is an amazing app and once I figure out how to verify my subscription is active it will be just like it was before.
thanks,
Daniel

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

after I selected restore purchases, I went to the main screen of the app and it says no notifications and no weather alerts. does this mean the subscription didn't get activated?
thanks,
Daniel

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Daniel,

You can double check by going into app settings, into notifications and swipe down. Check there isn't a label that says something like notifications are paused, premium upgrade required.

And of course, if you have notifications setup then please make sure they are received.

By Lee on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi All, ok did the update no issues. I'm in the uk so maybe different elsewhere but when I went into the app store WG shows twice. First VO says advertisement and has zero stars rating but you can still open the app. Then the WG app without the advertising statement and 4.75 stars which is what I went into. So no idea what that first bit is about.

By TamagotchiTune on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

So i have updated both my phone and iPad and both restore purchases works fine here. Thanks for a great weather app.

By Jeff on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Do you have to perform the restore purchases step on each device, or if you do that for one device, will it carry over to the other devices using the same Apple ID?

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Jeff,

It will have to be on each device you want the lifetime subscription on.

It's tied to your Apple ID and when we restore purchase we check to see when the app was originally purchased.

If the app qualifies for lifetime subscription then we grant it.

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

hi Scott,

what keyboard us the equivalent of swiping down, and if their is no equivalent command, how many fingers do I use to swipe down?

By Jo Billard on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I got the update, but when I hit settings and then notifications, I can't find anything. Nothing about widgets or Apple watch, but I never set those up, so I hope that's the reason. Everything else seems to be the way I left it. I love that the opening music and sounds aren't quite as loud as they were before. Much easier to hear Voiceover and not such an assault to my eardrums. :) Very pleasant.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Daniel,

I normally just use swipe down with three fingers.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Jo,

You can check for sure by doing the following:

1. load settings on WG
2. swipe down to weather alerts and double tap
3. swipe down through the screen and listen out for anything about weather alerts being paused and upgrade to premium.

If you don't hear that info in number 3 then it is probably all good.

You can always send me a feedback email from within settings and I can double check for you?

By Jo Billard on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Thanks. Looks OK so far. I think I'll send you that email just to be sure.

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

so I went notifications and was unable to do the three finger swipe down gesjer. however, as another comment pointed out, I went to weather alerts and found nothing about upgrading to premium. so it seems to have worked. thanks again Scott for giving this subscription to all of us paid users.

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

hello Scott,

I just made a donation with the tip jar. I also found out that when I go into about in weathergods, it says what type of subscription I have. in my case, and all existing users it says I've got premium. so thanks again.
Daniel

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Daniel,

Glad it's working and many thanks for the tip jar donation - much appreciated.

By Daniel Angus M… on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I'm always happy support developers who go abbot and beyond for their users.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi everybody,

Just to say we have accelerated the rolling update so it should be available for everyone today.

Please let me know if there are any problems with the lifetime subscription for premium.

Thanks

By Chris Roche on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

I gave you a little something on the tip jar. Great job.
Hopefully the issue with the UK precipitation can be fixed soon but I know it is beyond your control.
Excellent app.
Chris

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Thanks Chris, much appreciated.

AerisWeather updated their forecast engine about 4pm our time. They claim improvements to precipitation and pop. Haven't had a chance to check it out but hoping there are improvements for the UK.

By Lisa on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

What is the smart voiceover complication, and what does it do?

By Chris Roche on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

You're welcome
Sounds very positive. Here's hoping.
Chris

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Lisa,

It's an Apple Watch complication that is focussed purely as a complication for a Voiceover user.

The smart part is that for each hour, it sorts and priorities the weather, so you always get the important stuff read first and least important last.

You can also configure the data points included in the Apple Watch app - go into the Weather Gods section and you will find a dedicated section for Voiceover.

Hope that helps.

By Rafal on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Is tere a way to change the sound of notifications? The in-built in the app notification sound is annoying for me. I'd rather use native iOS sounds. Refering to the recent update, everything works fine and the proces of restoring purchases has not been complicated. Best to you all.

By Weather Gods (Scott) on Monday, January 25, 2021 - 15:12

Hi Rafal,

Thanks for the feedback on the notification sounds.

Currently there isn't a way to have a custom sound for each user or even revert back to the default sound.

The reason is that the sound to play is attached to the notification sent to Apple from our servers, so we would need a way to switch this off for each user.

I will add to my list and think about how we might achieve it.