I have wanted a menu bar weather app for a long time, and I can’t find any that fit all my criteria. So, off I went looking at all the recommendations for weather apps.
Updates
Dec 16, 2024, 06:00 PM: Added Looks Like RainShow information for the linked content and Qwik WeatherShow information for the linked content
Criteria
The main criteria in my mind are:
- Free or cheap one-time purchase (Apparently this is hard because Apple Weather API costs money? What? Why? Apple is retrieving that data anyway, might as well provide a local API?)
- Shows feels like temperature
- Doesn’t show up in the dock
- Allows for switching between a list of cities in the menu bar popup
- Shows weather for the week and next few hours
- (Extra) Shows sunrise and sunset times
- (Extra) Opens on login and has a shortcut to open/close the menu bar dropdown
Things I personally do not care about:
- Hyperlocal weather information
- Radar maps or any other graphical information
- Making weather apps fun
- And where the weather information is coming from. Till it is coming from any trusted source, I am happy.
- Update time being more frequent than 30 or 60 minutes.
- Desktop widgets, or control panel widgets because I never ever open or use those sections.
How hard can it be to find something like this? Apparently, very hard. I was so excited when Apple Weather launched their menu bar option in macOS 15.2, but apparently, it doesn’t show feels like — and only shows temperature for the next few hours. 🤷♀️
Apps
Here are some other apps that I have tried grouped as, “Considering” and “Not Considering”. Something to consider is, given that apple now has their menu bar option that would be enough for most people, some apps might stop receiving updates and may not be compatible with future versions of OS.
You can open toggles below to see screenshots of the app in the menu bar and most of the available settings for that app.
Considering
Big Weather (
Mac App Store Big Weather): Has everything I need for free, except it doesn’t show feels like temperature in menu bar but does show it in the popup. Also the hourly graph is kinda hard to understand, but I will probably get used to it. Sometimes doesn’t get current location, which is a pain.
Menu Weather Pro ( Mac App Store Menu Weather Pro): Honestly, the perfect app for me, and the one I used to use, except since macOS 15, the popup opens in bottom left rather than sticking to the menu bar area. I also realized that I remembered incorrectly - even this app doesn’t show feels like in the menu bar icon, I need to open it to see that information.
Weather Forecast App: Menu Bar ( Mac App Store Weather Forecast App: Menu bar): Costs $10/year. Allows for multiple locations. Shows feels like, UV index and everything else I might need in the popup. The status bar value is the real temperature and there is no option to change that though.
Weatherly ( Mac App Store Weatherly): Exactly what I need, but is $10/year. It doesn’t show UV data but that is okay, I can see that on mobile when I leave my house, I do not need it on my laptop.
Not Considering
I don’t like UI/UX
Meteorologist (
SourceForge Meteorologist): This is known as the most powerful app and it definitely looks that way. But I do not really like the submenu deign which requires me to hover over stuff to understand the weather. It is too text heavy for me, similar to Forecast BarShow information for the linked content, and I am not a fan of that, even though I know some people might be.
SourceForge Meteorologist): This is known as the most powerful app and it definitely looks that way. But I do not really like the submenu deign which requires me to hover over stuff to understand the weather. It is too text heavy for me, similar to Forecast BarShow information for the linked content, and I am not a fan of that, even though I know some people might be.
Forecast Bar ( Mac App Store Forecast Bar - Weather + Radar): Something about this app is too hard for me to understand and it also requires a subscription, thought that is cheaper at $5/year. It does have location switching, weather forecast etc., it also shows feels like temperature on popup — I am unsure if it can show feels like temperature in the menu bar because currently it just shows the app icon.
Doesn’t support multiple locations
Vetero ( Mac App Store Vetero° Weather): Also $10/year for showing feels like temperature, and doesn’t have location switcher.
Weather Dock ( Mac App Store Weather Dock): Fixed to a single location. You can type another location in, but there isn’t a list you can switch between. You can show feels like temperature in the menu bar.
DatWeatherDoe: Free, shows UV index, allows only for one location and doesn’t show feels like temperature
Sparrow Weather ( Mac App Store Sparrow Weather): Shows colorful today and tomorrow’s weather at current location. Is free, but doesn’t support multiple locations, and doesn’t show feels like temperature.
Weather Graph ( App Store Weathergraph weather widget): It is $24/year, so already more expensive than the apps that do what I need to. It doesn’t support multiple locations even in the paid plan. This is pretty, has loads of options to customize but none of the things I need.
Missing items in menu bar
Dear Sun ( Mac App Store Dear Sun): Doesn’t show feels like temperature. Costs $10/year. Everything else is perfect. I wish it had the feels like view though. I really wish this showed the feels like temperature, I would grab it in a second over Weather Forecast AppShow information for the linked content or WeatherlyShow information for the linked content.
Mercury Weather ( App Store Mercury Weather): Too expensive for what I need, doesn’t have any feature that I want in the menu bar. App of the year though, but doesn’t meet my needs at all.
Looks Like Rain ( App Store Looks Like Rain): This is a really pretty app with a location switcher and feels like temperature in the menu bar and costs $10/year. But, it doesn't show the actual weather in the menu bar without clicking, which is a sad choice. If it showed the current temperature on the menu bar, it would be my preferred weather app.
Qwik Weather: Only shows the “nowcast”, aka, the current conditions in a location, and does have a location switcher. Allows to use your own API key. I want some basic hourly and current week forecast though.
Doesn’t work
Menubar Weather ( Mac App Store MenuBar Weather): Uses own API key, and I even when I provided that, I couldn’t get it to work. Also, the screenshots on App Store do not show an option to use feels like or switch locations. I even tried the trial option that remains stuck on the two seconds screen too.
Tenki ( Mac App Store Tenki): I am unable to get the city to change and there doesn’t seem to be an option for multiple locations.
I am going to try both big weather and weather forecast app or hope that menu weather pro fixes itself sometime in the near future, I guess. If there is any information that you want me to add about an app, leave a note on the bluesky thread or giscus and I’ll add that information for the app.