Besides Windows 8.1 rolling out today and Microsoft refreshing their core apps on that OS, Microsoft is also pushing out updates for some of their super popular Bing apps, including Weather, for Windows Phone. (Sports got a small update as well, which we’ll cover later, but it’s minor compared to Bing Weather).
Bing Weather has been bumped to version 2.0.2.170 and according to the site Plaffo, it includes quite a few new additions that should make the app a lot better.
Are you ready for what's in store?
Bing Weather version 2.0.2.170
- Improved graphics
- New settings
- Doublewide Live Tile
- Integration with the lock screen
Let’s take a look at the lockscreen support. Upon setting the lockscreen and giving it time to update, it should mirror the main page of the app. That means current temperature, conditions, highs / lows, location. The wallpaper reflects the current weather as well, for a nice touch. It’s basically everything you ever wanted from the Bing team to deliver. Kudos, to them on that.
The doublewide tile is something that many users have also requested since the app launched on day one. The tile flips to reveal two bits of information:
- Side 1 – Current conditions, highs / low, chance of rain, wind, weather image and of course location
- Side 2 – five day forecast with icons and highs / lows for each day
Once again, it looks fantastic.
Regarding improved graphics and new settings, we really haven’t seen too much in that regard, but we’ll trust Plaffo that they have noticed some improvements.
Microsoft has delivered a hearty update to their Bing Weather app. It’s so good, we’re starting to feel a bit bad for third party apps. While those third party apps will still excel in many ways, Bing Weather will be “good enough” for many users out there and it reflects highly on the Windows Phone 8 OS.
Pick up Bing Weather 2.0 here in the Store. Windows Phone 8 Only
