New version of RadarScope is out

[Jim Hunt]

You might try inws the weather service has it out now here is the link http://inws.wrh.noaa.gov/

I have found the iNWS alerts to be slow sometimes to the point of not being of any use and if someone relied upon them for safety, they could be in trouble.

(Note: It has been a dismal severe weather season across Indiana so my review will be of the system from early spring. I know they are working to improve the service but if you try it, be aware of possible limitations.)

I compared the iNWS alerts to those send out over the NOAA radio and to StormNow. I have used StormNow for several years and it is an extremely reliable service with alerts sent to my cell phone as quick as the weather radio triggered. It is excellent!

In general I found alerts from iNWS to be delayed usually five minutes or more. Alerts from StormNow arrived on the same cell phone to the same email address virtually the same time as the NOAA weather went off. The iNWS alerts are really nothing more than a very basic header and then a link to the alert (watch/warning). That can take even more time to get the information. (StormNow can send the entire text (or use an abbreviated version - your choice).)

The one cool thing was you could draw your warning area polygon in iNWS so you could really tailor your alert area. StormNow is by entire counties only but you can very quickly make changes and have multiple profiles you can quickly enable/disable.

My conclusion is StormNow for $2.00 a month is way better than iNWS.

When I had a BlackBerry, I used WeatherTap as well for radar and other info and it worked out great. I plan to keep WeatherTap now that I have my Android phone. A great service.

 

[Steve Miller]

Good news! Leaks are being made on the iPhone 4.0 OS that will be released next Wednesday. Several sources are saying multiple apps will be able to run in the background on the updated platform which hopefully means we will be able to use RadarScope for positioning while using the phone for other purposes.

Cross your fingers.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

In general I found alerts from iNWS to be delayed usually five minutes or more.

I've experienced the opposite. My txt from iNWS usually comes in just ahead of the wx radio going off. Just my experience in my neck of the woods. I do like the polygon style personalizing option as well.

 

[Stan Olson]

Good news! Leaks are being made on the iPhone 4.0 OS that will be released next Wednesday. Several sources are saying multiple apps will be able to run in the background on the updated platform which hopefully means we will be able to use RadarScope for positioning while using the phone for other purposes.

Cross your fingers.

Are you sure it's being released next Wednesday or just announced next Wednesday? I'd definitely love to run a few apps in the background without having to jailbreak.

 

[Tyler Allison]

If Apple does release a "background" option we will try and release a free light weight SN only app for background use. No reason to run RS (downloading radar data when you don't need to) just to update your position.

 

[BBauer]

Does radarscope work with the 3G iPhone? In other words, you don't need the 3G-S do you? Also, I know it plots your position on the map so you can see where you are relative to the storm but does it have a street atlas so you can use it as your GPS for navigation?

 

[Bill Tabor]

No, and no. Works with 3G (that's what I have), and it doesn't have a map. You have to use Google Maps and toggle between or use a separate mapping program.

 

[Steve Miller]

Are you sure it's being released next Wednesday or just announced next Wednesday? I'd definitely love to run a few apps in the background without having to jailbreak.

Stan - I was giving this a while before replying, hoping to learn more. The background program discussion came up on Boy Genius Report and it seems to have gone away as fast as it came!
I'll keep digging for more info. This would be a very powerful option for us using RadarScope in place of the SN desktop app; especially when the reporting feature comes out (I hope).

 

[Bill Tabor]

No doubt that would be a nice feature Steve..the Droid allows resident programs in the background. I worry about battery life, and performance though. May need more internal memory to do this well. Droid Eris seems to have issues with battery running low from too many resources messing with battery life...but that may be primarily related to GPS, wifi, internet.

I suppose when chasing we'll have it plugged into the accessory power though.

 

[Rob H]

I've had a few friendly emails back and forth with Base Velocity, the guys that make Radarscope. They're working on some new features (no guarantees yet) such as storm tracks and some type of warning notification/overlay. I also requested range rings, and they didn't seem to think that would be too hard of a feature to add.

 

[David Douglas]

If they would add warning polygons (Like GRLevel3) it would be the best app ever!

 

[bradjones]

I have talked to the folks at base velocity by way of email and they are working on adding street level mapping hopefully. we will see

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

Any hope for bringing this to Android?

 

[Brandon Headley]

I can see the benefits of street level mapping, but I have my laptop with gps on it which is more accurate than my iPhone 3g. Also, it would take longer to download the maps. Now it is lightning fast compared to other radars out there, even on spotty edge coverage from AT&T. I will second the warning polygons. Seems handy and if you could turn them on and off that would be great.

Anyways this is a great product as it sits now. Love it and don't know what I would do without it.

 

[Mike Hardiman]

Potentially silly question, but can iPhone apps use non-web based files? In other words, add support for loading shapefiles saved locally on the iPhone device itself.