Useful tools.
Built with care.

• The iOS candidate brings the radar currency fix and current NOAA lightning changes from Android build 253 to iPhone. See the separate store cards above for the latest verified availability; preparing or submitting a build does not mean it is available to install.
• Please check whether radar looks less blocky at your usual zoom levels. Test pan and zoom, playback, pause, Current, and leaving the app and returning. Report blockiness, seams, missing tiles or stale images with your iPhone model and iOS version. Improved iPhone appearance and performance still need tester confirmation.
• Please check that lightning data works: select Current in Radar, enable Lightning in Layers, and look for grouped markers where recent lightning is present. Tap markers for flash counts and age, and check that observations expire after five minutes. Playback and historical viewing should hide lightning; Current should resume it. An empty map alone does not prove a fault or that an area is safe.
• Lightning processing stays on your phone. The visible map selects one or both NOAA satellite feeds, and recent decoded observations are reused. Downloads can use significant mobile data: use Wi-Fi when possible or turn Lightning off to stop new downloads. Check that the five-second notice above playback resets without stacking when toggled repeatedly.
• The public version remains 1.42.11 during beta testing. The lightning privacy notice explains direct NOAA downloads, connection metadata, broad-region inference from satellite selection and local processing. Follow official weather warnings; these beta features are supplemental.

Read the app privacy policy.

• Fixed radar currency after returning to app. When the old radar timeline has fully expired, Current is selected and the newest image is prioritized.
• Restored current NOAA lightning on Android, processed on your phone. Nearby flashes are grouped into markers; tap a marker for flash counts and age. Observations expire after five minutes.
• Lightning uses the satellite feed needed for the visible map, or both feeds when the map spans their coverage boundary. Recent decoded observations are reused, and interrupted requests retry once.
• Lightning can use significant mobile data. A five-second notice appears above the playback bar, with a more transparent background; repeated toggles reset the same notice. A data reminder remains in lightning details. Use Wi-Fi when possible, or turn lightning off to stop downloads.
• The updated privacy policy explains direct downloads from NOAA’s hosting service, broad-region inference from satellite selection and local processing. Lightning pauses during playback or historical viewing and is not monitored in the background.
• Android build 253 was submitted to Google Play closed testing. Google accepted the submission; approval and tester availability are pending confirmation. Apple remains on TestFlight build 247 and does not yet include these newer lightning and radar changes.

Read the updated privacy policy.

• Radar playback now reuses canvas drawing buffers and tile geometry, reducing repeated drawing work while preserving map detail, complete-frame transitions and saved-history limits.
• Testing on the developer’s Samsung found fewer missed playback deadlines with the retained renderer. Results vary by device; iPhone, lower-memory device and battery checks remain ongoing.
• Removed a private image-transfer experiment after phone testing showed worse playback timing. The tested canvas and frame-update improvements remain in place.
• Includes Quick layers, the Now / 24 hours / Week / Details weather views, refreshed forecast infographics, and address-search and saved-location improvements described in earlier updates.
• Build 247 is now available to invited iPhone testers through TestFlight. Android build 247 was submitted to Google Play alpha closed testing on October 28; quick checks are running before review, and tester availability is not yet confirmed.
• The public version remains 1.42.11 during beta testing. These testing updates are not a public release.

• Android radar playback now reuses canvas drawing buffers and tile geometry, reducing repeated drawing work while preserving map detail, complete-frame transitions and saved-history limits.
• Testing on the developer’s Samsung found fewer missed playback deadlines with the retained renderer. Results vary by device; iPhone, lower-memory device and battery checks remain ongoing.
• Removed a private image-transfer experiment after phone testing showed worse playback timing. The tested canvas and frame-update improvements remain in place.
• Includes Quick layers, the Now / 24 hours / Week / Details weather views, refreshed forecast infographics, and address-search and saved-location improvements described in earlier updates.
• Android build 245 was submitted to Google Play alpha closed testing on October 28. Submission succeeded; approval and tester availability have not been verified. iOS remains on TestFlight build 233 and does not yet include the later radar renderer changes.
• The public version remains 1.42.11 during beta testing. These testing updates are not a public release.

• Kept the earlier radar playback improvements, including smoother frame transitions, full image resolution and the existing radar history.
• Tested an alternative Android image-delivery method and shelved it because it produced more missed frame deadlines without useful CPU or memory savings. Local Android build 244 restores the established delivery method and passed playback, pause, background/resume and restart checks on the developer’s Samsung.
• Removed the unused experimental implementation from the active codebase and archived it for reference. Build 245 has been signed and submitted to Google Play alpha closed testing. Google API validation and the submission commit succeeded on October 28; approval and tester availability have not yet been verified.
• Cleanup checks passed: 1,081 client unit tests, 85 integration tests, 90 native tests and TypeScript validation. Existing radar memory limits remain unchanged. Apple and Google tester availability remains as shown in the dated store-status cards above.

• Shared radar improvements: shorter crossfades, smaller frame-update messages and cleanup of pending layer listeners. Existing readiness checks, cache limits and provider pacing remain.
• iOS: Settings, guide, details and drawers now measure safe areas within each native modal. Please test system indicators, landscape cutouts, keyboard interaction and 2× text on an iPhone.
• Includes the latest shared weather layers, guide and weather display changes. Android build 233 has been installed on the developer’s Samsung; Windows checks and simulated layouts do not replace iPhone testing.
• Apple and Google delivery are tracked separately in the status cards above. An uploaded or submitted candidate is not necessarily available to testers. No public app release has been made.

• Now available to invited iOS TestFlight testers. Open TestFlight, choose StormBeacon and tap Update to install version 1.42.11 (228).
• Use Quick layers to change weather and outlook layers while staying on the map, with Clear all and separate Watches, Warnings, Advisories and Special weather statements controls.
• Reopening Now, Next 24 hours and Week ahead infographics refreshes the weather preview. Adaptive layouts preserve chart selections and account for changing window sizes and safe areas.
• Please test rotation, radar controls, widgets, sharing and the app’s 2× text setting, and send feedback through TestFlight or StormBeacon.
• This update brings the latest shared changes to the iOS beta. Android build 227 remains the submitted Android candidate; no public App Store release has been made.

• Open Quick layers from the stacked-layers icon to choose the current weather and outlook layers in a translucent menu while staying on the map.
• Use the sliders icon or Detailed · Easy / Advanced link for the full layer descriptions, presets and adjustments. Both menus share the same selections.
• The centered Clear all pill turns off weather layers and playback while keeping the quick menu open. Saved products, map appearance and cached data remain available.
• Watches & warnings opens a mini menu for Watches, Warnings, Advisories and Special weather statements, with All and Off shortcuts. These map filters do not change notification settings.
• Layouts support landscape and enlarged text. Android build 227 has been submitted to the closed testing track; this does not mean review approval or a public release. The matching iOS source is ready for a future build.

• Refresh weather before reopening Now, Next 24 hours and Week ahead infographics. Refresh the preview when graph data changes, even if the share text stays the same.

• Adapt shared Android/iOS navigation to changing app-window sizes, including folding and Split View. Preserve graph selections during resizing and respect asymmetric safe areas in radar drawers.

• Include the observation station distance in the Now infographic, matching the current-conditions display in miles or kilometers.

• Refresh the compact Now infographic with a shaded temperature panel, a matching day/night weather symbol when available, and grouped feels-like, humidity and wind cards.

• Keep the leading partial three-hour forecast slot when coverage begins between slot boundaries, including the last hours of a day. Preserve actual reading times and the remaining week in both three-hour views.

• Improve temporary forecast and alert image creation while retaining PNG validation, private cache storage, bounded retention and image-only forecast sharing.

• Make the Development news update button more compact and keep it beside the wrapping summary at enlarged text sizes.

• Give Development news a rounded Read update / Close update button. The button controls the notes, with matching styling for Close update at the bottom.

• Save a location for later without making it active. The new Save location (do not set as active) option keeps your current weather and alert location unchanged.
• Save your first location without activating it, then choose Use when you are ready. Existing naming, duplicate and saved-location limits still apply.

• Remove the decorative colored side strip from current conditions, Next 24 hours and Week ahead infographics.

• Generate, preview, copy and share a Next 24 hours infographic directly from the hourly forecast. Image sharing includes no accompanying forecast text.
• Show weather symbols and shaded temperature and rain-chance curves, with the location, forecast times and source.

• Switch between four focused Weather views: Now, 24 hours, Week and Details. The main Weather, Radar, Alerts and Locations tabs keep their existing order.
• Keep tap-and-drag chart readouts and nearby forecast sharing. Day and night details expand inline, while widgets and guide links open the matching view.
• Support enlarged text with wrapping view buttons and place the full 24-hour graph above its controls. Android and iOS use the same layouts.

• Explore forecasts in three-hour slices with weather symbols, temperatures and rain chances. Daily summaries show shaded temperature and rain-chance curves with high and overnight-low temperatures.
• Keep all 24 hours visible in one graph, with floating readouts when tapping or dragging. Daily outlook uses similar readouts, and day/night details open inline.
• Improve layouts for text sizes up to 2.00×, place Clear selection beside Show selected hour, and make selections easier to dismiss.
• Share current conditions and the week ahead as compact infographics. Improve spacing between days in shared forecast text and fix Android text copying while preserving clipboard safeguards.
• Streamline radar playback controls and keep details within the map so navigation remains accessible. Overlapping saved-location pins open a compact chooser; tapping outside cancels without switching location.
• Open location search in Street address mode, preserve entered text when switching categories, and provide Edit search before saving.
• Automatically check recognizable full addresses after a brief typing pause on Android and iOS. Explain provider sharing, prioritize house-number matches, ignore outdated responses and retain manual lookup.
• Add iOS 17+ weather and radar widgets using saved forecast and radar data, with per-widget location and appearance choices. Background refresh timing is controlled by iOS.

• Prevent saved-location names from becoming stranded over the radar after switching markers and panning; a closed label is no longer reattached by its fade timer.
• Retry one interrupted U.S. Census address lookup automatically, and explain specific connection, timeout, security, or request-limit failures instead of showing one generic message.
• Retain ARM64, 32-bit ARM and x86_64 support.

• Restore x86_64 support alongside ARM64 and 32-bit ARM in production Android releases, so compatible devices can receive current features instead of the older build 183 fallback.
• Retain build 198’s location-search improvements and saved-location behavior.

• Start without a selected location instead of Excelsior Springs. Remove the city-specific welcome shortcut, keep saved locations, and use a broad U.S. map view until a location is chosen.
• Improve city suggestions with exact-name priority, word-prefix matching, full state names and St./Ft. abbreviations. Let an explicitly entered address state or ZIP take precedence over the current location bias.
• Filter unrelated streets, cities and non-address bus stops from address suggestions, including city qualifiers entered without a state. Explain full-address and map-pin alternatives when no matching suggestion is available.

• Allow map background brightness down to 0% while keeping weather-layer colors unchanged, including saved preferences and settings backups.
• Fix drag inspection on Weather graphs, add it to the daily outlook, and separate enlarged-chart scrolling from value selection without requiring a long press. Keep vertical page scrolling and 2× text support.
• Update the in-app and website guide instructions for graph inspection and scrolling.

• Replace chapter-wide guide shortcuts with named links beside each step and layer description, including separate links for mixed topics such as units, map appearance, outlooks and backups.
• Open the relevant settings section, forecast, saved-location area, office feed or radar control directly. Preserve shared Android/iOS behavior and enlarged-text support.
• Clarify that the optional FreeLightning layer is excluded, and add subtopic links to the website guide.

• Add dates to the Week ahead list, forecast details and Daily outlook graph using the forecast location's calendar dates. Retain enlarged-text support and sideways graph scrolling.
• Add a searchable how-to guide with real screenshots, direct links to app controls, and optional step-by-step help for saving an address. Share the instructions with the website guide and support enlarged text.
• Group common Settings into Easy, keep all options in Advanced, and search across both views. Remember the selected view.
• Adjust the map background brightness in real time from the sun button, preserving weather-layer colors and the saved brightness preference.
• Allow horizontal finger scrubbing on the hourly forecast graph; enlarged charts keep sideways scrolling and support hold-then-slide inspection. Rename the settings group to Display, Units, & Themes and the map choices to Aerial and County.
• Rename Today to Weather. Keep street addresses out of its current-conditions card and collapsed location header: show a saved nickname or a broad nearby city instead, while retaining the full details in Locations.

• Replace the remaining drawn plus/minus indicators in Settings and Radar layer groups with up/down chevrons.

• Keep app Settings reachable from Radar with a compact gear button beside the map controls, matching access from the other main tabs.
• Open saved locations directly from the top-left location control, with names and full addresses. Use up/down chevrons for expanding and collapsing the location list, Appearance and Development news.
• Keep the location search field visible when Street address is selected or the keyboard opens, including when editing a saved location.

• Make location search and saving a clear two-step flow: choose a city or street address, then check the full location, add a name and save. Keep the save action above search on first setup, and retain the draft if saving fails.

• Default Keep radar fresh while away to On for new settings while preserving saved On/Off choices and Auto Wi-Fi rules. Clarify the per-session download budget separately from cache storage, and show the notification-permission action when Android background radar is paused.

• Fix Android Back navigation without a selected location: return to Locations, then allow the normal two-press exit instead of repeatedly redirecting from Today.

• Recheck an unexpectedly empty warning-map response once immediately, respecting provider cooldowns and retaining unexpired outlines until a newer response confirms removal.
• Preserve Android's background-task loader in optimized releases so background weather work can start after an app update or cold start.
• Recreate a reclaimed radar-cache directory on Android and iOS without restarting the app; preserve existing cache retention rules.

• Find saved-location marker controls in Easy radar mode, Advanced, Map tools and Settings.
• Names disappear after three seconds, with an option to keep them visible. Tap a marker to show its name again.
• Place markers below weather layers and choose 0%, 25%, 50% or 75% transparency. A tap briefly brings the pin and name above the weather, then restores your chosen layer order.
• Radar and Locations remain available without a selected location. Today and Alerts show a brief explanation until you choose a location.

• Keep Easy layer controls open after choosing a weather preset.
• Watches & warnings toggles preserve the active weather view and its highlighted selection.

• Add Winter impacts (WPC Days 1–3, lower 48) and the U.S. Drought Monitor, with report dates, color legends, opacity controls and All overlays off support. Drought coverage includes Alaska and Hawaii.
• Add Winter weather and Drought to Easy map selections and move the Watches & warnings switch to the top of Easy controls.
• Add separate Copy graphic and Copy discussion text buttons to SPC mesoscale discussion details. Copied text includes the official source link and marks expired discussions; the graphic preview and copy action share the same validated image.

• Clarify voluntary support wording and remove future subscription and referral descriptions from the support screen.
• Update the in-app privacy notice to match the published 13+ access rules and clarify email-provider handling.

• Enable Android release code and resource optimization while retaining notification and widget resources.
• Require a live app transition before starting background radar downloads; preserve queued starts during activity recreation to avoid Android's foreground-service timeout.
• Update the Android Material library for modern system-bar handling. React Native's remaining compatibility calls still require a Google Play rescan/upstream follow-up.
• Add Block this source / Unblock this source to Office weather updates. The preference stays on the device and leaves official NWS alerts available.
• Add Report this post with a preview of the public post reference and an email draft the user can review and send. Saved places and diagnostics are not attached.
• Complete additional iOS privacy configuration, native regression preparation and offline archive checks. Native iPhone acceptance is still pending.
• Fix an iOS build failure in radar duration parsing while preserving frame timing and cache behavior.
• Fix an iOS startup crash when local data-use totals are pruned, preserving retention and collection settings.

• Use the Sonny & Robo brand in the age-screen privacy summary. The full privacy notice continues to identify the responsible publisher.

• Set the intended audience to teens and adults, ages 13 and older. Under-13 and unanswered age choices now show an offline notice instead of the earlier city-weather mode. Existing restricted profiles remain protected across Android, iOS and browser.
• Make privacy information available before setup, preserve stored access restrictions during storage failures, and retain the normal app's saved places, settings and weather caches.
• Clarify feedback retention, mailbox handling and provider-controlled logs and backups in the shared privacy notice. Harden feedback expiry, error handling and server recovery controls.

• Label the welcome and City weather text controls “Use larger text size” and “Use normal text size” so their purpose is clear.

• Simplify the age-safety check to three choices: Under 13, 13 or older, and Prefer not to answer. No exact age or birthday is requested.
• Explain that the choice stays on the device and is never sent to the developer. Keep the protected City weather view for under-13 users and anyone who chooses not to answer, with the same safeguards on Android, iOS and the browser.

• Add a local age screen before the app opens saved locations or starts weather requests. Keep only a privacy category; discard the entered age without saving or transmitting it.
• Give younger users and users who skip the age question a city-based weather view with current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts, and expandable official NWS alerts. City searches stay on-device; this view does not use GPS, addresses, feedback uploads, social feeds, payment links or background widgets.
• Apply the restrictions to native background work, widget setup and diagnostic sharing as well as the visible screens. Keep the full app and existing saved data available for older users across Android, iOS and browser layouts, including 2× text.
• Prepare these safeguards for testing. Store Families and privacy certification remains subject to the final provider and disclosure review.

• Open local office posts and attached graphics directly from the Alerts tab with Office weather updates, even when there are no active alerts. Use the selected alert location's NWS office and keep unofficial feeds clearly labeled.
• Reuse the forecast's cached office lookup and existing feed cache. Load posts when the page opens, with retry and unavailable-coverage messages, across Android, iOS and browser layouts including 2× text.

• Add optional office weather updates from reviewed Bluesky bots for all 122 NWS forecast offices and the St. Louis Mastodon bot. Keep unofficial posts and attachments visibly separate from authoritative NWS alerts and government graphics.
• Route each alert to its issuing office, including Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. Show unavailable supplemental coverage explicitly, including the separate Pago Pago office.
• Load posts and images only on request, reuse the bounded weather-provider cache, and limit pagination. Preserve source links, dates and image descriptions; distinguish attached images from link thumbnails.
• Use free direct NOAA/NWS sources for alert graphics, with no social-media lookup or paid API dependency in the preview flow.
• Offer verified SPC tornado and severe thunderstorm watch maps as separate, unchanged images with Copy/Share actions. Reuse the downloaded map without a second download or decode, and check the active watch before export.
• Keep StormBeacon warning infographics with official NWS boundaries, times and published hazards. Clearly explain when no matching official image is available from the direct sources.

• Exclude optional Philippines forecast/radar and FreeLightning from the launch release while provider access is arranged. Saved locations remain intact.
• Prevent older settings, restored backups and widget requests from re-enabling excluded providers. Update the in-app privacy notice.

• Shorten widget size guidance to plain grid numbers such as 2 × 2 and 4 × 4. Remove “cells” from gear settings, widget picker descriptions and the in-app guide.

• Show suggested widget sizes as home-screen grid cells in every Android gear settings size guide, with compact or wide options where useful.
• Update the widget picker descriptions and in-app widget guide to use grid cells too. Explain that exact resize limits depend on the launcher or lock-screen host.

• Put a highlighted size guide directly beneath the title of every Android widget gear settings screen. Show each design's recommended and minimum dimensions, plus brief resizing advice.
• Use the widget providers' actual resize limits for mini and lock-screen designs. Remove the repeated size details from the lower settings text.

• Center the location within the visible full-size radar map by giving its top and bottom controls equal height. Keep the scan time, transient loading details and map attribution in the compact bottom bar.
• Show an approximate one-minute loading time when Play starts a radar loop, including a shorter message that fits the mini widget.

• Load a radar widget's street-map tiles in a small parallel group so a new zoom does not wait for each tile in turn. Retain a cached map tile if its refresh fails.
• Show an approximate first-load time on larger radar widgets and explain when a resized widget is displaying a fitted saved scan until refresh.
• Give every Android widget's settings screen its specific name. Make the larger forecast layouts more compact and hide routine status text on the full-size radar widget.

• Restore all four navigation tabs immediately when changing from large text back to normal text, without restarting the app.
• Preserve the two-row 2× layout, landscape controls and existing weather features.

• Prepare store builds with consistent feedback and reporting settings across local and cloud builds.
• Use dedicated opaque iOS icon artwork while preserving Android's adaptive icon.
• Include the recent 2× text and landscape radar layout improvements, with existing weather features and cache retention unchanged.

• Keep navigation labels readable at 2× text with two compact rows in portrait, instead of splitting words across narrow tabs.
• Keep radar playback controls above the map credits and distance scale in both orientations. Credits wrap alongside the scale, and the shelf adapts to their actual height as map layers change.
• Apply the layout fixes to the shared Android, iOS and browser views without changing radar features, saved places or cache retention.

• Link Privacy & permissions to the published StormBeacon privacy policy, with Brian Schwartz as the individual publisher and Sonny & Robo as the brand.
• Clarify feedback cleanup, hosting backups, provider retention and the current status of optional error reporting in the offline privacy notice.
• Keep weather features, saved places, cache retention and the separate public/testing editions unchanged.

• Update the in-app privacy notice to explain provider requests, radar widgets, optional feedback, image sharing, encrypted backups and local data retention more clearly.
• Correct unused iOS permission descriptions and document elapsed-time API use in the native privacy configuration.
• Preserve normal weather features, saved data and the separate public/testing build identities. The public website policy and store submission remain in preparation.

• Separate internal notification checks, report tests, cache comparisons and stress workloads from the public app. Testing builds use their own app identity and storage on Android and iOS.
• Remove test-only modules and the Android stress service from public builds while retaining crash recovery, optional support reports, local App data totals and normal weather features.
• Pin release build settings so private diagnostic flags cannot accidentally carry over from a development session.

• Refresh enabled watches and warnings when the app resumes, and reconcile their map layers so hazards return without force-closing or resetting the map.

• Reduce radar playback bookkeeping when satellite, temperature or outlook imagery is enabled, while keeping all cached history and nearby-zoom preparation.
• Share wind and temperature catalog parsing, and update mobile playback controls without rebuilding the surrounding radar screen on every observation.
• Keep native cache reads responsive during writes, with bounded background I/O and safeguards against restoring cleared or cancelled work.
• Give radar widgets the same native cache improvements and reuse tile positions while preparing their loops, preserving saved scans, refresh behavior and transparency.
• Streamline native tile message delivery and release outgoing decoded frames if an animation completion event is missed. Preserve image quality, transparency, existing cache limits and retention.

• Verify shared API alert details against provider data before caching them. Bound cache memory and concurrent requests, and stop oversized map and radar responses during download.
• Restrict browser map messages to the owning page and validate incoming events while preserving the native map bridge.

• Keep active alert outlines through a brief empty response while confirming the update. Advance one frame when a new scan arrives while the oldest scan is selected.
• Keep watches, frost and freeze areas beneath radar, with tornado and severe thunderstorm warning outlines above it. Manual refresh gives clearer progress and results.
• Keep infographic previews open during routine updates. If the warning changes, explain the change and require a fresh preview before copying or sharing.

• Use official NWS polygons and complete affected-zone boundaries while the slower map feed catches up. Show when an alert boundary is still pending.
• Retry alert details and infographic maps automatically through brief provider rate limits, with bounded waits and cancellation.
• Generated graphics include the published WHAT, WHEN and IMPACTS sections, including frost temperatures and validity windows. Regional warning maps retain their complete official footprint.

• Browser playback updates the map and controls without redrawing the surrounding dashboard. Hidden tabs pause playback and polling, then check for fresh data on return.
• Reuse saved frames and unchanged outlook tiles. Check CPC publication metadata while visible and clearly report unavailable or expired data.
• Layers remembers its expanded group and scroll position. Map controls stay clear of legends and adapt to enlarged text.

• Open Layers from the map’s top-right corner in a full-height side drawer. Composite and Reflectivity are an either/or choice; independent overlays keep their own controls.
• Choose watches, warnings, advisories and Special Weather Statements separately. All overlays off clears the weather layers and leaves the base map.
• Temperature shading and CPC outlooks have clearly named groups and on-map legends.

• Play, scrub and return to Current directly on the map. Compact controls leave more map visible in portrait and landscape, with readable layouts at 2× text size.
• Composite is the default for the lower 48. Add NOAA temperature shading and CPC 6–10 or 8–14 day temperature and precipitation outlooks.
• Scan time, age and a short cached-frame count stay visible; playback options retain history, speed, download and source details.

• Expand Android weather-alert notifications to read NWS descriptions and safety instructions, including updates about watch expiration. Notifications expire at the published alert expiration time.
• The app uses online base maps and retains its existing radar cache. The experimental nationwide offline map pack was removed.

• Earlier builds prepared StormBeacon graphics alongside matching NWS social images. Current builds use direct government-hosted images where available; see build 176 above.
• The earlier social-image and server-backup lookup has been replaced. Generated infographics remain available when no matching government image can be retrieved.
• Include published wind, hail, tornado and damage-threat details. Clearly label verified earlier NWS graphics, including in copied and shared images.

• Prepare official watch and outlook images as bounded static PNGs before preview and export. Keep Share and Copy working when reopening an already downloaded graphic.

• Severe thunderstorm and tornado watch infographics can include SPC’s official county map and published primary threats. Watch identity and validity must match before a graphic is used.
• Text sharing and image copying remain available. If a matching SPC graphic cannot load, StormBeacon uses its existing alert map.

• Radar playback reuses unchanged tile and readiness information instead of preparing it repeatedly. Native image conversion and frame transitions do less work, and wind animation sleeps between draws.
• Mesoscale discussions use the official SPC feed when the map service falls behind. Tapping discussion and outlook labels opens their details correctly.

• Playback, scan age, cache progress, Views, Layers and Map tools move into one compact dock. Panels keep the map in place, retain every radar feature, and adapt to enlarged text.
• All overlays off clears the visible weather layers in one tap. Cache time estimates remain steadier when a newer radar frame arrives.
• An optional contribution note opens the in-app Donate page.

• Choose Boundaries for prominent state outlines and finer county lines on a plain map. Light, Dark and Follow app theme are available, with optional city labels.
• Coverage includes Alaska and Hawaii. Existing weather layers and saved radar frames remain available.

• Small priority queues reduce repeated cache searches while preserving visible-frame priority and reuse of recently visited areas.
• Android workers can read saved radar files concurrently. iOS updates cache usage order without searching the full list. Existing retention and size limits remain in place.

• Easy mode offers Storms, Clouds and Wind presets. Advanced mode keeps individual products, outlooks, filters and display controls.
• New warnings appear without waiting for slower outlook layers. Interrupted downloads receive a bounded retry, and failed refreshes keep saved, unexpired outlines visible with a clear status.
• Refresh checks warning data independently of the latest radar image.

• Animated wind trails follow NOAA forecast speed and direction in the lower 48, Alaska and the Aleutians. They pause while the map moves and use less drawing work on slower devices.
• Turn precipitation radar off while keeping wind, satellite or warnings visible. Wind and radar each show their own data time.
• Widget backgrounds now use Transparency: 0% solid, 100% transparent. Text, controls and weather data stay visible.

• Add surface wind or gust shading with adjustable transparency, direction symbols and NOAA legends, including Alaska.
• Show NOAA/WPC fronts and high/low pressure centers with their analysis time. Separate controls let you choose the context you need.

• Reuse unchanged warning shapes and redraw only what changed. Nearby-area checks make warning taps cheaper while preserving help for narrow warning polygons.
• Release display resources when tiles leave the view while keeping downloaded radar bytes available for playback and revisiting an area.

• Choose NOAA visible imagery in daylight or infrared imagery day and night. Satellite retains its own scan time while radar plays.
• Automatic coverage includes Alaska through the global mosaic, with its slower delivery clearly labeled.

• Move SPC labels away from busy contours while a line points back to the area. Open outlook discussion text and matching official maps for sharing.
• City labels, hazard filters and overlay appearance controls bring the phone radar closer to the browser experience.

• Choose separate Categorical, Tornado, Hail and Wind layers for SPC Days 1 and 2. Day 3 and Days 4–8 stay independently selectable.
• Searchable layer groups and a fixed Close button make controls easier to find.

• Day 1–3 categorical risks and a separate Day 3 severe-weather probability layer join the individually selectable Day 4–8 outlooks.
• Relevant legends, issue times and validity help distinguish severe-weather risk from rain chance.

• Android testers can send feedback without an email app. Review the message, choose whether to include diagnostics or a reply address, and keep a receipt reference.
• Failed sends preserve the draft. Reports are sent only when you choose; email, sharing and copy options remain available.

• Add a compact Android radar widget with its own location, zoom, product, map theme and opacity. Play recent radar inside the widget.
• Tapping a widget opens the matching forecast section or radar view. Settings now gives feedback and bug reports a prominent shortcut.

• Refresh current conditions independently of the daily forecast. Repeated taps share the same check and keep the last reading visible.
• Compare nearby observation stations, show the source, age and distance, and include nearby stations missing from the NWS point list.
• Keep the current-weather background and refresh messages steady while data changes.

• Eight expandable groups, current-setting summaries and offline search replace a long list of controls. Distinct group headers make nested options easier to recognize.
• Close and All groups stay available while scrolling. Closed groups do not render their controls.

• Tap an hourly point for its exact temperature and rain/snow chance, then open Show selected hour for the complete forecast.
• Clear a selection with another tap, by tapping outside the graph, or with Clear selection. Enlarged text moves details below the chart so axis labels remain readable.

• Reuse unchanged weather snapshots, date formatters and radar inputs. Keep recently visited areas in the session cache while moving large cached provider responses out of working memory.
• Prepare Android forecast-widget images and encrypted-backup keys on bounded native workers. Keep the previous widget image visible while its replacement is prepared.
• Saved forecasts and radar retention remain in place, including reuse after reopening the app.

• Choose an Android weather notification or a compact status-bar temperature, with a manual refresh action. Both reuse saved weather and the same background schedule.
• Compact Current conditions and Next 24 hours widgets support compatible lock-screen hosts as well as the home screen. Lock-screen support depends on the device and launcher.
• Keep saved conditions during quick repeated refreshes, and improve returning to Forecast from the notification while Radar is open.

• Keep map position steady during quick consecutive drags and zooms.
• Preserve alert taps while neighboring hazard areas load, and retain reference boundaries in marine-alert infographics.

• Use the official NWS NDFD service when the main forecast API is unavailable, with a clear alternate-source label. Keep saved forecasts if both services fail.
• Choose compact temperature, hourly, daily and rain widgets for small squares or wide strips.
• Review lightweight app-data totals on the device, choose a short retention period, and share a report only when you want to.

• Track unfinished tiles instead of repeatedly scanning completed work. Skip full cache-expiry checks until they are needed, and share simultaneous Android requests for the same radar tile.
• Keep cached playback, recent-area reuse, visible-tile priority and cancellation. These improvements reduce repeated processing and duplicate transfers; they are not a promise of faster weather-provider responses.
• Add radar-widget setup previews and per-widget map themes. Preserve the previous preview during repeated loads, and make small warning areas easier to tap.

• Resizable Android radar widgets support Reflectivity or Composite, a chosen zoom and location, map opacity, latest-scan display and bounded in-widget playback.
• Move radar-widget file and image work to a native worker, reuse parsed catalogs, and avoid repeated notification and cache work.
• Explain optional permissions on first launch and in Settings. Copy alert infographics through the Android clipboard, with tighter image and incoming-link limits.

• Pause history planning during map gestures, reuse matching tile plans, and update only changed hazard layers.
• Combine widget updates and redraw only when the data or appearance changes. Cached radar and forecast details remain available.

• Edit saved-place names or move a location using search, GPS or a map. Review the new point before saving; linked widgets keep their connection to the saved place.
• An optional Android weather notification provides forecast, refresh and settings actions, using a roughly 30-minute background schedule subject to device limits.

• Saving, canceling or backing out of widget settings opened from the gear returns to the home screen while preserving the main app view.

• Backups start encrypted with a passphrase you choose. Readable JSON is optional and asks for confirmation each time.
• Choose settings and individual saved locations. Restore selected items without deleting unrelated places.
• A protected, local 24-hour undo record helps reverse a restore on Android. Browser undo lasts only for the session.

Keep your passphrase safely: Sonny and Robo cannot recover it. Local or cloud destinations are selected through your device’s file and share tools.

• Choose a dark or light palette and background opacity for each Android widget.
• Full-width graphs preserve temperature points and rain chances. Text and graph colors stay visible as the background fades.
• Clearer location-first setup, sample preview backgrounds and instructions for changing appearance after placement.

Matching time-stamped NOAA and RainViewer tiles can be reused for up to 90 minutes after download, within the existing storage limits. The app still checks the provider’s current timeline and shows scan timestamps. This does not enable background downloads.

Close, Top, Bottom and a section picker remain available while scrolling Settings. Choose which preference groups and locations to back up or restore. Current builds add the encryption protections described above.

• Light and dark app themes, grouped with descriptions; a separate map choice for Light, Dark or Match theme.
• Seven Android home-screen widgets: current weather, hourly, seven-day, and rain over 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours.
• Individually selectable SPC day 4–8 outlook layers and improvements to watch/warning refreshes and map gestures.
• Text or infographic alert sharing, plus image copying on supported devices.
• Earlier testing included optional Philippines forecasts. Philippines services and FreeLightning are excluded from the current launch build while provider access is arranged.