Climate change is a reality in the 21st century. Temperature fluctuations, high-intensity storms, and hurricanes sweep the world leaving destruction in their wake. As a result, there has been a greater focus on real-time weather updates by satellites, radar stations, and computers. Climate has become a hot topic for individuals globally. In fact, there are a lot of businesses that are directly impacted by weather conditions. A few industries where weather affects business operations are aviation, logistics, agriculture, outdoor sports, and public safety, to name a few.

Accurate weather forecasts can save human lives and millions of dollars of losses. As a result, a lot of developers include weather updates in mobile apps. A lot of enterprises prefer to develop their own in-house custom apps meant to collect and process weather data relevant to their operations. If you are a developer looking to build a weather map for mobile devices, here are a few tips on how to select a suitable weather API.

What to consider when selecting a weather API for your mobile app?

While building a mobile app that pulls in weather data and historical information, you should use an API (Application Programming Interface) to do the hard work for you. It's more efficient and affordable to do this rather than looking to develop and maintain one from scratch. There are a few points to consider before selecting a weather API. These are:

The functionality it offers

The weather API that you select should do what you need it to do. Most weather APIs provide similar data but can vary in day/time formats and historical weather data they offer. However, some weather APIs can give specific data meant for certain industries. As an example, if your mobile app users are looking only for marine weather conditions, you should choose a specific weather API that gives you this data.

Ease of implementation and compatibility

The majority of weather APIs available work on RESTful architecture, with a few available on SOAP architecture. Before selecting the API you want to work with, you should evaluate how compatible the API is with the mobile app you are planning to build and how easily you can implement it. It will help if you go through the documentation that the APIs have. Some services give you in-depth guides and tutorials, while others may have sparse levels of documentation.

Reliability and responsiveness

The weather API you choose should be fast and do what you need it to do. One of the best ways to evaluate a weather API's reliability and responsiveness is to test it before you go live with your mobile app. You can go through this post: Top 6 Best Free Weather APIs to help you select a weather API for your mobile app. It is advised to run various tests after implementing the weather API in your app to ensure that it suits your needs.

In summary

Your choice of a weather API depends upon your app's goal, your preferences, the scope of the project, and finally, the budget you have. Keeping the above tips in mind will help you select a suitable weather API for your mobile app.