For users going from v1 to v2: As you explore the new look and feel of the app, rest assured that all previous features remain—and we've added many more! With time, you will become highly proficient.
Update Your Rain Settings: In the past you may have adjusted "Precipitation Intensity" and "Confidence Threshold.". To do this in the new app:
Q: Where is the RainClock?
A: There are 2 clocks: Rain & Forecast.
Q: Where is the "Next 12 hour" rain bar (old app: under clock)
A: This bar shares the same area as the "Today/Tonight" forecast under the clock.
If not visible, go to the RainClock, or, tap the large "temperature" badge at top right of app. It acts as a toggle. Tap again to see Today's forecast snippet.
Q: I paid before, why does it have locked features?
A: You still have the paid version, but there is an additional subscription tier above that.
Q: I'm not getting any alerts yet.
A: You must go to Settings > Notifications & Alerts and allow permission one time.
Please see the below information, or, contact us in the app. We are eager to help you get the most out of your powerful new app!
Upon installation, you must enable the alerting function. Tap the Settings icon at the bottom of the screen, then choose "Notifications & Alerts" and enable permissions when asked. Now you will receive notifications based on your criteria.
Tip: Too Many Alerts? Increase Alert Frequency toward "Rare" levels or turn some of them off.
Note: Weather is quite changeable, and sometimes timing may be off. Rain times are a best-guess by the automated system. You can mitigate this by adjusting your Precipitation Intensity and Confidence Threshold Values (tap the rain settings icon at the bottom of the main screen, adjust sliders). For power users, adjust precipitation motion via the RainTime Pro Tool (subscription feature).
By default, if precipitation threatens, you will see the RainClock with start/end times above. If no precipitation is expected, you will see the Forecast Clock. However, you can manually switch between the two at any time by tapping the "3 hr" (RainClock) or "8 day" (Forecast) buttons.
Setting: If you prefer to ALWAYS see one or the other, go to Settings > Buttons..., and choose "Weathermap & Clock At Startup." Then flip the first switch.
Tip: Move the clock hand for a readout. You can also long press either of the buttons to reveal a "sleek switch", if you prefer.
Forecast Bar and 36-hr Mini Graphs: On the main clock screen, tap the temperature badge to toggle the forecast bar to graph mode. Swipe your finger across the graph to obtain a data readout. Tap the arrow on the right side of the graph to cycle through data types. To get back to the forecast bar, tap the temperature badge again.
Badges (new): Aside from the temperature badge (always present in upper-right), additional badges will show up around the outside of the RainClock (top-center, upper-left, lower left, lower right). These badges only show when SIGNIFICANT weather changes are forecast in the next 3 hours, including:
The rain gauge badge is a bit different, and indicates significant precipitation accumulating over the next 36 hours.
Setting: You can adjust the badge thresholds by going to Settings > Main Clock Screen > Badges For Sig..., then adjust the sliders for each weather type. A lower value means the badge is more likely to show (less total change required).
Nearest Weather Observation Ticker: To pause the ticker, long press on the ticker bar to pause cycling. If you see a "nearest" icon (Rain, Lightning, Report), tapping the icon will navigate the app to that interesting area.
Background Pictures: Not just for decoration, RainAware attempts to match the weather outside to an assortment of roughly 40 weather situations.
Local vs UTC Timestamp: If in Standard mode, long press the timestamp to toggle between local and UTC time. If in Expert mode, simply tap.
There are many ways to view the weather map from the startup screen...
See-through to map: Long press the blue globe at the clock center to toggle the background weather images. While in see-through mode, the center icon now has play/stop animation controls.
Change Imagery (Radar, Satellite, etc): Tap the image text at the lower left to reveal the full list.
Shortcut: Long press the |< or >| buttons toward the top of the screen to cycle through image types without using the menu.
Temporary Turbo Loop: Long press the > or < buttons for a burst of animation speed.
Permanent Turbo: Long press the "play" button. A fire icon appears, indicating that when pressed, turbo looping will occur. Note: Prolonged turbo looping will use more power.
Fullscreen Map: While viewing the map in portrait orientation, long press the "map centering" icon in the upper left (the button next to the RainAware icon) to reveal the fullscreen icon. When in fullscreen mode, the exit button will be in the lower-left corner.
Tip: If you feel the fullscreen exit button is too obtrusive, long press it to change the opacity.
Change Locator Readout: At the top center of the screen is the locator, which depicts the location of the screen center (+ icon). Tapping the locator at the top center will toggle through Nearest City > County > Nearest Weather Observation.
Temporarily Hide Center + Icon: Simply long press the locator at the top center to hide the map center icon.
Show/Hide Map Overlays: Long press the layers toggle button, bottom center of the screen.
Show/Hide Radar Background Map: While viewing a radar image, long-press on the lower-left menu (e.g., "Radar Mosaic"). This will show a solid gray background.
Colorized Visible/Daytime Imagery: While viewing Visible Imagery (Clouds Day), long-press the image name in lower-left menu. Or, tap to expand the menu, then tap the palette icon. This will add color to high clouds tops. Long press again to turn off.
Filter Storm Cells: Long press the blue storm track icon in the overlays tray. Filtered means only showing cells with hail or rotation, while unfiltered will show even small cells (can be noisy). Storm cells are filtered by default.
Change Surface Plot Size: Long press the surface observation icon in the overlays tray (e.g., 75/57). This will cycle through various sizes. Smaller plots will show more stations without zooming in.
Toggle Lightning Blinking: Long press the lightning icon in the overlays tray.
Toggle Off Non-Critical Advisories: By default, the blue triangle shows all watches, warnings, and advisories, typically county outlined areas. Long pressing the blue triangle will hide all but critical warnings. The triangle will then be orange.
There are several ways to build a list of favorite locations.
Tip: If you see the "Home" icon on your main RainClock screen, it means the app is "at" another location. Similarly, the locator at the top of the screen will have a different font color. Tap the home icon to return to base.
At top center of screen, you will see your location name including latitude & longitude.
Note: If the locator text is blue, it indicates the app is at a browsed location. Tap "home" icon to return to using your device location.
If the locator text is yellow, it indicates you have manually set your "home" location, in which case, no "home" icon will appear.
Tip: Tap the locator area to toggle between nearest City, County, or Surface Station. You can set your preference in Settings > Buttons... > Map Readouts.
Tap the "gear" icon at the bottom. This may seem overwhelming at first, but in the end, you'll have a highly customized app. Please contact us via email from within the app (tap Settings, then scroll to bottom and tap "Contact") if you need assistance.
Saving Settings: Map settings made from within the Settings menu are "remembered", while changes made by tapping toggles and tray icons are only for the session.
Example: You are viewing Radar, and toggle surface observations to off. That change will not be remembered next time you start the app, unless you turn them off in Settings > Radar Image Defaults.
Per-Image Settings: Map overlay preferences are saved on a "per image type" basis, meaning when you switch imagery, it will recall what you had on that particular view (satellite vs radar and so on).
RainAware runs in edge-to-edge mode. To reveal the navigation bar and exit, you can:
The best part! Run RainAware on a tablet (and soon macOS and Windows), or, cast to a big screen and behold a larger weather map. Perfect for monitoring weather across a large area.