This app has not been updated in over a year. They have a new meteorologist and the app still shows the old one that left back in May. Plus it can’t get my current location right. I get alerts for counties on each side plus below.
Edit: Haven't looked at this review in a long while so hadn't seen the developer response that "it isn't the intent of WRAL to 'force' anyone to go online to do anything". Sad to say, that part has only gotten worse. The detailed video is what I'm talking about and now you can only get a brief video without going to the Live News and Weather and wait for the ads to play. In a severe weather event the app and WRAL seem to have improved the availability, otherwise I'm likely to miss the video weather - but I can always find it at ABC 11, so I'm good. (End of updated review, May 2019) WRAL weather reporting is good because of the expertise of the the weather staff. This new app is disappointing because it's clear that it intentionally forces users to go to WRAL online to get in depth reporting, especially video reporting (join us at WRAL online for the details'). When you go to WRAL online you get 10 minutes of ads before you can see any report, weather or anything. That's really bad in a severe weather event. I know you have to pay for things, but it's so much that busy people will walk away. Isn't that what a mobile weather app is all about? Busy people turning to a quick look at the weather? Too bad I too often have to miss the details and go to another source for them.
I miss the old layout of the 7 day forecast. The new version has WAY too many ads. I dislike the fixed portrait orientation and haven’t found a way to adjust it to landscape for my iPad. I also can’t seem to get a good setting on the “special weather bulletin” alerts. I want to know if there is bad weather coming or maybe thick fog in the morning, but I don’t want to get alerts for every time the wind blows or all night long while I’m trying to sleep. I checked the other alerts I want to get, but if there is a special weather statement concerning, say, air quality, and I don’t have “air quality” checked, I still get the alert. The last round of storms we had roll through, I had to finally shut off the audible alerts because they were going off almost every 30 min for lightning advisory updates and flash flood advisories. I don’t need that at 3:00 in the morning, especially since the storm had already passed my area! It would be nice if there was a way to set a schedule for muting non-emergency audible alerts especially if one chooses the special bulletin alerts.
After having this app and trusting it for years and years, my patience is growing thin with the most recent “update!” With the update a few weeks ago: IControl Radar most times will NOT allow me to see which way a storm cell is moving and the associated timeline for when it will affect my location. A big miss, WRAL! The app takes forever to load sometimes, so much so that I just close it and use a competitor’s app. Initially, it was a significant drain on battery power. A little improvement has been experienced since the update download, but still power hungry. AND NOW, the Weather Feed is not updated. Last update was 6 days ago! Not helpful. So, it seems that the app is getting worse instead of better! I was trying to be patient while bugs were fixed but apparently more are being created. Cannot understand why WRAL would use an app developer that has caused a really good app historically to be one that I’m considering deleting across all of my devices. I have only one left to delete. Why WRAL?!
Not only did the update delete all of my preset locations it also deleted many of the settings. You can no longer see where there is lightning within a storm system and you can no longer see little icons of each of your presets in relationship to each other and the storm. You also can’t control the transparency of the storm system in the iControl feature making it hard to determine where these major storm bands really are! Also, forget about zooming/moving the iControl screen around because it will get stuck in buffer mode and you won’t be able to bring it back without restarting the app. I have always loved this app and it is typically far superior in terms of information compared to any others but this update is disappointing. Edit: I did find a way to adjust the opacity but it doesn’t let you slide the icon and clicking the little dots caused it to freeze. Also, I am unimpressed as I have been reading through other similar complaints that everyone for the last 2 years has received the same response to their concerns.
This app used to be the gold standard of weather app. Over the past 2+ years the quality of the app and its content have declined substantially reducing the value and local relevance. First the blog posts which were a great way to get a view to important topics either current or to the forecast were eliminated. Next the icontrol radar which was geolocated with the ability to play a loop so you can see where rain has been and is headed no longer does either. The app is now no better than the national apps. I’m not sure if it’s budget cuts or a strategy to get people to view their broadcasts but the way people consume information has changed and this app now has almost no value. Boo Capital Broadcasting. You were an innovator now your a has been. ETA: thanks to the developer for the note. Reply: the “blog” was a feed that was at the bottom of the app below the recording from the meteorologist. There would be an entry or two per shift depending on the weather that day. We noticed the updates stopped a couple of months ago then the whole section was eliminated.
The tech support is terrible. I’ve emailed several times to tell them about issues with this app for months and nobody fixes the issues not do they respond. I travel a lot and it’s important to me to know what the weather is in many cities in NC. This app gives you the option to save several cities in a favorites list and you can then swipe left through these cities to see the weather, but not anymore. You can swipe left and the weather will change, but the city name doesn’t change and you have no idea what city you’re in. So you may try to open your favorite cities list and tap on the city you want to see. It will change cities but then the weather doesn’t change from the first city in the list. It stays on that first city. I’ve emailed a couple times about this over a period of months and nobody cares at WRAL. I guess I’m going to have to download WTVD 11 app because according to another disappointed reviewer Channel 11 app works great.
I just switched over to WRAL from The Weather Channel because I was getting sick of the ads from TWC. All was going well until my app updated today. I guess they updated accessibility for large print users (I'm visually impaired), but didn't fully test it out. Half of the information on my screen is large print, as it should be, but I can only see half of what each thing says. At least some of the major info is still visible, but it almost makes me want to go back to TWC if I can't get the full weather info. I'd be more than happy to send screenshots or share accessibility info with the app devs. Hoping to see this get fixed soon. Edit: It's been several months since WRAL said they were aware of the issue and it still isn't fixed. I do like using WRAL compared to the other weather apps I've tried, but I would like to see the large print compatibility get fixed sometime soon. Thanks.
I have a iPhone 13Pro & 500 Mbps internt …. Ok let’s do the review: from my perspective the Ole WRAL weather app. Was much more user friendly & worked on the first try 90+ % of the time. The new app: is very slow loading & will not always load the first try. Location I add locations but can only access the first 4 or so. The screen will not slide down ,to access the complete list of locations in my favorites. Also trying to delete a location is a hassle!!! Radar will never open the first time ever. ( I Always need to open , close & reopen) Also when trying to look ahead on radar for storm movement & time, this function only works when it feels like it.. I have been following WRAL TV for 17 years & have had the apps, WRAL News also, for Several Years.. I think WRAL did a disservice to loyal followers but getting rid of a perfectly awesome functioning Weather app & replacing it with an inferior program…
WRAL has a great weather team and excellent track record in keeping the Triangle informed and prepared for weather events. When I “cut the cable” I didn’t realize how much I would miss WRAL’s weather forecasts. This app has filled the information gap exceedingly well — better than the broadcast format because I can use the app to check weather conditions where family and friends live as well as local conditions. Because the weather can vary so greatly within a 100 miles, the ability to easily access long-range forecast for other locations is invaluable when making travel plans. The only disappointing aspect of the app has been the lack of tracking info on potential tropical storms and hurricanes — that is, I wish the app gave more early warning info on those events.
I’ve really tried to like this app. I usually watch WRAL news. I do like the daily summary of the weather but a lot of times it isn’t accurate. To be fair I also have other weather apps and they also suffer from accuracy. The stock IPhone weather app seems to get it right most of the time. After living with this app for several months, I deleted it. I could never count on it getting the forecast right. When it called for rain, it didn’t rain. When it called for no rain, it rained. WRAL had an article on their website about why your default weather app shows different forecast than WRAL. In short the stock weather app operates on an algorithm. There isn’t a trained meteorologist involved like with WRAL. I reinstalled to give this app another chance. My stock IPhone app is showing rain. That is accurate. It is rain. WRAL is showing no rain, just fog. It is pouring down and has been for hours. I’ve deleted this app again.
When I first opened the newly downloaded app it was a blank white screen. I got very frustrated because this was my go-to weather app before the new update. I was getting ready to make a scene but I closed it out and opened it back up and everything worked flawlessly. Glad I didn’t open my big mouth. Lol! It just needed time to download on my phone and I’m very pleased now. If you try to get into parts of the app too fast though it does confuse it a bit. So let it load up before clicking all over the app. Can’t complain though. I was impatient. 😉 There are a LOT of ads. They repeat with every click. If I HAVE to watch ads I’d like them to be tailored to something I’m interested in.
I have relied on the WRAL Weather app for years, but have been very disappointed in the some recent changes. 1) On the i-control radar view, 9 times out of 10 there's an add covering the time-lapse controls. I have to close the app, reopen it, and hope the ads don't cover them again. 2) When opening the app, the intro/splash page is displayed for too long. I want to get to the weather without waiting for an unhelpful splash screen (although we do appreciate the smiling faces of our weather folks!). Also, it seems that immediate severe weather notifications only pop-up up if you're located within the exact dimensions of the NWS designated area. Be nice to have an option for warnings within X miles of my location. For example, I only live a few miles from where the tornado touched down in Rocky Mount in July, but received no notifications since I wasn't in the NWS "cone." I didn't have a clue it had happened until someone called me that afternoon. Thanks for your consideration and for providing such a handy and helpful app!
Much better with the last update which no longer reloads the app every 5 min just to update your location. The 5 sec reload was driving me crazy. Because of that I downloaded about 6 other highly rated weather apps and tested them for a few weeks but they all had issues or were lacking info. WRAL Weather is actually the best I found. iControl Radar is awesome & covers the full continental US. Its 6 hr history is great to to track storms. Also like the Almanac and found lake levels under “Around the State” to check drought conditions.
I used to love this app. With the latest update (May 2023), I no longer care to use this app, especially on my iPad. The 7-day forecast, instead of a concise 1-page overview of the week, has been replaced with each day described in a paragraph, so now you have to page through about 5 pages to see the weekly forecast (iPhone still displays the 1-page weekly overview). Oh, and when the app starts up, you now have to view the picture of the WRAL staff for an extended period….which I find annoying. I will be searching for another weather app to replace this one. This used to be a great app, now I would not recommend it.
It’s an ok app considering there are far better radar images from smaller cities than here. I wish y’all could do things like I’m going to try and post. It shows tracks, temperature, tornadoes, rain, lightning, hail, rotation, slow moving or fast moving. You can do all the zoom things that Icontrol can do, but shows better. It’s an all in one radar instead of having 20 different radars, it’s just one. Well it won’t let me upload a pic of what I’m talking about. It’s the KFDA weather app if you want to look. That’s the only thing I’d change to your app. The rest is good.
The app won’t let you swipe between locations anymore. The data doesn’t change when you do. It’s only your current location. Also, the icontrol radar rarely loads the time feature at the bottom so you can see the movement of storms. Just redownloaded it hoping for improvements and nothing changed. Push notifications and alerts don’t come through anymore either. For a channel that still advertises for us to download the weather app, they definitely haven’t made improvements so we’ll actually keep using it. Because right now, I’m going to download something else. This is ridiculous.
I got a notification that they added landscape mode for iPads, and they did. I guess it's a start, and thanks to WRAL for fixing that problem. One star added. Now, get busy on the rest. Ditch the constant need to use that miserable dropdown menu with the tiny three bar icon There's plenty of white space for a separate icon for everything in the menu. Then, put a nice Home icon (and call it Home, not Now) on every screen. That gives us two tap access to every screen. Next, This is a weather app, not art class. Don't put thin blue fonts on on a cloudy blue background (for rain, I guess.) Legible contrast and larger fonts don't cost any more. Thanks in advance.
This app was very reliable but now not so much . Whats Happen ? Here it is hurricane season iphone 14 push notifications wont work and when they do which is spotty at best theres no alert tone . Have spent hours of working on this issue . Even have reset the phone to its factory settings like new out of the box still same issue . The wife has same phone it worked about 1 week now its doing the same thing . Went to westher bug and guess what no issues . Come on wral i like this app lets get this worked out people depend on this app . Also spent time on the phone with apple yep you got it they say its the app .
I have use the WRAL Weather app every day for five or so years. The recently updated version is horrible. it often doesn’t launch, and when it does, there is a 5-second lag showing a photo of the weather team. This is annoying and seems excessive. The weather feed is lacking components and often is days behind. Half of the time the radar won’t show time lapse. The functionality of the new app is disappointing. I have been getting my weather from WRAL since Greg Fishel was a young buck. I’m super bummed that I will have to go elsewhere for this information.
I have used this weather app for several years, and it has just become too “busy”. The push notifications do not work and supposedly this is an issue being worked on. Push notifications are needed for weather alerts, ya think?? The radar has issues when zooming in, and when opening the app the screen pauses for 5-10 seconds displaying a photo of the meteorological team. I don’t need to see that. Just display the weather, get rid of the ridiculous amount of ads, and fix the push notifications for weather alerts.
This new app is not nearly as good as the original weather alert app. Everything I needed was on one screen with easy access to the radar and the storm centers. So much easier to read and use. Please bring it back. I did receive your response and in answer I have been over the new app many times and seen all its features. It is still does not hold a candle to the old app which was simple, easier to use, with everything you need on one page, and without the ads. I’ve downloaded the weather channel app which I think is better than the wral new app. I’ll keep your new app on my phone simply to be able to receive the weather alerts.
I work on the road all over central and eastern NC and if there is ever a warning it notifies me for my current location and not just your pre-selected areas. So now I can rest assured that no matter where I am I will know what’s about to happen. A great thing for someone fearful of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. Just FYI I was in the tornado that went thru Mt. olive march of 1984 and was a scared child hence the fear as an adult. Great app and especially great to hear Greg’s voice instead of the NWS loud tones and digitized voice.
Did used to be maintained well with more frequent updates. Now in the last storms doesn’t have frequent updates. Whoever’s in charge of the videos is doing a crappy job with the audio where the level often is inconsistent or too low. I’m just really disappointed that you advertise it as a major weather and you aren’t doing a better job with more frequent updates. But you seem to be doing very well and making sure there’s plenty of advertisement.
I really enjoyed and used the previous WRAL Weather Alert app and was excited that it was being updated to a larger app with more features...what a disappointment!!! More is definitely not better and even more disappointed that even the portions that I used daily don’t work as well as what I used on the old app. An example is the icontrol radar. It takes forever to load, the time frame is smaller and if you move to another state, you start the process all over again. That being said, I’ve downloaded AccuWeather and The Weather Channel both of these work better than WRAL’s. Sorry to say if that’s the best you can do, I’m out of here.
After last update, half of the degree numbers at top upon opening are gone…due to the fact I use a larger font in my iPad settings. When I dial down font size, it becomes whole….at the expense of smaller font/hard to see. I have a screenshot of how it appears. Top half is gone w/font in a larger state. Updates w/out checking what it does to accessibility items is a pet peeve of mine. Update: I’ve noticed it’s the LOCATION BAR in the way, maybe allow to minimize location.
App doesn’t launch on first try, gets stuck at the opening photo of the meteorologist team. Have to close the app and re-launch. Usually opens on 2nd or 3rd try. Time-lapse on radar doesn’t launch on first try either. Have to back out of radar and then re-launch radar. Time lapse option usually shows up on 2nd or 3rd try. I love the WRAL Weather app, but these problems have become annoying to the point that I’m relying on other weather apps now.
This weather app does not feel like all the others that offer generic forecasts and no personality. I like the voice alerts from Greg Fishel, the useful graphics in the Weather Feed and the headline over the 7-day forecast that tells me the most important weather trend for the area. Also, the radar loads more quickly and let’s me see where storms are going next.
Comments from one year ago and from my experience, this app is excessively slow to load and that is still true today in July 2024. It always acts as though it has just been installed when you start the app, even if it has not been that long since you used it last. Additionally, the radar consistently comes up without the time slider until you close the radar and reopen it. It has been like this now for months and is unforgivable. For these reasons, you might as well look somewhere else.
This new app is missing some items that I liked about the old app. It no longer gives you the sun rising and sun setting times. The daily temperature also is now on a sliding scale that is not easy to maneuver. You can no longer tell what the temperature will be at a certain time just quickly glancing at the times. Bring those things back and it would be a not so bad app. Haven’t heard or seen any weather warnings yet so don’t know if that has changed. Hopefully NOT!
I used to love this weather app! When using iRadar, the function to press play to see the direction storms are moving has disappeared. I wrote in a few years ago when it broke, and received a quick response that it’s a bug in their software. Well it’s been a few years now and still not fixed. I have removed the app and reinstalled a few times. But hasn’t worked.
I think this new version looks nice and is easy to figure out. Plus it has a tutorial at the beginning which is very helpful. I was surprised I had to delete the old one and reload this new one but it wasn’t a bother. A little shocked, yes, but all is well. The new app is better. And the best price, FREE. 😌 I also appreciate the feature that alerts to sever weather as it arises.
Easy to use with forecast about as accurate as possible! Able to see quickly approaching storms and also have access to live Doppler radar as well as lightning. Even though we’re 60 miles away, the forecast for our area is on target.
Used to you could save several favorite locations and toggle through them to see weather in different locations. A few months ago they broke the app and have not fixed it despite reporting the problem to them. Now when you toggle through the name of th location does not change— so there’s no way to know which location you are seeing unless you memorize order as it’ll still show the last location. This was a great app/ no more!
The app has always been useful, but I have preferred using others. The latest changes are much nicer to look at, provide all the current info as well as the hour-by-hour (love the new scrolling graph) at a glance and the content loads faster. This was my new favorite as soon as I opened it.
Used to love the app. Now, I get no sound on the weather forecast and they got rid of the updates that were in text. The radar has always been overbearing, showing more rain than what’s actually getting to the ground. I imagine the video forecast will be gone altogether with the next update. As other users have mentioned, they’re trying to get more traffic to the places where they draw bigger ad $$$.
Used this app during Florence. This was such a good decision to get. It was there during the onslaught of wind and rain bands as Florence became a tropical storm, staying over us for three days. I will use this app until something better comes along. Until then, thank you to all the developers from me and my family.
Still my go-to, but was compelled to review to let you know that, with the old app, I rated a 10. The new app gets a THREE...not for design or usefulness, but because there are TOO, TOO MANY ADs! It’s so frustrating that I’ve actually downloaded the Weather Channel app. Those ads are going to cause me to delete this app one day. I hope that you can put the viewers and fans first, being perhaps the only company that does so.
This last update does look prettier, but why have you disabled landscape mode? What am I missing? Is there an option somewhere to turn it on and off? I keep my iPad in a case with a keyboard and I hate it when an app forces me to turn my tablet to portrait mode. And to make it worse, the feature I use the most is watching the video of the last forecast. Even that video will not rotate — why?
The old App worked fine to me but I understand you have to update and upgrade to keep relevant in today’s tech society. Mine doesn’t load up more than half the time. Radar glitches and doesn’t load or says “loading”. That’s the biggest issue for me is the radar. Old system I didn’t have any issues. Sometimes you just need to leave what works alone and just dress up the look!
I think the WRAL app is often correct with the weather and I do realize forecasts can change often and sometimes in a short period so I can generally know what the day will be like, AFTER waiting for the extended time with the photo of the team. I know what you look like, I don’t need to see your faces every time I open the app. Please change this!!!!!
I can’t think of anything to ask for, and mystified that anyone finds something wrong with it. Navigation could be a bit easier, but that’s only a matter of seconds in this case, and one could say the same of any app. Well done here.
This app has the temperature, cloud cover, and rainfall animation (both recent and predicted for the next hour) all readily available. It would help to have the predicted wind speed in the “at a glance” section (I kayak often), but I can find it by going into the detailed section.
The WRAL weather app has always been my go to weather app. This version is a huge disappointment. The presentation of information is cluttered, awkward to navigate and aesthetically unpleasing. The iPad version will not rotate and is nearly useless since I can only use it like a big phone. The weather radar is not really useful, but the app’s radar has been useless for the last several versions. Sorry, I just don’t like this app at all and seldom use it.
This app no longer functions like it did prior to the recent update. If I want to refresh the radar and go back to the app which is already supposed to be open, it defaults back to the main screen. Also, the current location view on the map seems to be zoomed in more which is also very annoying. I know I preferred the old app in the way it function.
I have used this app for years and liked it. Recently it is not up to date, it gives previous days weather and data. It never did this before. I have to turn off the iPad and to restart it which I never had to do before. I did uninstall it and reinstall it and that did not help. In general I like the app but giving it low ratings for attention.
Why does the app need all those faces looking at me for 5 seconds when it loads? If it even needs a 5 second delay to load, show some weather image or something. I think you could shorten the load time anyway to 1-2 seconds, which makes a weather image or logo seem more appropriate.
Never get notifications like I use to. I have it turned on in the notifications settings. I have tried removing app & adding back & going through the set up & location settings but still don’t receive notifications & can’t add it to the homepage as for quick reference. I still use the app for everything but it does have some hiccups in it.
I like the old app better for the Doppler 5000. You basically could look at anywhere in the world at the touch of a finger. You didn’t have to worry about the plus or minus crap. You could zoom in very precisely in literally a split second to keep up with the weather anywhere at any time! So far I like the details of the rest of it but I’m still trying to figure it out.
During recent winter storms, this app has the most complete and most accurate information in the NC Triangle. The other local station apps are not as complete and detailed. The Weather Channel app is good, but not as accurate as local forecasts.
Get local forecasting from WRAL's six full-time meteorologists and Raleigh's own local weather radar - the DualDoppler5000. Our team's in-depth knowledge of North Carolina’s weather combines with our own doppler radar to give you forecasts that are simply inaccessible to generic national weather apps. Stay up to date on upcoming weather with push notifications or voice alerts for your current location. Use our network of webcams to get a visual on the weather in different locations across Eastern North Carolina. Keep current on the weather for multiple saved locations, but always see the weather for your current location first. Use our Radar to see the cloud cover detected by our DualDoppler, and use the 1-hour forecast to see where the clouds are headed next. The WRAL App Features: Today’s Weather Forecast · Hourly forecasts for your current location · Accurate 7-day forecast · Written forecasts from the meteorologists you trust · Pre-recorded video forecasts are available on-demand iControl Radar · Radar updates · Customized for your current location Live · Check the DualDoppler5000 · Watch live weather reports every 10 minutes on WRAL News+ Additional Features · ReportIt – report weather you see · Hurricane Center · Live traffic and city cameras · Weather news · Around the state weather · Almanac · Closings & Delay
