The Weather Channel has revamped its iPhone and iPod touch application to make it more personalized and relevant, with display live tiles on the home screen providing users with immediate access to radar, forecasts and new video.

The app also offers users an immediate view of when to expect rain to start and stop. Jeep is the exclusive partner for the app?s new branded background, an immersive full-screen unit with the app offering weather-triggered, dayparted creative.

?We know from talking to our users that they rely on our apps for the information necessary to plan their day,? said Nico Du Plessis, senior director of mobile and tablets at The Weather Channel, Atlanta, GA. ?This is reflected in the new design and user interface, which puts the most vital information on the home screen while making it simple and intuitive to get the details that many weather enthusiasts look for.

?One of the most requested features is now available to our users informing them when rain will start and stop in the next six hours,? he said.

?Also, we continue to see a growing trend in how users engage with our apps through video, and we are now surfacing the most important and latest videos to watch from the home screen.?

Precipitation tab
When users launch the app they immediately are presented with the current conditions, including temperature, overlaid on a weather triggered background image that is locally relevant to the current conditions.

Users have the option to expand their current weather conditions for more information on wind, humidity etc.

A new precipitation tab appears when rain or snow is expected during the next six hours providing a narrative description of weather conditions, such as ?expect rain until 4 p.m.,? or ?snow starting at 7:15 a.m.?

On the top of the screen a new navigation bar takes users directly to hourly, 36-hour and 10-day forecasts and on the bottom of the screen the most relevant local content is surfaced through live tile buttons including live local radar, the latest weather videos and updated pollen or seasonal information.

Enhanced video viewing
The new home screen and the overall navigation have been redesigned to provide easy access to the most relevant information to the user.

?We also believe that users should be in control of various options and we continue to give users the option within the settings of the app to change the weather backgrounds with their own customized backgrounds that could be their own photos of their kids, pets etc.,? Mr. Du Plessis said.

The Weather Channel App for iPhone and iPod touch is available for free from the Apple App Store. An ad-free version ? The Weather Channel Max App ? is also available for $3.99. For more details and to view a video, visit www.weather.com/apps/iphone.

?The biggest improvement is a new rain start/stop tab that appears when rain or snow is expected during the next six hours, with a narrative description of weather conditions, ie. ?expect rain until 5 p.m.,? or ?snow starting at 9:15 a.m.,?? Mr. Du Plessis said.

?Other consumer-facing improvements include a cleaner design for faster navigations through the new live tiles on the home screen which give quick access to live local radar, the latest must-see videos and local pollen levels,? he said.

?We also improved the user experience of our video player with an enhanced viewing experience.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York