Topic: WU Android phone app.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

I received an answer regarding the log in to remove ads, this is the conversation:
JAN 07, 2020  |  06:43PM EST
Original message
Roger wrote:

Will there be a way to sign in with my Weather Underground login to disable ads?

JAN 08, 2020  |  08:48AM EST
Victoria replied:

Hi, Roger!

Our web log in credentials are no longer connected to mobile log in credentials. You may use the same account settings (email, password), but the web will not know about payments or changes on mobile platforms and vice versa.

If I have misunderstood your question, please let me know. Thank you for using Weather Underground!

—Victoria
JAN 07, 2020  |  06:43PM EST
Original message
Roger wrote:

Will there be a way to sign in with my Weather Underground login to disable ads?
I think that you will need to purchase the app and that there will not be a way to get a no-ads version unless you purchase it.

[ocala]

Purchase the app?
Good luck with that. 

[PaulHutch]

I still had 4 months left on my old WU subscription but I went ahead and signed up in the v6 app. The WU subscription is now handled by Google along with my other Android app subscriptions in the Play Store. Then when I looked in the "Your Membership" section in the "Member Settings" on the WU web site it now shows me a new expiration date in 2021.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

According to the reply, as I understand it, the WU app and your WU ad-free subscription for your dashboard are not connected. If you have a reporting station your WU ad-free dashboard page should automatically extend but will not extend ad-free to the app.

[PaulHutch]

Yeah, reading what you'd been told by Victoria didn't match my experience. After paying for the Android subscription I was a little surprised that I had to re-login on the website on my PC. Then when I went to look at the website subscription the expiration date had changed from 5/16/20 to 1/2/21 (I paid for the Android subscription on 1/3/20). So I assumed they'd linked the two systems so that one $20 payment per year covers both.

[galfert]

Maybe my coffee hasn't kicked in yet...but I'm lost folks 

Do we know how the new app works in terms of getting rid of ads? Has anyone successfully removed the ads on with the new app? If yes how what needs to be done?

[PaulHutch]

I removed ads using an option in the app settings on Jan 3rd. The Google Play Store handled the whole transaction and now under settings is a "Manage Subscriptions" option that takes me to the Google Play Store page for my WU subscription.

[galfert]

Well I can't figure this out. I don't have any subscriptions with Google Play currently. It seems though that any subscription is handled by the given app itself within it. I don't see any way in the app to subscribe though.

Running WU app version 6.1.1 (no updates showing in Play Store)
I never signed up for beta
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S8
Android 9

When I open the WU app in setting I see Manage Subscription.
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After clicking on Manage Subscription, I see this screen about Discovering subscriptions. All I can do is click on Get Started
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After clicking on Get Started I see to Explorer to subscriptions. I can search for WU app and find it.
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After finding WU app I can see it is already installed and there is only an option to Open to launch it. I can also click on the app name to get more details.
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After clicking on the app to get more details, all I get is again to Open or Uninstall. Nothing anywhere about signing up for a subscription.
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[OldAlaskaGuy]

All previous versions of the app have automatically updated to the beta (6.1 +). If you scroll down the page I see under smart forecasts, is an "Upgrade Now"  button that when pressed states WeatherUnderground Premium $3.99/mo or $19.99/year

[galfert]

All previous versions of the app have automatically updated to the beta (6.1 +). The only thing I see is under smart forecasts is an "Upgrade Now"  button that when pressed states WeatherUnderground Premium $3.99/mo or $19.99/year

I don't have that. Nothing under Smart Forecasts about upgrading. The next thing after Smart Forecast is the next section which is Air Quality Index. I've looked elsewhere and I don't see anything about upgrading anything. Nor do I see anywhere to login as the old app had.

This is really frustrating. We all are seeing different versions or experiences with this new app. I suppose it wouldn't be like WU to expect any different. Geez!

I just realized something though....Even though I can't seem to Manage a Subscription....you know what?....I'm not seeing any ads with the new mobile app! (version 6.1.1) So go figure.

[OldAlaskaGuy]

Added pic to the previous post. V6.1.1 installed.

[galfert]

Added pic to previous post.

Interesting. Maybe that is the difference. It seems that adding a Smart Forecast is now a premium feature. That was free before (or free to me because I had a weather station that was uploading data which used to give us ad free on both web and mobile). I had already added a Smart Forecast item under the old version for Biking. I now still see that Biking Smart Forecast. And it works. Maybe that grandfathered me into the premium without ads?

In case anyone is wondering what this looks like (and yes it allows scrolling through the week to see more of the green bar graphs).

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[OldAlaskaGuy]

Most plausible explanation. I wonder if you could install an older version, there are links, add smart forecast, wait for it to update and see if you get the no adds version.

[galfert]

I just edited my post above to state that perhaps adding Smart Forecast was not really free before. It was maybe only free to those that had a weather station which gave you a free premium account experience with no ads. So if someone wants to try the old version then they would need to maybe sign in, then add the Smart Forecast notification event, and then proceed to upgrade to the new version of the app. I'm certainly not going to touch what I have for fear of losing what I've got going.

I just took a look at my tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 running Android 9, and there I had never set a Smart Forecast. I do see the same screen to Upgrade. I can't add a Smart Forecast. BUT....I'm not getting any ads there either!

On the tablet instead of Manage Subscriptions, what I see instead is Go Premium and if I tap that then I get the same options of $19.99/year and $3.99/month. But besides not having Smart Forecasts on the tablet I don't see a difference....since like I said I'm not getting any ads.

[Luciano_SR]

Yeah, looks like that providing PWS data will not give you a full app... For me that was a blow in the motivation to keep PWS up and feeding WU. Full access to the site isn't as important as it was an ad-free app to me. This was bad! ☹️

[galfert]

You can still get add free experience on mobile by using web browser to pull up WU to your station. You easily create a home scree shortcut icon and it looks and acts like an app. You can do this both on Android and iOS.

[Douglasdeg]

I stopped subscribing to apps a long time ago. It's a waste of money.

[Charlabried]

In GooglePlay, you can track subscriptions to any application since all transactions go through Google. The same system works in the AppStore. A few years ago, in this regard, there was even a scandal with the Telegram messenger when its developers wanted to create an internal ecosystem that allowed to make monetary transactions bypassing iOS. As a result, the project was closed, and no one managed to defeat the monopolists. I haven't used any apps for several months because I prefer dedgoogled phones now. Web pages are sometimes even more convenient than apps because they contain full functionality. Think about it.