It's been a while since we launched a new app. We've been working hard on building and testing our next app, and today I'd like to talk a bit about that process and the app we're launching.
The Problem
Weather plays a significant role in hunting and just generally in being outdoors. Now, there is no shortage of apps that present the weather. And plenty of the apps we use daily (onX, Huntwise, etc.) will give basic weather info for a location. However, using these options, we found that the non-hunting apps weren't geared enough toward hunting. The weather info presented in the hunting-based mapping apps wasn't broad enough for general everyday weather use.
We figured if we put together a weather app built around the aspects of the weather that hunters and sportsmen care about but that was general enough to use for everyday use, we'd be onto something great.
What Is a Hunting Weather App?
So what does that mean? What makes a weather app "Hunter First" and is that unique? Another way to ask the question and what we asked ourselves was, "What do hunters care about when it comes to the weather?". There are a few obvious answers to this question:
- Wind
- Chance of rain and intensity
- Temperature as it will be felt with wind chill/etc
- Sunrise, sunset, and shooting light
- Forecast for the days leading up to your hunt
- Hourly forecast throughout the hunt
Those are a few, and you may think, "well, my weather app already shows me that." Maybe it does, but how hard do you look to find it all? For example, seeing the wind forecast for the next five days isn't something that most weather apps choose to focus on, but it's something that a hunting weather app could show. The same goes for highlighting the weather forecast for exactly when you plan on being in the tree, blind, or on the move for the hunt. Again, it's just not something that makes sense for a weather app meant to serve the majority of users.
The Solution
We took all of the problems and annoyances with the existing weather apps, broke them down, thought about new solutions, and came up with Milkweed.
Our focus was on solving these fundamental problems in a more convenient and simplified way for hunters and sportsmen. And we think we've done it in a way that we can honestly say Milkweed is the best weather app for hunters and sportsmen.
Something very cool happened during the development and testing phase of Milkweed. We realized that because we're building a weather app for
What's next
We spent a lot of time building, testing, changing, and tweaking Milkweed. And now it's time for you guys and gals to help us with the next steps. We'll take your feedback and field notes and figure out the next steps and what the future looks like for Milkweed.
One obvious question we'll get is predictions, feeding times, solunar calendars, etc. We'll address that in a future blog post, as it might be something we consider adding to Milkweed.
For now, get out there and Hunt... Turkey season is just getting started!