How to unlock weather updates on your Android smartphone with Google’s ‘hidden’ weather app

Chances are, you’ve been looking at weather updates on your smartphone pretty much every waking hour during this scorching summer season. Now, there are several options when it comes to weather apps on Android smartphones. However, Google also has its own weather app. This weather app is a little different though, in the sense that, unlike most other apps on Android smartphones, Google’s weather app is not directly available for download through the Play Store. Instead, it is hidden in your devices itself, and there is a rather nifty way to use it.  

Google weather application: How to install Google's hidden weather app on Android

You see, weather updates from Google are not available as a standalone app and are instead offered as part of the Google app. Like many other Google apps, this hidden weather app also uses the Material You design language, which not only makes it attractive but also user-friendly. If you are a fan of Google apps and their design language, you should definitely consider checking out their weather app as well. Here’s how to access it.  

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To use the hidden weather app, you will need to have the Google app installed on your device. Most Android devices come pre-installed with the Google app but if it is not available on your device then you will need to download it first from the Play Store.

Once you confirm that the Google app is already installed on your phone, you need to follow these steps to unlock Google weather application. 

Step 1: Open the Google app on your smartphone. 

Step 2: Click on the Search bar, type “weather” and hit the Search button. 

Step 3: Now, tap the three-dot icon at the top right corner of the Weather card. 

Step 4: Choose “Add to home screen.” 

Step 5: Select Add to home screen from the pop-up to add Google’s hidden weather app to your home screen. 

If you use an Android smartphone, then you must have interacted with Google’s weather widget before. This weather widget has a simple interface and informs the user about the weather in their location in a user-friendly manner. The widget though, takes up a fair bit of space on your home screen and may not be very information-dense as such. 

Google weather widgets to app

By following the above steps, you have successfully unlocked Google’s hidden weather app on your Android phone. Do note that it is essentially the widget that’s turned into a useful application. You can click on this app to open it and see the current weather for your location. 

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You can also use the app to check for hourly forecasts, the 10-day forecast, average humidity, and wind speed, among others. While you have created a shortcut for Google’s weather widget on the home screen, you can also launch it through the “At a Glance” widget if you have it on your home screen. 

If you ever want to uninstall Google’s weather app, then it is really easy. Since it is only a shortcut and not a standalone app, all you need to do is long press on the Google Weather app icon and drag it to the bin icon to remove it from your home screen.

Google Weather app: Will there be a standalone app?

While Google currently offers weather updates only through its widgets and allows Android users to explore all the weather apps available on the Play Store, there are hopes. There are reports that Google may be working on a separate weather app as part of its Pixel launcher. 

If it is released as part of Pixel launcher then it may be exclusive to Google’s Pixel line. However, it could become available as a standalone app for other Android phones in the future. Now, it will be interesting to see whether Google releases its standalone weather app for Android first or Apple brings a calculator to the iPad.