BoringWeather

A deliberately boring, retro-styled iOS weather app. No flashy gradients. No trendy animations. Just weather data, presented clearly in a nostalgic monospaced aesthetic.

Requirements

• Xcode 15.0+
• iOS 17.0+
• Swift 5.9+

No API key required. This app uses Open-Meteo, a free and open-source weather API that needs no signup, no login, and no API key.

Setup

1. Open in Xcode

cd BoringWeather
open BoringWeather.xcodeproj

2. Build and Run

• Select an iPhone simulator (iOS 17+)
• Press Cmd+R to build and run
• Grant location permission when prompted
• That's it. No configuration needed.

Running Tests

Unit Tests

Cmd+U in Xcode

Or from command line:

xcodebuild test -project BoringWeather.xcodeproj -scheme BoringWeather -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15'

Tests cover:

• Open-Meteo forecast JSON decoding
• Geocoding response decoding
• Air quality response decoding
• Unit conversions (C to F, kph to mph, mb to inHg, meters to km/mi, degrees to compass)
• UnitsService formatting (temperature, wind, pressure, visibility, time)
• Cache read/write operations
• WMO weather icon mapping
• WMO weather code descriptions
• Air quality category labels (US AQI 0-500 scale)
• Domain model identity and mapping

UI Tests

UI tests verify tab navigation and search flow.

Architecture

BoringWeather/
├── App/
│   ├── BoringWeatherApp.swift    # @main entry point
│   ├── ContentView.swift         # Tab bar root
│   └── DIContainer.swift         # Dependency injection
├── Models/
│   ├── WeatherModels.swift       # Domain models
│   └── APIResponseModels.swift   # Open-Meteo Codable models + mapping
├── Config/
│   └── APIConfig.swift           # Open-Meteo base URLs
├── Services/
│   ├── API/
│   │   └── WeatherAPIService.swift   # URLSession async/await
│   ├── Cache/
│   │   └── CacheService.swift        # FileManager JSON cache
│   ├── Location/
│   │   └── LocationService.swift     # CoreLocation wrapper
│   └── Units/
│       └── UnitsService.swift        # Unit conversions + formatting
├── Repository/
│   └── WeatherRepository.swift       # Data layer (network + cache)
├── ViewModels/
│   ├── HomeViewModel.swift
│   ├── LocationsViewModel.swift
│   ├── AlertsViewModel.swift
│   └── SettingsViewModel.swift
├── Views/
│   ├── Theme/
│   │   ├── RetroTheme.swift          # Colors, fonts, modifiers
│   │   └── WeatherIconMapper.swift   # WMO code to SF Symbol
│   ├── Components/
│   │   └── RetroComponents.swift     # Reusable UI components
│   ├── Home/
│   │   └── HomeView.swift
│   ├── Locations/
│   │   └── LocationsView.swift
│   ├── Alerts/
│   │   └── AlertsView.swift
│   └── Settings/
│       └── SettingsView.swift
└── Resources/
    └── Assets.xcassets

Pattern: MVVM + Repository

• Views observe @ObservedObject ViewModels
• ViewModels call the Repository for data
• Repository coordinates between API service and cache
• Services are injected via DIContainer
• Models are split: API response models (Codable) map to domain models

API Provider: Open-Meteo

Three Open-Meteo endpoints are used:

• Forecast API (api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast) — current weather, hourly, and 10-day daily forecast
• Geocoding API (geocoding-api.open-meteo.com/v1/search) — city search with autocomplete
• Air Quality API (air-quality-api.open-meteo.com/v1/air-quality) — US AQI, PM2.5, PM10, ozone, etc.

All unit conversions (metric to imperial) are handled in the mapping layer since Open-Meteo returns metric values.

Weather Codes

Open-Meteo uses WMO weather interpretation codes. These are mapped to SF Symbols and human-readable descriptions in WeatherIconMapper.swift and WMOWeatherCode respectively.

Caching

• JSON files in the app's Caches directory via FileManager
• Per-location weather cache
• Saved locations list persistence
• Offline mode with "last updated" timestamp

Features

Feature	Status
Current weather with full details	Done
24-hour hourly forecast	Done
10-day daily forecast	Done
Location services	Done
City search with autocomplete	Done
Save/reorder/delete locations	Done
Air quality index (US AQI)	Done
Unit settings (C/F, metric/imperial)	Done
12h/24h time format	Done
Light/dark mode toggle	Done
Offline cache fallback	Done
Pull to refresh	Done
Skeleton loading states	Done
Error states with retry	Done
Dynamic Type support	Done
VoiceOver accessibility labels	Done
Haptic feedback	Done
Retro monospaced theme	Done
Weather alerts	N/A (Open-Meteo does not provide alerts)

Note on Weather Alerts

Open-Meteo does not provide a weather alerts endpoint. The Alerts tab is included in the UI but will display a message directing users to their local weather service for warnings. If you switch to a provider that supports alerts (e.g., WeatherAPI.com), the domain model and UI already support displaying them.

Changing API Provider

The API layer is isolated in WeatherAPIService.swift and APIResponseModels.swift. To switch providers:

1. Create a new response model file for the provider
2. Add mapping extensions to convert to domain models
3. Update WeatherAPIService endpoints and parsing
4. Update APIConfig with the new provider's base URL and any API key logic

The rest of the app (ViewModels, Views, Repository, Cache) requires no changes.

Design

The "boring" retro theme uses:

• Monospaced system fonts throughout
• Warm cream/off-white backgrounds (light mode)
• Near-black backgrounds (dark mode)
• Amber/brown accent color
• Thin borders and minimal card styling
• No gradients, no blur effects, no hero images
• SF Symbols for all weather condition icons