The Pixel 9’s amazing new Weather app is now heading to older Pixels

Take the weather with you

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OurGoogle Pixel 9 reviewwill tell you that this is a phone series we’re very much fans of, and alongside its flagship handsets for 2024,Googlealso put a new and improved Weather app on the Pixel 9 devices – an app that’s now making its way to older Pixels, too.

Earlier this month Googletold usthis would be happening, and9to5Googlehas spotted that the roll out is now underway: every Pixel phone from theGoogle Pixel 6onwards is now eligible to get the updated Weather app.

If you own a supported phone, you should get the update automatically. You can also manually check for it by opening up thePlay Storeapp, tapping your profile picture (top right), then choosingManage apps and device. If any updates are available (including the Weather app), you’ll see them here.

This will upgrade the Weather app already on your Pixel phone with all the new features. It’s a good idea to restart your phone after updating, so that every part of Android (including the at-a-glance widget) is pulling data from the new app.

Lots to explore

As we’vepreviously reported, there’s lots to explore in the new Weather app, not least a Dark Sky-style radar map showing precipitation areas in real time. Alongside the basics, there’s information on wind speed, UV levels, visibility, and sunset and sunrise times.

There’s an hourly forecast too, as well as notifications that will warn you if rain or snow is on the way to your current location. You can sign up for daily weather forecast notifications if you’d like to, via the app settings.

However, the AI weather report – which uses AI to generate a summary of conditions in your area, will remain exclusive to the Pixel 9 phones. That’s most likely due to the extra on-board AI processing available on the Pixel 9 series via Gemini Nano (thePixel 8phones have Gemini Nano too, but it’s not enabled in the same way).

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That AI hardware limitation most probably means we won’t see the other Pixel 9 exclusives – like Pixel Screenshots and Pixel Studio – make their way to older phones. However, it’s good to see the excellent Weather app trickling down.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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