What you need to know
- Apple's Weather app won't tell you when it is legitimately 69 degrees outside.
- The issue appears to be spotty across different versions of iOS.
Apple's Weather app won't tell you when it's 69 degrees.
As reported by The Verge, Apple's Weather app seems to have a curious problem where it will not show you when it is legimately 69 degrees out. Instead, the app will say it is 70 degrees outside, even if that is not the case.
It's currently unclear as to why the Weather app does this. While some suspect it is Apple's attempt to curb any 69-related humor, a more plausible explanation has surfaced on Twiiter. According to some, it could be that Apple is converting temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit which would explain the discrepancy.
A possible explanation for the issue (as pointed out by several people on Twitter) is that Apple may be sourcing data for its iOS Weather app in Celsius and then converting it to Fahrenheit. For example, 20 degrees Celsius converts to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, while 21 degrees Celsius converts to 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit — which rounds up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The app appears to have similar issues with temperatures like 65 degrees (where 18 degrees Celsius converts to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit, while 19 degrees Celsius is 66.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
The report goes on to note that phones running older versions of iOS, as well as the upcoming iOS 15, do not appear to have this issue.
It's not clear when Apple introduced the rounding here. A phone running iOS 11.2.1 shows accurate data of 69 degrees, as did phones running iOS 15, so it's possible that the issue is specific to Apple's most recent update (or has been identified and fixed already). Other weather sources, including Dark Sky — which is owned by Apple — have no issue displaying 69 degrees, either.
The Verge says that they have reached out for comment from Apple but have yet to receive a response.
