DiscoverBrowse CategoriesHow it worksMethodologyFor developers
The Weather Channel - Radar
The Weather Channel Interactive · Utilities

What’s the catch? Multiple ad networks bundled — measured, backed by SDKs in the app package.

Analyzed automatically from 6 independent signals that had to agree — not a hands-on test, and not human-reviewed.

3 on the catch list · analyzedConfidence: High6 signal sources2,845 reviews scannedNot human-reviewedas of 2026-10-06
 Which version this describes

App Store

This analysis describes version 16.27 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 16.27, updated 2026-10-05.

Google Play

This analysis describes version 16.24.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 16.24.0, updated 2026-09-30.

What the analysis found

Each finding shows what agreed and how strongly. Automated analysis

The catch list 3

Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.

Multiple ad networks bundled
Measuredfrom SDKs in the app packageartefact fe7056ff550c…
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 7 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, BidMachine, Google Mobile Ads (AdMob / Ad Manager) and 3 more
Price may differ from what you see here
Measuredfrom SDKs in the app packageartefact fe7056ff550c…
The app ships a remote paywall-experimentation SDK, so the offer shown is configured server-side and may differ per user — including from anything we or a reviewer saw.
What we saw: Paywall is server-configured and A/B tested via RevenueCat Paywalls — the offer shown can differ per user
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Reported by 89 usersReported by users, not measured — nothing we can inspect could show this either wayview evidence
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Raised by 89 distinct reviewers — 5.0% of the 1,778 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).

Positive evidence 2

Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.

States a price, or offers a one-time purchase
Measuredfrom the app's own on-screen textartefact fe7056ff550c…
The app's own text offers a one-time or lifetime purchase, or reviewers report that the price is stated clearly.
What we saw: Offers a one-time or lifetime purchase: "One time purchase"
Developer says data deletion can be requested
Measuredfrom the store listingview evidence
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text

One source only — shown, not confirmed 3

A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.

Reported by users: Tracking and data collection concerns
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is user reviews.view evidence
The app ships session-recording or a wide tracking stack, holds permissions that read personal data, or is reported by users to sell, leak or over-collect it. The evidence line says which of those was observed.
What we saw: Data & privacy concerns: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (0.3% of 1778 reviews scanned)
In the app's own text: Hard to cancel
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is the app's own on-screen text.artefact fe7056ff550c…
Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.
What we saw: Cancellation copy routes the user away from a direct control: "Before you cancel, please consider accepting this offer"
In the app's own text: Countdown-timer purchase pressure
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is the app's own on-screen text.artefact fe7056ff550c…
The app's own purchase copy attaches a deadline to buying — a countdown, 'offer ends in', 'limited time' — or ships a countdown view on a purchase-screen layout.
What we saw: Deadline pressure in the app's own copy: "Save on Spotify Premium - limited time offer just for Weather Channel members"

What reviewers said

Verbatim excerpts from public store reviews, shown as corroborating user reports. They are not Appworthy audit evidence, and a quotation is not proof of the finding it sits under.

Aggressive ad load

9/30/26 My uearly subscription seems to have been deleted with the last update, even though its been paid for the year, and now I get constant ads. It seems to get worse with each new update. 2/27/25. The app cosntantly crashes. The old…

1★ · Google Play · 2026-09-30

After the last major update, the ads are out of control. I have a hard time navigating the app due to so many intrusive ads. The new layout is also not user-friendly. The old layout was much easier to navigate.

2★ · Google Play · 2026-10-04

The ads are out of control. When you switch tabs the ads make the app unusable by locking you into a unending loop of Google play download screens.

1★ · Google Play · 2026-10-04

Tracking and data collection concerns

Log in, log in, log in, log in…. — Every time I open the app it asks me to log in. It’s not enough that I pay by the year, now they want you to log in so they can gather more information about you. It’s greed gone too far. It doesn’t load…

1★ · App Store · 2026-09-19

Login to sell your data — No thanks after 20 years

1★ · App Store · 2026-09-11

Marketing The Weather Channel — What the weather channel app has going for it is over shadowed by its many enticing videos to get you to click on. Obviously they are paid by the click. Even though you buy a subscription they feel they can…

1★ · App Store · 2026-09-02

What this app sells

Every purchase the store discloses. Store listing
 What this app sells
Google Play doesn’t publish per-purchase prices, so this list covers the other store only.

How the automated analysis works

Automated, corroborated, and never human-reviewed without a person.

This assessment is produced automatically. Six independent signals are read — user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure — and each candidate finding is filed under the sources that support it.

No charge stands on one kind of evidence — with one published exception. A finding is either a measured fact that anyone can reproduce (an ad SDK is in the package; every subscription bills weekly; the privacy label omits a tracker we can see), or it is an interpretation — and an interpretation needs independent sources to agree before it reaches the catch list. The exception is a harm only users can see: a charge may publish from reviews alone, as “Reported by N users”, once enough reviewers raise it to clear that charge’s own published bar. That agreement rule is what replaced the human reviewer, not a model’s confidence.

There is no overall score, on purpose. A 0–99 number was published here until 2026-09-15. It was withdrawn because it discriminated too weakly to be the instrument — 44.7% of every pair of apps tied — and because a single number is a verdict where a count is an observation. What publishes instead is a row of measurements, each of which says what was counted and, where we could not look, says that instead.

Findings under One source only are real reports we do not stand behind as findings. They are shown because withholding them entirely would hide a genuine complaint, and labelled because publishing them as charges would be an accusation off a single source.

 Not yet human-reviewed

Several measurements above say “Not assessed” because no artefact we hold can answer them. A human review is what resolves those — and it can remove a favourable band as easily as add one.

Hands-on inspections are not yet open.

 How this page was produced
Analyzed 2026-10-06 Version analyzed: 16.27 (App Store), 16.24.0 (Google Play)6 independent signals2,845 reviews scannedConfidence: HighNot human-reviewedVocabulary v1.13Methodology v1.3
Signals run: user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure.