Google’s most basic app has turned my dad into a Pixel super-fan

A few months ago, I went through the process of shifting my entire family to my older Google Pixel phones. I did it to simplify remote troubleshooting, reduce issues with unfamiliar Android UIs and skins, give them a more solid camera experience, and keep them updated with the latest security patches.

One side effect I hadn’t anticipated, though, is how much my mom, aunt, and specifically, my dad would fall in love with the simplest app on their Pixels — Pixel Weather.

My parents have had Android smartphones since the mid-2010s. 10 years or so, now, of using these wonderful machines, and yet one thing hasn’t changed since the moment I first set up my mom’s Galaxy S7 Edge: “Put the weather on the screen, please, Rita.”

I care about the weather, too, and I have it on my home screen just like them, but there’s a certain fascination and urgency that my family has around the weather widget and application on their phones that I can’t explain. You have to be there when my dad mistakenly deletes the widget or moves it to the second home screen, and it’s suddenly DEFCON 1, call Rita, get her to fix it ASAP. My dad mysteriously resetting his OnePlus phone four times in the span of two years didn’t elicit as much panic as a disappeared weather widget from his home screen.

Maybe it’s because my parents are getting older and they need to know when it’s safe for them to drive or not. Or because my mom still hangs clothes to dry outside and has to know when she needs to bring them back in. Or because my dad has to know when to water the garden and when to leave it up to the elements. Or maybe they’re just crazy people (I say this lovingly) who are obsessed with knowing exactly what kind of weather is coming in 10 days to prepare in advance. The jury is out.

For a few years now, I’ve had to get creative with the weather application on my parents’ phones. They’ve had OnePlus and Samsung phones, but the default applications and/or widgets didn’t suit them. Not enough info or too much info, lots of ads, no precise location for the Lebanese towns they live in, etc. I’ve tried app after app, switching as what was once free became paid, or useless, or filled with ads, and often having to tell them to contend with whatever I could find, even if it wasn’t perfect. Then I created a Weather shortcut from Google Search and added it to their home screen. That was a better experience overall.

But now that I’ve switched them all to Pixel phones, I don’t have to do that anymore. I set up Pixel Weather on the Pixel 7 Pro, opened it, and told my dad to check it out. His eyes lit up. “Clear” was his first word. Then, after checking out the different information boxes, he told me everything he wanted was there. We decided together on how to organize the info — he doesn’t care about pressure and pollen, for example, but visibility, wind, and UV are crucial to him, so I sorted them for him.

He didn’t know how to explain it, but he was amazed that there weren’t useless UI elements; “it’s simple; the other ones had things on top or below.” Ads, he meant ads. And he often mistakenly tapped those, which used to take him out of the app. Not here, though.

It didn’t take him long to understand that every box is clickable to get extra info. Checking the UV index before he goes out gardening, or the precipitation before he waters, has helped a lot.

On top of this, the large Pixel Weather widget is exactly what he wants. Large font, very readable, with the next few hours’ expected weather. It helps that the new icons are a lot more accessible for his older eyes. Personally, I would’ve liked the forecast for the next few days, but he cares more about the immediate weather first, then he taps to get the extra details for the following days.

Oh, and yes, Pixel Weather has weather predictions for his hometown in Lebanon, which is obviously a huge win in anyone’s books. Otherwise, I’d still be scrambling trying to find a good weather app for him.

Lesson of the day? We all make what we want from our smartphone experience, and sometimes minor joys like finding a good weather app in the case of my dad — or Google Wallet in my own case — is enough to elevate one phone brand over many others. My dad’s next phone will definitely be a Pixel, too, unless Google messes up its excellent Weather app.