8.6 KiB
8.6 KiB
Recon map: Google Weather / Pixel Weather (Android)
Scope: the whole app: home forecast, detail cards, locations, settings, precipitation map, alerts, notifications, widget, AI brief For: personal use, a weather app without Google services (project NoGooleApps) Date: 2026-10-17
Sources
| 9 | screenshots | replica/screens/ref-01..04.png | supplied by user (Android Authority / connect montages): hero, cards, day view, nowcast, light+dark. Reference only, never shipped |
Core loop
Open the app and see at a glance what the weather is now, in the next hours and in the coming days for your location, plus whether something severe is coming.
Screens
| ID | screen | route / how to reach | purpose | key components | states seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S01 | Home / city forecast | app launch | current weather + all cards for one city | hero, alert banner, brief, nowcast card, hourly strip, 10-day capsules, shaped detail cards, animated background | loading, filled, alert active, no location permission, offline (guess) |
| S02 | Saved locations | top-left / back from S01 | switch, add, delete cities | current-location row, city rows with temp/condition, search field, swipe-to-delete | only current, many, permission denied |
| S03 | Location search | search on S02 | find a city | search input, result list, Add button | empty, results, no results |
| S04 | Day detail | tap a day capsule in 10-day | one day: range, hourly, cards | capsule picker (selected), day-range, hourly strip, detail cards | filled (ref-01) |
| S15 | Location preview | tap a search result | full forecast before saving | hero, cards, Save button | unsaved (ref-02) |
| S05 | Card detail | tap a card (guess) | expanded metric (e.g. AQI, pollen, UV) | chart, explanation text | filled (guess) |
| S06 | Weather map | map card on S01 | 6h precipitation nowcast | map, precip overlay, timeline scrubber, play | filled, region unavailable |
| S07 | Profile menu | avatar top-right | entry to settings, theme | menu list | |
| S08 | Settings | S07 -> Weather settings | units, vibrations, AI brief, notifications | radio lists, toggles | |
| S09 | Units | S08 -> Temperature / Weather units | change units | radio groups | |
| S10 | Rearrange mode | long-press a card on S01 | reorder cards | drag handles, drop placeholder | dragging |
| S11 | Alert detail | tap alert banner | full warning text, agency, validity | text, source link | |
| S12 | Homescreen widget | launcher | glance view | temp, icon, high/low, location | sizes |
| S13 | Notifications | system | rain soon, tomorrow forecast, severe | notification | |
| S14 | Onboarding / permissions | first launch (guess) | ask location + notifications | permission prompts | granted, denied |
Flows
F01 Check weather at current location
S14 (first time) -> S01
happy path clicks: 0
edge: location denied, GPS off, offline with cached data, stale data
F02 Add a city
S01 -> S02 -> S03 -> S15 preview -> Save -> S01 (new city)
happy path clicks: 4 (open list, tap search, type, tap result/Add)
edge: ambiguous names, postal code, no results, duplicate city
F03 Delete a city
S02 swipe left
happy path clicks: 1 swipe
edge: undo, deleting the current-location row (not allowed)
F04 Switch between cities
S01 -> S02 -> tap city (or swipe pager on S01, guess)
happy path clicks: 2
F05 Watch rain coming in
S01 -> map card -> S06 -> scrub / play
happy path clicks: 2
edge: region without nowcast, tiles fail to load
F06 Change units
S01 -> S07 -> S08 -> S09 -> pick
happy path clicks: 4
F07 Reorder cards
S01 long-press -> S10 drag -> drop
edge: cannot move above brief/hourly, layout per city
F08 React to a severe warning
S13 notification -> S01 alert banner -> S11
happy path clicks: 2
edge: multiple alerts, expired alert, AI brief hidden while alert active
F09 Enable rain notifications
S08 -> notifications toggle -> per-city toggle
edge: notification permission denied, battery optimisation kills worker
Components
| component | variants | states | used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero block | city name, big temp, condition, feels-like, H/L | loading, stale | S01 |
| Alert banner | minor, moderate, severe, extreme | collapsed, expanded | S01, S11 |
| Brief card | text summary | loading, hidden (alert) | S01 |
| Hourly strip | temp + icon + precip % per hour | scroll | S01, S04 |
| Day row | icon, precip %, low-high bar | pressed | S01 |
| Metric card | small square, wide | default, dragging, pressed | S01, S10 |
| Gauge / dial | UV, AQI, pressure, wind compass | metric cards | |
| Sun arc | sunrise/sunset arc | day, night | sunrise card |
| City row | current location, saved | swiping, pressed | S02 |
| Search field | empty, typing, results | S03 | |
| Map + scrubber | playing, paused, loading tiles | S06 | |
| Settings rows | radio, toggle, link | disabled | S08, S09 |
| Animated background | per condition, day/night | reduced motion | S01 |
| Top app bar | with avatar/menu | S01, S02 | |
| Widget | small, medium | S12 |
Inferred data model
Location id, name, admin_area, country, lat, lon, timezone, is_current, sort_order
evidence: S02, S03, help "Add a location" confidence: high
CardLayout location_id, card_type, position
evidence: 9to5google "customisations unique per city" confidence: high
Forecast location_id, fetched_at, current{temp, feels_like, code, humidity, wind_speed,
wind_dir, gusts, pressure, visibility, uv, dew_point, is_day},
hourly[], daily[]{date, code, t_min, t_max, precip_prob, precip_sum, sunrise, sunset, uv_max}
evidence: S01 cards confidence: high (cache, not user data)
AirQuality location_id, aqi, pm2_5, pm10, o3, no2, pollen{grass, birch, ...}
evidence: AQI/pollen cards confidence: high
Alert id, location_id, event, severity, headline, description, agency, onset, expires
evidence: help + alert banner, At a Glance two-line alert confidence: medium
Settings temp_unit, precip_unit, wind_unit, pressure_unit, visibility_unit, theme,
vibrations, brief_enabled, notif_tomorrow, notif_severe
evidence: S08, S09 confidence: high
NotificationPref location_id, rain_alerts confidence: medium
Relationships: Location 1-n CardLayout, Location 1-1 Forecast (cached), Location 1-1 AirQuality, Location 1-n Alert, Location 1-1 NotificationPref. No user accounts needed (local only).
Feature matrix
See features.csv. Must: 18, should: 14, could: 7, skip: 4 (design + widgets raised to must).
Out of scope (cannot or should not be cloned)
- Google's own forecast and nowcasting models (MetNet / NowCast): proprietary. Replace with Open-Meteo (forecast, AQI, pollen, geocoding), DWD / MeteoAlarm (alerts), RainViewer or DWD radar (map).
- Gemini-based Weather Brief and personal insights from Calendar/Gmail: Google AI and Google data. A rule- or template-based summary is the replacement, or optionally a local LLM.
- Location sync via Google account: deliberately left out.
- At a Glance / Pixel launcher integration: a system feature.
- Google's illustrations, icons, animations and the "Froggy" art: original assets have to be made from scratch.
Size
Screens 15, flows 9, entities 7. Hard parts: (1) the precipitation map with timeline (tile sources, licences, animation), (2) reliable background notifications/alerts without Play Services (WorkManager, Doze), (3) polished animated backgrounds + homescreen widget. Size: M (a few weeks) for a native Android app (Kotlin/Compose).