- The Weather app was previously a Pixel 9 exclusive
- Pixel 6 and later Pixels can now get the app
- The update should arrive on your phone automatically
Our Google Pixel 9 review will tell you that this is a phone series we're very much fans of, and alongside its flagship handsets for 2024, Google also 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 Google told us this would be happening, and 9to5Google has spotted that the roll out is now underway: every Pixel phone from the Google Pixel 6 onwards 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 the Play Store app, tapping your profile picture (top right), then choosing Manage 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've previously 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 (the Pixel 8 phones have Gemini Nano too, but it's not enabled in the same way).
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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