Weekend Weather Update
As many of you are aware, recent API changes have forced XBMC and most XBMC-based software offshoots to change the way they handle their weather app. We have refrained from commenting until now, because the Team wanted to internally discuss what the best step forward would be.
We were debating between a few different options, ranging from simply updating the current app with a new provider to totally nuking the weather app from XBMC-core and making it all addon-based.
Well, as you can probably guess, we here at XBMC don’t like doing things halfway. If there is a “right” way to code something, we will do everything in our power to code it that way. And so we’ve chosen to acknowledge our mistake in making weather part of XBMC core, and, as we speak, Spiff and Amet are busily pulling weather out and creating an easily replaceable and updateable Weather Addon.
This by itself shouldn’t add very much time to the Eden dev cycle, but it likely will cause current skins to break, which means we’ll need to allow enough time for our brilliant Skilled Skinners to make their changes.
Update: I’ve since been informed by Skilled Skinner Ronie that Spiff’s magical unicorn powers and coding skillz should actually prevent current skins from breaking. Chalk another one up for the brilliance of Team XBMC.
Thanks much for everyone’s patience. Feel free in the comments to let us know if you’d rather we fixed the problem a different way, or if you’d rather we just got rid of weather entirely, in favor of sticking our heads out the window.
Finally, for your weather forecast: Winter is coming.
All the White Walkers thank you for your dev-otion.
@Digidog
Couldn’t agree more. One thing I love about XBMC (apart from the product) is the patient and generous way people conduct themselves on the forums unlike so many other places.
I use the weather a lot but agree it most probably should be a separate add on.
The proper weather forecast is:
Tomorrow’s weather will be pretty much the same as today. [Enjoy|Sorry].
Anyone willing to create weather app based upon Environment Canada info? :)
don’t let weather hold up the new release :(
Cheers to the XBMC team. Donating thier time and efforts to amazing delopment that benifits so many.
Personally it maybe better of an idea to use either the feed from Noaa or perhaps even Underground Weather. Both have excellent options. Somehow mentioned before that Weather.com became to commercial in the sense it’s like an giant ad that runs other stuff other than weather. Basically a sell out from it’s core reason to exist.
I don’t use the weather app very often (almost never), so removing it from the core seems the right decision to me.
Making it available as addon, will please a lot of other users (eg: friends of mine, who already installed it).
Thanks for the great work!
I have one comment to add to this: I have no opinion on whether weather should be kept in the main program, or not.
HOWEVER, I do think that we need to keep one functionality that the weather ap provided: verification of internet connectivity.
By having the weather ap show the current weather on the main page, it provides an immediate indicator that there is an active connection to the internet.
No weather displayed, no connection. Simple.
(… so don’t bother updating your database for your new movies, or start to troubleshoot your ISP connection.)
IF you remove weather from the main OS, THEN make sure to keep main screen display still part of the add-on.
ALTERNATIVELY you could develop a small connect icon, green light indicatior or some other geegaw that would allow for that functionality on the main page.
Cool?
Oh, and if we are asking for small favors: Could you PLEASE add a “Your source is not available, do you want to continue?” message as part of the clean database process?
Since many of us now use NAS as source, having one off-line can result in hundreds of movies being removed from the DB. … and that ain’t cool at all.
Thanks!
@ads_german
Oh, and by the way… even for the Southern Hemisphere, the XBMC Dev team’s weather predition: ” Finally, for your weather forecast: Winter is coming. ” … Is STILL correct.
It’s just coming later.
:)
Good to know the team notices this problem! It is nothing major but will be pleased if it get fixed and act as a script addon (that means there’s choice and things will get fixed). I’ve worked on Chinese TV-Series scrapper during the weekend simply because none is working right now, made some progress there as well… anyway…THANKS FOR THE GREAT WORK!
I think it makes sense to have the weather feature as an add-on instead of core feature.
i use the weather app quite often. But I think it makes sense to make it an addon
Hi,
I think that it is not mentioned clearly enough in the blog post :
!!! the weather feature of xbmc is broken for everybody right now in Dharma !!!
THIS IS WHY the developers are rethinking the whole weather thing.
I had to browse the forums to be sure that my current problem with the weather is related to that post, or it’s just something that got wrong with my own config.
As for plugin or code feature, I’d advocate leaving it in the core, because it’s a default part of many oses.
Would it be possible to backport the fix to dharma ? Otherwise please give me another way to fix weather on dharma (an existing addon?), it’s actually the daily routine of somebody in my household to turn on the TV to figure out which clothes to put on :)
I’m all for keeping the weather app. Not really useful per se, but just nice to look at with the Transparency skin. But agreed, Should be an add-on. Thanks for all the hard work. =)
my useless work is now in git master. mr fish, good that you have a working plan. looking forward to your patches!
i for one know that
( ) hd audio is even lower on my list after this.
( ) i’ll jump right on adding hd audio support now. after all, a whining non-contributing user said so!
guess where i’ll put the mark.
@Kujo
+1
Dear team-members.
I have been using xbmc for almost a year now.
Words would not be enough to describe my gratitude for all the hard work and commitement you guys are putting into this free (did i say ABSOLUTELY FREE??!!!) project.
It is the best and useful piece of multimedia software i have ever used without paying a dime. (well i am actually thinking about making a donation).
I love the weather section and i don’t really care where it sits (core or add-on) as long as i will be able to use it.
The only thing i would really really like is confluence skin to display weather as transparency does.
Either way and no matter what your decision would be (even totally ditching weather from xbmc) i’m still considering making that donation ;).
@spiff: The second one? j/k I’m aware of your M.O. for taking out frustrations on the entitlement cultured masses by denying them what they demand. Meritocracy 101.
Anyway thanks for the weather work.
Btw. could I dissuade you from working on things ‘I’ don’t think are important by posting inflammatory remarks demanding that they be worked on right away? Crafty…. unless it kills motivation to work altogether, in which case sad :-(.
I agree with removing it from the core… Anything that can be affected by a 3rd party, such as weather.com, should be an add-on. This way we only have to wait for the add-on to be updated, not wait for the next stable XBMC release or switch to nightlies. And the devs can devote their time to what they do best! Thanks everyone.
Woah… some serious gratitude issues in this…
To everyone who complained:
1. Weather was broken, it needed to be fixed or removed. Removing and remaking as an add-on was not just “a decision”– it was more like “the only logical decision considering the direction of XBMC’s addon system, the existence of alternative weather addons, and the possibility of future breakage based on change in providers api/site structure, which will now require only that the addon is updated.”
What exactly is the problem, then? That a feature unrelated to this blog post wasn’t added this time around? Well then help yourself to a little #2.
2. A broken thing ought to have priority over a new feature. Period. No matter what you think about the weather section, it needed to be dealt with. I would not want XBMC full of broken features at release time because they added something new rather than maintaining the functionality that I already expect to work, and any new user would expect that the features in XBMC’s stable core are functioning.
3. Why would you think that just because one thing is being worked on, something else is not? The fact of the matter is, that there are multiple developers with different expertise working on different problems at different times. Problems do not get worked on in a linear fashion by the entire team–in pretty much any team, anywhere, doing any task.
4. I know, it’s cliche… but… seriously… not only is it free (therefore, how can you complain), but it’s also open source (therefore, you can fix it yourself, as well as any official Dev can). If you do not have the skills, it is a choice you made in terms of how you spent your time.
Would you go to a free concert by a virtuoso and DEMAND they play your favorite piece of music, and criticize them for not succumbing to your whim? Who are you to demand such things? Especially when you clearly lack the ability, and therefore can’t possibly know what is involved in the fulfillment of your request… baffling.
I’m saddened by the XBMC users that feel that weather is not useful. I adore this feature. I use it everyday. The current conditions only really serve to make XBMC attractive, but the five day forecast is what I really “use”. If the developers feel that it is superfluous, I understand, but I’m still pretty bummed.
Summer is coming if you’re in NZ like me!
If taking out the Weather would free up any CPU cycles I say go ahead.
Love the weather app!! please keep it.
Great job to all at XBMC. I look forward to your solution. International weather forecasting is important to us as we travel regularly.
Thank you!
~A
Hi XBMC team,
The weather app is a lovely tool, really we or “I” will miss it :(.
It what makes XBMC stand out really.
thank you all for the great support you offered us in the past years.
Love,
Maas :)