Here's what the SECRET dot in your iPhone's weather app means

Checking to see what the weather will be like, you thankfully no longer have to page through the local newspaper. You can get all the information you need on your phone, and here are five of the best weather apps for iOS and Android.

But each weather app looks a bit different from the rest, and it can be confusing to figure out how they work. Some, though, do have a few secrets up their proverbial sleeves. Did you know that iOS can show you a real-time temperature map of the world?

Apple’s weather app for iPhone also has a mysterious feature that perplexes users. There’s a dot that appears, and people don’t know why. Keep reading to find out why it’s there.

Here’s the backstory

Apple changed several things when iOS 15 was released last year, and one of them is the built-in weather app. The tech giant acquired the Dark Sky app in 2020 and merged some of the features into iOS 15.

It received a major visual overhaul, making it easier to navigate and find the information you’re looking for. Apple also added the ability for you to see a global map with current temperatures, and a new 10-day makes planning more straightforward.

While many users have welcomed the changes, some noticed colored bars and a seemingly out-of-place dot in the 10-day forecast. It’s not a visual glitch but rather one of the secrets that the new weather app is hiding. The same dot can be seen in the UV Index scale a bit further down the app’s main page.

weather app Apple

The colored bars in the forecast section represent the temperature scale for that particular day. It serves as a quick visual guide for temperature fluctuations. But what about the white dot?

What you can do about it

Well, you’ll notice that the tiny white dot is only in the colored bar for the current day. The dot has been designed to indicate where the current temperature falls on the temperature scale for that day. If the high is predicted to be 42 degrees and the white dot is at the end, that is the warmest part of the day.

The same indicator is present in the UV Index and the Sunset times. The latter’s white dot will indicate the sun’s position in relation to the horizon. It will also give you an estimate of what time the sunset will be.

Continue reading

10 smart tech tricks you’ll wish you knew sooner

Developers put all kinds of secrets, shortcuts and hidden tricks into the gadgets you use every day. Here’s one I bet you didn’t know before now. 

Grab any USB cable sitting around your house. That symbol on one side isn’t just branding or decoration. It will point up if you’re plugging in horizontally; if you’re plugging a cable vertically, the USB symbol will face right. Nice.

Continue reading

#1 Candy Crush Player - Ben Chin

Candy Crush Champ Ben Chin revealed his sweet secrets for crushing the competition 🍭

Storing cash in Venmo or Cash App? Your wallet's in danger

Open/download audio

Unlike the money in your bank, you can lose your funds sitting in these apps. Plus, a hacker found thousands of big biz secrets, a new Amazon scam is spreading, and ChatGPT teases a search engine.

Oops, they did it again: First, Communist China copied the U.S. military’s F-35 jets using stolen drawings and secrets. Now, their military is ripping off our robot dogs, too. China’s “robo wolves” follow commands, like “sit,” “stand” and “move,” and they can do other tricks, like running, carrying supplies and firing rifles. Who needs spy movies when our military secrets are practically doing press tours?

What really happens when you hit ‘I'm not a robot’

Open/download audio

You’re not just proving you’re human — you’re revealing your browser’s dirty secrets. We also talk to Jeff Johnson from The Trek Planner about using Google Earth to find ancient ruins. Plus, Gen Z brings parents to job interviews and human skills bots can’t replicate.

Don't tell ChatGPT these 3 secrets

Open/download audio

AI chatbots are handy, but guard your info. Here’s why careful sharing matters.