I don't like it, it's another exercise in taking a functional website and 'modernising' it by making it look like a mobile app (i.e. the make it look attractive to kindergarten kids school of design).
For my own use cases it's made it more annoying to get to the 7 day Canberra forecast, made the local radar harder to see, and I'm not noticing a link to the written ACT region forecast which I will want to look at in winter.
44 Comments
Ilandar@lemmy.today · 14 pts · 296d
Are you guys all boomers or something? The old website was absolutely terrible and well overdue for an upgrade. It desperately needed a version that scaled well and was accessible for mobile users, since that is how we access the internet in 2025 (inb4 irrelevant anecdote about yourself). The only bad thing about the new one is that they're still insisting on this cringe "The Bureau" branding.
Seagoon_@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 296d
We? Who is we? You don't speak for everyone and it seems to be an over generalisation.
got some facts for that ( I'm a gen xer )
It's stupid logical fallacies and talk like that that lead people to vote for arseholes.
But anyway tell me about that internet thing you young whippersnapper? ;) I've only been using it since 1982
Almacca@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 295d
As a fellow gen xer, I'm hoping this is sarcasm or satire.
Tenderizer@aussie.zone · -1 pts · 296d
Ilandar@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 296d
gottem
pupbiru@aussie.zone · -1 pts · 296d
we as in, according to usage data, the large majority of australian internet users
No1@aussie.zone · 5 pts · 296d
I'm not sure if I should be furious or laughing my ass off.
Well played.
Ilandar@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 296d
Ilandar used Confusion!
It's super effective!
rock@aussie.zone · 11 pts · 296d
What shits me is they cut their meteorology budgets to pay for it
SteveTech@aussie.zone · 10 pts · 296d
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I don't actually mind it. There's now a bunch of layers that are selectable on the radar page itself, which were either nonexistent or hard to find on the old site. There's an easy to understand hourly forecast, instead of the text only one (which is still there), and I had no problem finding the 7 day forecast. Also there's finally HTTPS by default!
Of course if you don't like it, this still seems to work for the old website: https://reg.bom.gov.au/
CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 296d
New layout is way easier to view on my phone. current temp, feels like, max temp, rain ml all immediately visible for my local area. And a big old button to push me down to a scrollable rain radar. Easy.
makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 296d
I love the new, human readable time also.
It's a win
Seagoon_@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 296d
In the past on non humans could read it.
JustARegularNerd@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 296d
Yeah, I liked having a bookmark of the nearest radar - I could immediately bring it up with one click and see what's happening. The new system with the pannable map, you just have a view of the whole country, and must zoom into where you actually are to see what's happening.
The weather predictions layout is.. fine, but the old one definitely felt more like you had all the info you needed right there where this one you have to click 7-Day Forecast and then expand Tomorrow to see more detail.
Almacca@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 295d
One click and you're there.
JustARegularNerd@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 295d
Welllllll, it's two clicks because the first click is opening the bookmark that would've taken me to my local radar.
Albeit, that's very nitpicky and not the issue I have; 99.9% of users would click Use my location and it'd be perfect.
In my case, I just don't ever give location permissions on my web browser - while the BOM would surely to goodness not sell off usage data to third parties, I've been conditioned to think any website could and therefore I'd rather type in the location manually.
Almacca@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 295d
Fair enough. I too have, or had a bookmark to my local radar that no longer works. Mildly annoying, but I'll get over it.
Not sure why they needed to change it for viewing on a phone, though, if that's the reason. I never really had an issue doing that -- just pinch and zoom -- and there's the dedicated BOM app for those that didn't like it.
EmilyIsTrans@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 296d
I personally like it. I wish it were a little more compact, but it seems to be nearly feature parable with the old one and looks a little more up to date. This seems to be a step up in accessibility, both in terms of screen reader compatibility and behaving more in line with what an average user would expect. They've apparently even gone the extra mile to ensure existing bookmarks keep working.
Having been behind a couple of these modernization efforts, no one ever likes them. People complain every time but the user testing doesn't lie. Unfortunately redesigns are necessary as technology and user expectations change and considering the fact that the old website didn't play well on mobile and was well over 10 years old (15 if you're counting from the last major redesign) I'd say this one was pretty due. The fact this redesign even kept nearly every feature and option (as far as I can tell), rolled out fairly smoothly, and hasn't gone too overboard with minimalism/lack of character, I'm willing to call the redesign good.
Ilandar@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 296d
The people who complain about everything complain every time. Most see the new website, think "cool" or "where did everything go?" and get on with their lives. Places like reddit and Lemmy are disproportionately filled with complainers, because most people don't care enough to get online and moan about every little thing in life. They are actually out in the world doing and enjoying things. This is why every single live service game subreddit is full of 24/7 whining from the same people. The majority of the playerbase is happily playing the game while these people are crying on social media.
Seagoon_@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 296d
Why is it due? What was wrong with the old one?
What does screen reader compatibility even mean? Whose screen? Mine? I use a lap top.
Who cares what the average user expects, it's up to the smart people to set the standard, not the other way around.
EmilyIsTrans@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 296d
Screen reader. Like for blind people. Who need the screen read out to them. Verbally. By software. Whom the government should be considering while building digital services. See previous mention about "usability issues".
I'm glad you consider yourself among the smart people. I haven't worked with the designers on this particular project, but like most I've worked with before I would assume they're also reasonably intelligent. They'll understand, just like I'm sure you do, that a good interface is an intuitive one. We all have mental models of how we expect software to "feel"; how it should navigate, be structured, and just behave in general. Any time you break that model, you add friction as the user has to learn how your specific app behaves. Of course, there are sometimes good reasons to do so, but I would argue that the weather, which is generally considered a basic task, is not one of them. Therefore, updating their website to match common, modern, and well reasoned design patterns to make it more accessible to new users is reasonably justified.
That said, existing users of BoM already have a mental model of the website, and by updating it they're breaking it. They're essentially privileging the experience of new users and they should be careful to ensure the redesign is actually necessary. This is a trade off of all redesigns but, considering my previously mentioned issues with the old website, and their clear effort to maintain feature parity, I would argue that that is fair in this case.
Almacca@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 295d
:shrug: I'll get used to it.
zen@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 296d
Tried to submit feedback telling them that their feedback button covers the rain radar map controls on iPhone, only to have recaptcha prevent me from submitting the feedback, even after successfully completing it.
So I guess that sums up my thoughts so far. Do they seriously not have anyone test the site on a phone before they push it?
Seagoon_@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 296d
Same
WaterWaiver@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 296d
Also tried giving feedback, pile of errors and wouldn't accept it.
dueuwuje@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 295d
You know if you click the x (close) button it disappears.
MHLoppy2@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 295d
https://www.thebelltowertimes.com/the-bureau-of-meteorology-reveal-new-website-is-payback-for-public-still-calling-them-bom/
I don't hate it, and the previous one was certainly pretty dated.
mertn22@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 294d
Weatherzone hasn't been screwed up yet and has the 7 day forecast on the main page.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 296d
eww, grow up
MalReynolds@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 296d
Sigh, time to rewrite my scraper so I can have just the facts in my top panel again. Last one got like 5 years I think, hopefully they're not going to up the pace...
Nath@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 296d
https://www.bom.gov.au/catalogue/data-feeds.shtml
Just use one of their feeds. Why on earth would you mess around with scraping the web UI?
EmilyIsTrans@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 296d
Why not just pull the data from their ftp or something downstream like openmeteo?
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 295d
You shouldn't scrape a web page when they have their own free API
cdzero@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 296d
My first impression is not liking it. But I haven't dug into it much. I did like the old one. The design of Hong Kong's is more to my taste. My criticism is purely visual at this point.
Visibly4390@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 296d
And still doesn't support TLS / HTTPS...
WaterWaiver@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 296d
Huh? It's https now for me. Auto-redirected from the http pages.
makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 296d
I love it.
trk@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 294d
I don't get why they font is so massive everywhere. Reminds me of every boomer with a Samsung in a flip case and their font size set to 800% and full brightness.
Also if you search for suburb name it gives you a list of matches including post code and state... but if you add postcode or state in the search box to try and reduce the number of results for common names, it returns no results?? (i.e. "Inala" works, "Inala, Queensland" does not)
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 296d
Meanwhile the BOM app is far less accurate than Apple weather; often laughably so. They should focus their efforts on improving their data and modeling instead of superficial shit.
motherr@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 296d
The data source for Apple Weather is the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology.
https://support.apple.com/en-vn/105038
Also, perhaps have another look at how to use a semicolon properly next time you want to badmouth highly-educated public servants.
butters@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 296d
I agree with WhatAmLenny. It might use the same data source but the way information is presented is a lot more usable. Case in point - when it’s going to rain, it gives you a pretty accurate “rain is going to start in x minutes” and a graph of how heavy it will be.
It’s not just about the raw data but how people consume it.
pupbiru@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 296d
motherr might agree that apple weather is more usable too… however, “accurate” was the assertion being corrected and usable had nothing to do with it
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 296d
Best rain app, which is more accurate than apple weather with rain alerts: https://www.rainparrot.com/
They're using machine learning on the BoM radar and doing a great job with it.
rock@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 296d
They cut budget on data and modelling to pay for this makeover! https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2025/02/01/exclusive-bom-diverted-hundreds-millions-cover-cost-blowouts