How a Near-Bike-Crash Led Me to Build the Rain App

Day 78: How a Near-Bike-Crash Led Me to Build the Rain App

The Rain app is ten years old this year. What started as a personal problem I needed to solve has grown into something used by runners, cyclists, and hikers around the world. Here's where it came from.

The moment it started

Years ago, I was out on my bike when dark clouds rolled in. I almost hit a tree because I was trying to pull my phone out of my pocket to check the rain radar. There had to be a better way.

At the time, I had a Pebble smartwatch on my wrist. So I built the Rain app for it — a simple tool that showed the precipitation forecast right there on my wrist, no phone needed. No more dangerous phone-juggling mid-ride.

Following Pebble

The Rain app helped me and many others stay dry — or at least make an informed decision about getting wet. Then Fitbit acquired Pebble, and Pebble as a platform was shut down. Rather than let Rain disappear with it, I ported the app to Fitbit devices.

And then came Garmin.

Rain for Garmin

The Garmin version of Rain is the most fully featured yet. It shows precipitation forecasts on your wrist during any activity, and it has gained features the original could only dream of: push alerts before rain arrives, data sharing with watchfaces so your rain forecast can appear alongside your other stats, and more.

Ten years. Three platforms. The same goal: stop checking your phone for rain in the middle of a ride.

Install Rain →