Popular iOS app Weather Line has been acquired by an unnamed buyer and removed from the App Store with immediate effect, the developers behind the weather forecaster have announced.
Despite its acquisition and removal from the App Store, anyone who has previously downloaded the app can still use it until the service is shut down in April 2022, while users of the premium paid-for service will also have their subscriptions extended until then for free. From the Weather Line blog:
In recent months, we were approached by a buyer. They saw the uniqueness of Weather Line and the strong foundation we've built. While we aren't able to provide further details on their future plans for the app, we hope you can understand, and will look forward to it.
The acquisition means the app is going away. Today, we removed Weather Line from the App Store. For all existing Weather Line users, free and paid, the app will continue working for 13 months, until April 1, 2022.
The developers went on to emphasize that no personal user data, such as email addresses and payment information, was included in the acquisition deal, and there are no circumstances in which anyone will be billed again by the app.
Weather Line's smart infographic-focused design, streamlined forecast interface, and Home Screen widgets proved a hit with iOS users, so it will be interesting to see what comes of it in future.
Dark Sky, another popular third-party weather app, was acquired by Apple last year, but there's currently no suggestion that Apple is behind the Weather Line buyout.
