Install / Setup

This guide provides instructions to install and configure WeatherCitizen on Android and iOS mobile devices.

iOS

Download the WeatherCitizen app to your iOS device from the Apple App Store.

After installing the app, open the app from the home screen of your device.

Permissions

You will be prompted to allow WeatherCitizen to use Bluetooth. If you will be using !!connecting to external sensors, press OK. WeatherCitizen does not require Bluetooth access for core functionality.

Android

Download the WeatherCitizen app to your Android device from the Google Play Store.

After installing the app, open the app from the home screen of your device.

Permissions

You will be prompted to allow WeatherCitizen access to the device location and to write to device storage. The device location is used to geotag observations and download nearby observations. Device storage is used to store recorded media (images, audio) and data exported from from the app.

The first time you record images or audio, the WeatherCitizen will request permission to access the camera and microphone, respectively.

Installation for Advanced Users

If you would like to record device sensor data over long periods of time (See Session Observations), you will need to disable Battery Optimization for WeatherCitizen. This is only required in Android version 6 or greater.

The procedure for disabling battery optimization for an app differs depending on the device model. The guide below describes the process for a Google Pixel phone running Android 10.

Open the Settings of the device. In Android 10, you can swipe down from the top of the device and press the gear icon in the bottom right of the window.

Select Apps & notifications from the Settings menu. Press See all XX apps. This will open a list of all the installed apps on the device.

Scroll down the window until you see WeatherCitizen. Press the WeatherCitizen menu entry.

In the WeatherCitizen App Info window, press Advanced.

In the Advanced menu, press Battery.

In the WeatherCitizen Battery usage window, press Battery optimization.

Once the list of apps is loaded in the Battery optimization window, press the Not optimized drop-down at the top of the list. Select All apps to show all apps. This may take a few moments to load.

Scroll down the list of all apps until you see WeatherCitizen. Press WeatherCitizen. This will open a new dialog window.

In the dialog window that opens, select Don’t optimize and then press Done.

Confirm the value under Battery optimization on the app Battery Usage page is set to Not optimized.

You have successfully disabled Battery Optimization for the WeatherCitizen app. This will allow Session observations to run consistently in the background, even if the device is put to sleep.

Note that disable battery optimization will increase battery usage while a Session is in progress. If a Session is not in progress, this setting will likely not change the battery usage of the application.