Samsung and The Weather Channel aren't two companies you would naturally pair together, but they've done just that: the two have partnered up to produce a specialized version of the weather app, exclusive to Samsung's S6 edge, S7 edge, and Note 5.
As it's produced by The Weather Channel, the main function is to tell the user the weather conditions. This works well enough: currently, conditions are 49°F outside, according to the app, although it feels like 44°F apparently. I also know sunrise is due at 5:52 this morning. Scrolling down, there is more detailed weather information, such as wind speed and direction, humidity, dew point, pressure, and UV index. Scrolling further shows hourly weather information (up to 48 hours in advance) and daily forecasts for the next 15 days. Right at the bottom is a 'video' section, comprising viral videos relevant to weather conditions around the world, a weather radar, and local social weather reports. The last section is a 'Ski Resorts' section, although why that's there I'm not entirely sure.
Left: the main screen of the app. Unexpanded floating shortcut is visible on the left. Right: the hourly weather information.
As you can see, the app is quite comprehensive in its weather reporting. An important thing to note is the presence of ads, with seemingly no way to get rid of them. In Settings, there are options for a persistent weather notification, changing units of measurement, 'floating shortcuts' which work a little like Facebook Messenger's Chat Heads, and smart weather wakeup which promises to allow you 'time to prepare' when the weather impacts on your routine. The app will also alert users according to preference - for example, you can ask to be notified about real-time rain, pollen reports, or weather safety alerts, among other things.
A gif of the entire scrolling pane of the app's main screen.
Floating shortcuts are interesting, if not a little annoying. Essentially, if turned on (the setting is off by default), a shortcut to the app will display on the left of the screen. When the app is not actively being used, the shortcut will display, lending quick and easy access to the app. If swiped to the right-hand side of the screen, the shortcut disappears. The only way I have found to get the shortcut back is by toggling floating shortcuts on and off again, so this may be a bug. Next to the floating shortcuts toggle is a settings icon, which allows customization of the options the shortcut displays. However, I could not get these settings working. Similarly, the app asks for usage access to display on home screens, which I enabled, but then I couldn't see the shortcut at all. Disabling usage access for the app re-enabled the shortcut. I suspect floating shortcuts only work fully on one of the supported Samsung devices - unfortunately, I own none of these.
Nevertheless, it's a slightly different take on the weather than most other weather apps available in the Play Store. Officially, 'The Weather Channel for Samsung' is only available though the Galaxy Apps store for the aforementioned supported devices. However, I'm running the app on a Nexus 6P, and apart from the possible floating shortcuts bugs, the app is working perfectly. If you want to check it out for yourself, the APK is available over at APK Mirror.