Everything about how Forecast Bar looks lives in one place: Settings → Theme & Visual Style (open the side menu, tap Settings, then the first row). Changes apply immediately, so it's easy to experiment.
App Theme
Choose whether the app uses light or dark colors.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Light | Always use the light appearance |
| Dark | Always use the dark appearance |
| Auto (default) | Follow your device's system appearance |
Glass Mode
On iOS 26 and later, an extra Glass Mode picker controls the translucent "liquid glass" look:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Glass (default) | Full translucent glass effects |
| Frosted Glass | A softer, more diffuse glass look |
| Disabled | Solid backgrounds, no glass effects |
This picker only appears on devices running iOS 26 or later.
Select App Icon
Tap Select App Icon to choose from 32 app icons — the classic look, color variations like Blue, Green, Ocean Mist, Sunrise, and Sunset, plus a large gallery of numbered designs. Tap any icon to apply it; the current choice shows a checkmark.
Tip: Every icon shows a temperature on it, and it automatically renders as °F or °C to match your Units setting in Data & Layout.
Choosing your app icon is included with Silver and above — see Plans & Subscriptions.
Backgrounds
The Background Style picker sets what's drawn behind your forecast:
| Style | What you see |
|---|---|
| Animated Weather Scene (default) | A living scene that matches current conditions — rain falls, clouds drift, the sky changes with the time of day |
| Animated Gradients | Slowly shifting color gradients; pick your own 3 custom colors (defaults: blue, purple, red) |
| Solid Color | A single color of your choice (default blue) |
| Custom Image(s) | Your own photos — pick up to 10 images from your photo library and the app rotates through them |
| Light / Dark | A plain background that follows the app theme |
| Map | A live map of your location behind the forecast |
When Map is selected, a Map Style picker appears with 5 styles: Standard, Satellite, Hybrid (default), Satellite Flyover, and Hybrid Flyover.
Weather Animation Style
When the background is set to Animated Weather Scene, the Animation Style picker controls how weather effects are drawn on top of the scene:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| None | Scene only, no weather effects |
| Realistic (default) | Lifelike rain, snow, and cloud effects |
| Flat | Simplified, stylized effects |
| Cartoon | Playful, illustrated effects |
Background Scenes
Also under Animated Weather Scene, a row of scene cards lets you pick the landscape itself. Forecast Bar ships with a set of bundled scenes — the default is Highlands — plus a gradients scene and any city scenes you've downloaded.
- Tap a card to select that scene.
- Long-press a card to preview all 72 variations of the scene — every combination of weather condition and time of day — in a browsable sheet.
If a nearby city scene is currently overriding your pick (see below), a caption explains why, with a Use my choice instead button to switch back.
Background Packs (city scenes)
At the end of the scene cards, a Get More Packs card opens the Background Packs store, where you can download beautifully rendered scenes of real cities. Downloading packs requires Gold — see Plans & Subscriptions.
In the store you can:
- Browse the pack catalog, grouped by region, with each pack's download size shown.
- Download a pack, or Remove it later to free up space (the app confirms first). A counter shows how many packs are used on this device.
- Pull down to refresh the catalog.
- Request a City — fill in the short form at the bottom to suggest a city you'd like to see added.
Two settings inside the store control automatic behavior:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Use Nearby City Scenes | Off | When you're in or near a city with a pack, show that city's scene automatically |
| Download Nearby Packs Automatically (Over Wi-Fi only) | Off | Fetch nearby city packs in the background, on Wi-Fi only |
Weather Icons
Choose the icon set used for conditions throughout the app:
| Option | Look |
|---|---|
| Color (default) | Full-color, detailed weather icons |
| Climacons | Minimal line-style icons |
| Anusha | A hand-drawn illustrated set |
| Flat Color | Simple flat-color shapes |
Data Point Icons
The small icons next to data points (humidity, wind, UV, and so on) can be Colored (default) or Monochrome.
Fonts
- Font — keep Use System Default or pick any font installed on your device.
- Font Size — a slider from −3 to +3 in whole steps (default: 0, labeled Default) scales text throughout the app.
Precipitation Colors
Customize the colors used for each precipitation type in charts and graphs. There are two full sets of color pickers — one for Light appearance, one for Dark — each covering:
- Rain
- Snow
- Sleet
- Freezing Rain
- Mix
A Reset to Defaults button appears once you've customized any color.
Note: Your precipitation colors follow you beyond the main app — they also color the chart in the precipitation Live Activity and the graphs in the Apple Watch app.