UV Index data was added to the Wear OS Weather app back in April. Sometime in the past few months — if not weeks, Google Assistant also started showing UV Index on all its platforms.
Asking “What’s the UV index” or other similar permutations, like appending a city and particular day, shows you a slick-looking timeline from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two-hour increments. Severity is color-coded from green (1-2) to red-purple (8-11+).
You can tap on “UV Index scale” at the bottom of the Google Assistant panel to learn more with information sourced from the World Health Organization, while the exposure data is from Google’s usual partner (The Weather Channel). The accompanying verbal response notes what UV exposure conditions will look like later in the day. The timeline UI is much larger on Smart Displays, and again quite nice.
We’re not sure when this information precisely rolled out to Android, iOS (app), Smart Displays, and speakers, but it was not live when the Wear OS weather app was initially updated with its UV Index complication.
Meanwhile, the wearable client shows exposure data alongside the temperature/forecast. It would be nice if the main Google Assistant weather card, along with the Android app, did the same for an all-encompassing overview. Additionally, there is no UV Index Knowledge Panel in web Search as Google directs users to other sites.
Similarly, Assistant recently started showing Air Quality (AQI) on the Nest Hub, with that data also available on phones (“What’s the air quality”).
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