How Aura Works
Aura isn't a weather app — it's an AI activity advisor. Instead of showing you a forecast and leaving you to figure out what it means for your plans, Aura interprets real-time weather, air quality, and UV data through the lens of your specific activity. The question it answers isn't "what's the weather?" — it's "should I go run right now?"
Scores and AI insights are most valuable for today and tomorrow, where forecast data is highly reliable. Aura shows 7 days for planning, but the real power is in the next 48 hours.
Reading Your Score
Every score is 0–100. Higher is better. The scale is compressed using a power curve so high scores are genuinely exceptional — a 75+ means conditions are dialed in.
Peak vs. Average: The 7-day grid shows the peak score for each day — the best single hour. The best window tells you when to head out. Tap any day for the full hourly breakdown.
The HSI Display
Aura's main display is inspired by the HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) — a single cockpit instrument that gives pilots everything they need at a glance. Instead of scattering weather data across separate gauges, Aura packs six conditions and your activity score into one circular instrument.
Outer Ring — Current Conditions
The outer ring is divided into six sectors, one for each weather factor: temperature, wind, rain probability, air quality, UV index, and humidity. Each sector is color-coded based on the raw weather conditions — green means good, amber is moderate, coral is poor. These colors reflect actual weather quality, not activity-specific scoring. A UV of 8 always shows coral regardless of whether you're running or at the beach.
Small icons sit outside the ring to identify each sector: thermometer, wind, raindrop, air waves, sun, and water drop. The value in each sector shows the current reading — 68° for temperature, 8kt for wind, 5% for rain, and so on.
Inner Ring — Aura Score
The inner arc shows your current Aura score for the selected activity. This is where activity weighting matters — the same weather produces different scores for different activities. The arc fills proportionally and uses the same color scale as the 7-day grid.
Center — The Readout
The center shows the score number, the selected activity, and your current location. Below the instrument, you'll see the last update time and the best window for today.
One glance, full picture: The outer ring tells you what's happening outside. The inner ring tells you how good it is for your activity. Switch activities with the pill bar and the score recalculates instantly — the outer ring stays the same because the weather doesn't change, but the score does.
Six Factors, One Score
Each hour is scored on six weather factors. Every activity weights these differently — what matters for golf is different from what matters for beach days.
| Factor | What It Measures | Why It Matters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌡️ | Temperature | Feels-like temp vs. activity's ideal range | Each activity has a comfort zone; too hot or cold tanks the score |
| 💨 | Wind | Sustained wind speed in knots | Critical for golf ball flight, cycling effort, boating comfort |
| 🌧️ | Precipitation | Hourly rain probability % | Nobody wants to get caught in the rain mid-round |
| 🫁 | Air Quality | US AQI index (PM2.5, PM10) | Matters most for cardio — running, cycling in bad air is dangerous |
| ☀️ | UV Index | Solar radiation intensity | Sunbathing and beach days want UV; runners don't. Photography ignores it |
| 💧 | Humidity | Relative humidity % | High humidity kills comfort and visibility; ideal is 30–50% |
How Weights Work
Each activity has six weights that sum to 100. A golfer cares most about wind (25%) and precipitation (30%), while a runner prioritizes temperature (30%) and air quality (20%). These weights are tuned per activity and determine how much each factor influences the final score.
The Power Curve
Raw weighted averages cluster boringly in the 50–70 range. Aura applies a power curve that compresses the middle and rewards truly great conditions. This means a score of 80+ is rare and meaningful — not just "slightly above average."
Activities
Each activity has its own scoring profile — ideal temperature range, wind tolerance, and factor weights. What makes a perfect golf day is very different from a perfect beach day.
Special scoring: Photography gets a golden hour bonus at sunrise ± 1 hour and sunset ± 1 hour. Sunbathing scores better with higher UV — peak tanning conditions at UV 6–8. Boating weighs wave height heavily — calm water is king.
AI Narratives
Every activity gets a custom AI-written summary for today and the next 3 days — the window where forecast data is reliable enough for specific advice. These aren't generic weather descriptions — they're tailored guidance from the perspective of someone who does that specific activity.
A golf narrative will mention club selection impacts from wind. A running narrative will talk about pace strategy for the humidity. A photography narrative will call out golden hour timing and light quality. A sunbathing narrative will frame UV positively and flag cloud cover as the enemy.
Narratives are generated by Claude (Anthropic's AI) and refreshed throughout the day with the latest forecast data.
Audio Insights
Pro+ and Unlimited subscribers get Audio Insights — each narrative is automatically converted to natural-sounding spoken audio using ElevenLabs AI voice technology. When you open a day's detail panel, the audio plays automatically — like having a personal activity advisor brief you on conditions. A transcript toggle lets you read along or switch to text-only.
Lower tiers still get the full written AI narrative — Audio Insights is the premium spoken version.
Update Schedule
Scores update every hour, 24/7 — they're computed from free weather and air quality APIs, so there's no cost to keeping them fresh around the clock.
AI narratives update on a per-activity schedule during the hours that matter most. Outside these windows, existing narratives are preserved — they just won't refresh until the next active hour.
Score Alerts
Don't miss a perfect day. When any of your subscribed activity and city combinations scores 85 or higher for tomorrow, Aura sends you an email so you can plan ahead.
Alerts run once daily at 6:00 AM Central Time. If multiple activities or cities hit 85+, they're grouped into a single email — one glance shows you every high-scoring opportunity for tomorrow.
How to enable: Open Preferences and toggle on "Daily score alert" at the bottom. You'll only receive emails on days when at least one of your activities scores 85+ — no spam on mediocre days.
Pro+ and Unlimited only. Score alerts are available on the Pro+ ($29/mo) and Unlimited tiers. Lower tiers will see the toggle in Preferences with an upgrade link.
Data Sources
All weather data comes from professional-grade meteorological models, updated continuously.
Getting Started
As a Guest
Browse any city, switch between activities, and tap any day for the full hourly breakdown with AI insights. The HSI display shows current conditions at a glance — no account needed.
With an Account
Sign up to unlock personalization. Choose your cities, pick your activities, and set defaults so Aura opens to exactly what you care about. The HSI display will show conditions for your default city and activity. You can also add new cities — they'll be processed within 3 minutes.
Reading the HSI
The HSI is designed to be read in under a second. Outer ring = weather conditions (green is good, coral is poor). Inner arc = your activity score. Center = the number. If the ring is mostly green and the score is 70+, go outside. If you see amber and coral sectors, check the values to understand what's off — maybe the wind is too high for golf but great for boating.
Reading the Heatmap
Each day card shows a 24-hour heatmap strip. Bright teal/green segments are the best hours. Dark segments are poor. This gives you an at-a-glance feel for whether the good weather is in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
Best Window
The "best window" shown on each day card and in the detail panel is the 2-hour block centered on the peak score hour. This is your target — when conditions are at their absolute best for that activity.
FAQ
