1. Background

Prior to 2008,< 10% of the mobile phone market had a smartphone, and this was even after the release of the Apple iPhone (https://www. comscore. com/Insights/Blog/US-Smartphone-Penetration-Surpassed-80-Percent-in-2016). By 2019, 81% of Americans owned a smartphone (https://www. pewresearch. org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/#:~: text= Mobile% 20phone% 20 ownership% 20over% 20time% 20% 20% 20,% 20% 20 81% 25% 20% 2059% 20more% 20rows% 20). This explosion of technology brought about many changes to the way most people live. Phone calls and text messages had already brought a new form of connectivity to the world prior to this time, but the smartphone changed the mobile phone into a small computer. With that change came (1) the ability to use the internet while on the go and (2) the invention of apps.

A smartphone app is software that accomplishes a task or provides information on the smartphone. For this work, a weather app is considered a smartphone application whereby a user can obtain up-to-date weather forecasts and information. Most smartphones come with a weather app already installed and ready for use before the consumer even buys and uses the phone. In just over a decade, a method for acquiring weather information went from virtually nonexistent to almost universal.