Overbaro Help

Compatibility

Requires an iPhone barometer

Overbaro is designed for iPhone and reads the pressure sensor built into supported iPhone models. It is not offered as an iPad app because barometer hardware is not available across the full iPad range.

First readings

Give it about 20 minutes

The gauge and number show a live reading right away, but the trend, forecast and chart need real history first — they appear once Overbaro has collected roughly 20 minutes of samples (about one reading a minute), whether the app stays open or you just check back later. Until then you'll see placeholders like "Collecting more data…" and "< awaiting data >" instead — that's expected, not a fault.

Reading the gauge

The needle

The needle always points to the same reading shown as the large number below the gauge.

The trend phrase

Below the reading, a plain-language line ("Falling rapidly," "Rising steadily," "Steady") describes how fast pressure has moved over the last few hours — the same categories meteorologists use for 3-hour pressure tendency, not an invented scale.

The trend chart

Solid line, dot, dashed line

The solid line is your recorded pressure history. The glowing dot marks now. The dashed curve is a short projection, not a recorded reading — the shaded band around it widens and fades the further out it reaches, since confidence naturally drops with distance. The thin gray line is standard sea-level pressure (1013.25 hPa), the usual reference for "low" vs. "high."

Scrolling and scrubbing

Drag the chart itself, left or right, to scroll back through history. Press and hold anywhere on the chart, then drag, to scrub a crosshair — it reads out the exact value and time under your finger, snapping to the nearest real sample when dots are visible.

Adjusting the time window

Press and hold the window label above the chart, then slide your finger up or down to pick how much history it shows — from 5M up through 1H/3H/12H/1D/7D/30D, default 12H — and lift to select. Settings → Trend chart separately controls how far the dashed projection reaches ahead, up to 3 hours.

Scenery & themes

Five real places

Settings → Scenery has five landscape themes — Quiet Horizon, Silver Skerries, Glacial Shelf, Heather Silence, Salt Meridian — each with its own photography, color palette and gauge tint, in both light and dark. Pick one in Manual mode and it stays put.

Or let it rotate

Switch Scenery to Auto and Overbaro moves to the next theme once a day on its own, wrapping back to the first after the last — the reading and forecast are unaffected either way, only the scenery changes.

Recording in the background

You only need to open it once

Open Overbaro the first time and it keeps recording pressure samples in the background afterward, via iOS's own wake mechanism — you don't need to keep the app open or check it regularly for history to keep building. This is on by default.

Turning it off

If you'd rather iOS never wake Overbaro on its own, turn it off in Settings → Background updates. History then only updates while the app is open.

Widget & StandBy

Adding the Home Screen widget

Long-press an empty area of your Home Screen, tap the + in the top corner, search for "Overbaro," then add the small widget. It shows the current reading, trend and a simplified chart, updated whenever the app can refresh in the background.

Using it in StandBy

StandBy has its own, separate widget selection — adding Overbaro to your Home Screen does not automatically add it to StandBy. Place your charging iPhone on its side, wait for StandBy to appear, then long-press the StandBy screen itself and add the Overbaro widget there too.

Freshness in the widget

Since the widget can't run its own background sensing, it shows how old its reading is — "Updated X min ago" — and will tell you to open Overbaro if the data is too old to trust, rather than ever pretending to be live when it isn't.

Feedback

Haptics

Overbaro uses subtle taps to make the gauge and chart feel physical — scrolling the chart, scrubbing to a value, dragging the needle, and its settle flourish on launch all have their own distinct feel. Turn these off in Settings → Feedback. If you don't feel any at all, check that System Haptics is on in Settings → Sounds & Haptics on your iPhone.

Good to know

Indoors is fine

Air pressure equalizes with the outside atmosphere through any door, window or vent within minutes, so Overbaro works perfectly well from your pocket, indoors, all day — you don't need to go outside for it to track real weather changes.

Riding an elevator won't fool it

Changing floors shifts the sensor reading (higher up reads slightly lower pressure), but Overbaro recognizes fast, elevator-speed changes and excludes them from your weather trend, so a quick trip upstairs won't fake a "storm approaching" reading.

Does Overbaro need the internet?

No. Every reading, the stored trend and the forecast are all calculated on your device. Overbaro has no account, advertising or analytics, and works the same in Airplane Mode.

Why is there a gap in my history?

iOS decides when apps are allowed to wake up in the background to take a reading — Overbaro requests this regularly, but the system can space it out further if you rarely open the app. Opening the app captures a fresh reading immediately and fills the chart back in going forward.

How accurate is the forecast?

Overbaro's forecast is an honest, local estimate from your own pressure trend — most useful as a same-day companion to your regular weather app, not a replacement for it, and never a substitute for official severe-weather warnings.

Still need help?

Email us

Email mike.mcfin@gmail.com. Please include your iPhone model and iOS version.