ANU Severe Weather Decisions — Support
ANU helps you make severe weather decisions for the places you care about. It checks National Weather Service alerts and other weather and hazard services, and shows you clear options. It does not replace official alerts or emergency instructions.
Contact us
Email hello@cognitoagora.com. Tell us your device model, your iOS version and what you saw.
Privacy: read the ANU Privacy Policy.
Common questions
Why does ANU say “Sources Differ”? ANU checks more than one weather source. When they don’t agree, ANU tells you instead of guessing, and puts “Wait for more info” first. The other options stay on the list. You can see what each source says under “Where this came from” on the Ready tab.
Why does ANU say information is missing or old? ANU shows weather facts only from its sources. The preparedness steps are general guidance. If data is old, incomplete, or unavailable, ANU says so. No alert found does not mean nothing is happening. ANU never says a place is safe.
Does ANU need my location? No. You can type any US city or address. Device location is optional and only used when you choose it: “Use my current location” when you add a place, or “Warn me where I am” if you turn it on. The city or address you type is sent to Apple’s maps service to find the spot, and checking a place sends its coordinates to the weather services listed in the Privacy Policy.
How do I add, label, or remove saved places? Tap the + button, type a city or address, tap the search button (or the Search key on the keyboard), then tap “Save this place”. ANU keeps up to six places. You can give a place an optional label such as Home, Work, or Mom’s. The saved place name (normally the National Weather Service’s city) and, when ANU found one, its weather zone stay visible underneath. To remove one, open the same screen and tap the trash icon next to it. ANU will ask you to confirm first. Saved places are stored on your device. If you are signed in to iCloud, they are also copied to your other devices through iCloud.
Warnings and ANU Watch
Will ANU send me alerts? Yes, for the places you choose, with ANU Watch. Open the Ready tab, tap Warnings, and turn on each place you want warned about. If you do not have ANU Watch yet, the ANU Watch screen opens. ANU checks the places you turn on, usually every minute or two, and sends a notification when the National Weather Service issues one of the warnings or watches ANU covers: tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and flood, hurricane, tropical storm, storm surge, tsunami, winter storm, extreme heat and cold, high wind, and fire weather warnings, plus watches for some of these. ANU does not send advisories or other statements. Checking the weather in ANU is always free.
Can ANU warn me wherever I am, not just at my saved places? Yes. On the Warnings page turn on “Warn me where I am”. ANU asks for location set to Always, because warnings have to reach you while the app is closed. Your phone sends its position, rounded to about 1 km (under a mile), when iOS reports a significant change in your location and ANU’s own filter finds the change large enough, when you turn it on, and again when you open ANU. The position iOS gives ANU can itself be several kilometers wide, so your area may be rounder than 1 km. Only your latest position is kept in your record. Short-lived technical copies of what your phone sent are kept for up to 24 hours. Turn the switch off, or set location below Always, and ANU deletes your position from the warning service when your phone can reach it, and keeps asking until the service confirms. If you choose “Precise Location: off” in iPhone Settings, your area can be much rounder than usual; turn it on for a nearer one.
What does ANU Watch cost? The App Store shows the price, and any free trial, before you subscribe. There is a monthly plan and a yearly plan.
How do I cancel? On your iPhone open Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions, choose ANU Watch, and cancel. Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date to avoid the next charge. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription.
Can I get a refund? Apple handles payment and refunds. Ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.
How do I restore my purchase? If you already have ANU Watch on this Apple Account, open the ANU Watch screen (it opens when you try to turn on a place) and tap Restore purchases under the plans. Use it after you reinstall ANU or move to a new iPhone. While ANU Watch is on, the Warnings page (Ready tab, then Warnings) also has a Restore purchases button at the bottom of its top card. If Apple cannot be reached, it says so; if it finds nothing, it says that.
What happens when my subscription ends? When your paid period ends, warnings stop. ANU allows up to three days after that, in case a renewal arrives late, and warnings can still arrive during those days. Your places stay on the warning service until you remove them or until the automatic deletion after 180 days of no contact described in the Privacy Policy. To remove one, turn it off in ANU or tap Stop on the Warnings page; ANU sends that request even if ANU Watch is no longer active. If “Warn me where I am” is still on, ANU keeps updating your position at the service even though no warnings are sent, so turn that switch off if you want it to stop.
I turned on a place but I am not getting warnings. Check these, in order:
- The top card on the Warnings page should say “Warnings on for 1 place” (or “…for 2 places”, and so on). If it says “ANU Watch is not active”, tap “Turn on ANU Watch”. If you already have ANU Watch, tap Restore purchases on the screen that opens.
- If the card says “Notifications are off for ANU”, turn notifications on in your iPhone Settings.
- If it says “Not confirmed for 1 place” (or more) or “Not checked recently”, tap Try again.
- Make sure the place is still switched on and was not quieted (“Quiet until” shows under the place).
- Make sure your phone has signal.
ANU sends a notification only for the warnings and watches it covers. No notification does not mean nothing is happening.
The Warnings page says “Still on at the warning service.” This can happen after you reinstall ANU or set up a new iPhone: the warning service remembers places this copy of ANU does not have turned on and, going by its last answer, is still watching them. ANU never deletes them for you. If the place is saved on this phone, its row shows Keep (turn it on here) and Stop (delete it from the service). If you do not have ANU Watch, Keep opens the ANU Watch screen first, as turning a place on does. If it is not saved on this phone, it is listed by the name the service holds for it, with Stop only; Stop deletes just that one. You only see these choices after the service has answered, so if you had no signal, tap Try again once you are connected. If you tap Stop, or turn a place off or remove it, and the service has not confirmed yet, ANU keeps that pending and asks again whenever you open the Warnings page or tap Try again. The Warnings page may show a message that it has not been turned off yet; whether it does depends on what else the page has to show. “Where you are” is not in that list: turn the “Warn me where I am” switch off to stop it.
What is a Live Activity warning on my Lock Screen? Live Activity is Apple’s name for it. When Live Activities are on for ANU, a warning can appear on your Lock Screen with its end time and end when the Weather Service drops it. Once warnings are set up, turning them on makes your phone send a Lock Screen address to the warning service, and one more for each Lock Screen warning that starts. The service stores them encrypted. Turn Live Activities off for ANU in your iPhone Settings to stop it.
Why does a widget or ANU on my Apple Watch show an old check? They show the last check made for that place. The iPhone app updates widgets whenever it checks. ANU on Apple Watch does its own checks when you open it. Widgets and complications can also check on their own when iOS or watchOS lets them, so the system decides how often they refresh. Open ANU for a fresh check.
Can ANU read an alert out loud? Yes. Tap Listen on the Now tab and ANU will read the current conditions and the official alert, including what the Weather Service says to do. It keeps reading if you switch apps or lock the phone.
Your information
What does ANU send out, and how do I remove it? The ANU Privacy Policy lists the services your phone sends your places to and what ANU’s warning service stores. In short: turning a place off or removing it deletes it from the warning service when your phone can reach it, and so does turning off “Warn me where I am”. Short-lived copies expire within 24 hours; delivery records (which warning was sent to which place) are kept for 60 days, Lock Screen records for 30 days after the display ends, and backups can hold older versions for up to 30 days. Deleting the app does not delete anything from the warning service at once. To delete this phone's record (your random ID, notification addresses, subscription status, the details from your phone and your places), open the Warnings page and tap Delete my data; if your phone cannot reach the service, nothing is deleted and ANU says so. Records are also deleted automatically when the app has not contacted the service for 180 days and the subscription is not running. Because the record has no name or email on it, we cannot tell from a message which record is yours. If you email us, we receive your email address and what you send.
Honest limits
Is ANU an emergency service? No. ANU is not an emergency authority. Always follow official instructions from the National Weather Service and your local emergency management. In an emergency, call 911.
Can ANU miss a warning? Yes. A phone with no signal receives nothing, from ANU or anyone else. Notifications can also be delayed or blocked by your connection, Apple’s notification service, or your phone’s settings. Keep Wireless Emergency Alerts on in your phone settings, and keep a battery weather radio for the nights the network is down.
Subscription terms
ANU Watch uses Apple’s standard Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
ANU is built by Cognito Agora, Inc.