It has been a while. After a long period of silence on the feature front, we are happy to announce that UmbrellaToday is officially back - and better than ever. We have not just patched things up. We have rebuilt the entire platform from scratch, with a modern architecture designed to grow with you.
How It All Started
UmbrellaToday was born from a personal frustration with umbrellas. Buy one that is too big and you will never bring it along. Buy one that is too small and it breaks the first time you need it. The realization was simple: instead of investing in a better umbrella, we should minimize our interactions with them altogether. Know when it rains before you step outside, and you will rarely need one.
What started as a small personal project has grown into something much bigger. The core idea remains the same - smart, automated rain alerts so you never get caught off guard - but the ambition behind it has evolved. We are building a product that fits seamlessly into your daily routine and genuinely saves you from those wet surprises.
What Changed
The short answer: everything. The old UmbrellaToday was a simple alert tool that did one thing reasonably well. The new version is a proper product with a clean interface, a powerful backend, and a flexible system that adapts to your actual routine.
Let us walk you through what is new.
Schedules and Routine Steps
The biggest change is how you define when you need rain alerts. Instead of a single alert time, you now create schedules - think of them as your daily routines. Each schedule contains one or more steps, and each step represents a moment you head outside.
For example, your "Workday" schedule might have:
- Morning commute at 08:00 from your home address
- Lunch walk at 12:30 from your office
- Evening commute at 17:30 from your office
Each step has its own location, departure time, lead time, and outside duration. UmbrellaToday checks the forecast for each step individually and sends you a single email with all the relevant information - only when rain is expected.
This means you get precise, context-aware alerts that match your actual life, not a generic "it might rain today" notification.
Smarter Alerting
The alerting engine has been rebuilt to be more reliable and more informative. Before each of your departure times, UmbrellaToday evaluates the precipitation forecast for your specific location and time window. If rain is expected, you get a clear verdict with the details you need: when it starts, when it stops, and what to expect.
No rain in the forecast? No email. We only reach out when it matters.
Better Email Delivery
We have migrated to a new email provider, resulting in cleaner and more reliable delivery. Emails now arrive consistently, look better across all clients, and carry only the information you need - your rain verdict, at a glance.
Push Notifications
In addition to email alerts, UmbrellaToday now supports push notifications directly on your phone and desktop. Get instant rain alerts without checking your inbox. Setting them up takes less than a minute - follow our step-by-step guide to enable them.
Ask ChatGPT About the Weather
UmbrellaToday is now available as a custom GPT inside ChatGPT. Just ask it something like "Do I need an umbrella in Amsterdam at 3 PM?" and it will pull a live forecast from our API. It is a conversational way to check the weather - no dashboard needed, just a quick chat.
Sign In with Google
Authentication has been completely redone. You can now sign in with your Google account - quick, secure, and no extra password to remember. If you had an account before, just sign in with the same email and you are good to go.
A Stronger Foundation
Under the hood, the entire API has been redesigned with a clean, layered architecture. This is not just a technical flex - it means we can ship new features faster, with fewer bugs, and with confidence. The frontend has been rebuilt as well, with a modern stack that makes the experience smoother and more responsive.
Your Old Alerts Have Been Migrated
If you were an existing user, we have migrated your alerts into the new system. You will find a Migrated schedule in your dashboard containing your previous alert settings, converted into the new schedule and step format.
We did our best to match your locations using our new geocoding system. Since we have switched to a new, future-proof weather forecast provider, there may be slight differences in how your addresses were resolved. We encourage you to review your migrated schedule and update it if needed - you now have full control to modify locations, times, and settings.
Starting February 14, emails will start flowing again based on your migrated schedule. If you want to adjust anything before the first alert goes out, now is the time.
This Is Just the Beginning
The rebuild was not the goal - it was the starting point. With this new foundation in place, we are ready to expand. New features, new alert types, and more ways to stay ahead of the weather are all on the horizon.
We want to build this together with you. Your feedback matters, and we have set up a dedicated space for it. Head over to our feedback page to share ideas, report issues, or request features. Our roadmap will also live there, so you can see what is coming next and help shape the direction.
We encourage every user to participate. UmbrellaToday is a small product with a clear mission, and your input directly influences what we build next.
Welcome back. Let us keep you dry.