Build 9: seven new charts and iCloud sync

The largest build so far, and the first that needs iOS or iPadOS 26.

Charts

Seven new charts:

• Stability Indices. CAPE, CIN, LI, K index, Total Totals and SWEAT through the run.
• CAPE–Shear. Every forecast hour plotted against regions for ordinary cells, multicells and supercells.
• Precip Type. Sondex’s precipitation potential by hour, colored by type: snow, sleet, freezing rain or rain.
• Accumulation. A running total estimated from precipitation potential and PW. It isn’t model QPF.
• Bourgouin Energy. Melting and refreezing energy against the Bourgouin thresholds.
• Mixing Height. With a ventilation index overlay.
• Ensemble Plumes. For multi-member files such as SREF: temperature at each member’s lowest level, CAPE, LI and precipitation potential.

Also:

• Time-height adds omega (µb/s), θe (K) and mixing ratio (g/kg).
• The readouts add precipitation potential and apparent temperature.
• Share sends the chart as an image, captioned with the station, model and run. Before, it sent text.
• On iPhone, a tick-ruler time slider replaces the tab bar on the Charts screen.

Data

• Runs and the station list come from the IEM’s BUFKIT API at mesonet.agron.iastate.edu. The old archive and Penn State URLs are gone.
• Multi-member BUFKIT files, such as SREF, are split into members, with a member picker that defaults to the mean. Ensemble files come in by import only.
• This build adds iCloud sync for your library.

Library and Charts

• The Charts tab opens on your runs, each card showing its peak CAPE and forecast trends.
• The Library has Overview, Model Desk and Station Feed tabs. Stations are marked fresh (newest run within 6 hours), aging (within 18) or stale, and a station’s menu adds Remove from Library.
• On iPhone, the Library, Map and Charts screens each get a grid of actions, such as Import Files, Nearest and Share.
• Settings is rebuilt: metric units (now off by default), theme, map style (Standard, Hybrid or Satellite), notifications, haptics and Reset All Data.

Pro

The Pro limits are back on: without Pro, five imports, one auto-fetch station and the default chart style. Purchases run in Apple’s sandbox, so nothing is charged.

Fixed

• Import from URL works on iPhone.
• On iPad in a wide layout, Add Custom Station opens.
• The station screen opened from the map could come up blank.
• .buz files imported by URL are recognized, and large files get up to 180 seconds to parse.
• Duplicate stations are merged.
• Station downloads report Download Complete or Download Failed.

Removed

• The Clear Cache button, which did nothing.

Known issues

• The CAPE–Shear chart’s shear came from the wrong BUFKIT header field, BRCH. That was fixed in build 20.