{"slug": "purpleair", "name": "PurpleAir", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 2.766, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2026-01-25", "latest": "2026-01-26", "why": "You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "purpleair.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.purpleair.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["PurpleAir"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 748203392, "item_id": 46762712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762712", "by": "650REDHAIR", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use that and Mr. Chilly.", "excerpt": "I use that and Mr. Chilly. Mr. Chilly is one of those niche apps that sparks joy and reminds me of the early app days.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}, {"id": 748202978, "item_id": 46762686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762686", "by": "weisser", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused", "excerpt": "no I made this primarily for a Claude Code / Clawdbot skill so I am not making it super sophisticated. You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused https://www2.purpleair.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "air quality monitoring", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}, {"id": 748197488, "item_id": 46762343, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762343", "by": "meatmanek", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My favorite weather map for SF is PurpleAir", "excerpt": "My favorite weather map for SF is PurpleAir: https://map.purpleair.com/environment-estimated-temerature-fahrenheit There are thousands of sensors around the city. You can get a sense of shade-vs-sun temperatures by the spread of numbers you see (on cloudy days, the reported temperatures will be much closer together, while on sunny days, sensors in the sun will report elevated temperatures.) You do need to make sure t", "context": "", "use_case": "Sensor-based temperature map", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "brdd", "context": "lives in Noe Valley", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46772229", "date": "2026-01-26"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["air quality data for home automation", "air quality monitoring", "sensor-based temperature map"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46760927", "title": "SF Microclimates API", "mentions": 4}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 748355664, "item_id": 46772229, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46772229", "by": "brdd", "date": "2026-01-26", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use PurpleAir data for a lot of my home automations", "excerpt": "I use PurpleAir data for a lot of my home automations\u2014 I have a smart window vent and configure it to blow in/out depending on which side has the worse air. (Thank you to those who maintain public sensors!) I do notice that in my neighborhood (Noe Valley) a lot of the sensors are very incorrect or often offline. I've resorted to taking the median and throwing outliers away, but even this often doesn't work. This is t", "context": "lives in Noe Valley", "use_case": "air quality data for home automation", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}, {"id": 748203392, "item_id": 46762712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762712", "by": "650REDHAIR", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use that and Mr. Chilly.", "excerpt": "I use that and Mr. Chilly. Mr. Chilly is one of those niche apps that sparks joy and reminds me of the early app days.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}, {"id": 748202978, "item_id": 46762686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762686", "by": "weisser", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused", "excerpt": "no I made this primarily for a Claude Code / Clawdbot skill so I am not making it super sophisticated. You should use Purple Air if you want to make it more focused https://www2.purpleair.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "air quality monitoring", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}, {"id": 748197488, "item_id": 46762343, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46762343", "by": "meatmanek", "date": "2026-01-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My favorite weather map for SF is PurpleAir", "excerpt": "My favorite weather map for SF is PurpleAir: https://map.purpleair.com/environment-estimated-temerature-fahrenheit There are thousands of sensors around the city. You can get a sense of shade-vs-sun temperatures by the spread of numbers you see (on cloudy days, the reported temperatures will be much closer together, while on sunny days, sensors in the sun will report elevated temperatures.) You do need to make sure t", "context": "", "use_case": "Sensor-based temperature map", "switched_from": "", "story": "SF Microclimates API"}]}