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Luke,
As alluded to earlier there are three kinds of apps:
a) those that use data from a computer model,
b) those that use ACTUAL LIVE DATA from weather stations that have been installed at appropriate locations and calibrated properly by the BOM;
c) those that use data from amateur weather stations that are uncalibrated, and usually in hopeless installations in terms of exposure to sun (temperature, humidity) and wind.
Type (b) latter are rare because the developer must pay a periodic fee to the Bureau of Meteorology to use the live data from their weather stations, whereas the computer model data is free.
Type (c) might be OK for what's happening on the owners balcony, but not an accurate representative of the conditions for the locality. But various weather services are happy to take the data anyway.
The difference can be very great and easily tested - wait for a cold front to pass your location with a sudden temperature drip and wind squall. The computer models have a very poor idea when this happened and the actual temperature and wind change, whereas the apps that use the BOM data from weather stations will accurately show the time, the real temperature drop and the wind change accurately.
As a paraglider pilot the wind and weather are absolutely critical - my ability to fly safely depend on it, and I learnt a great deal about weather and what goes on above by flying PG, where you get to experience it directly in your face.
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