About MatService

About

New Zealand weather for people who just want to know if they need a jacket. Built by Matthew Dickinson because everyone kept asking for the forecast.

MatService is an independent passion project. It has no connection to New Zealand's MetService / Te Ratonga Tirorangi and does not use their data.

Release history
v3.0
2026
Unified shared design system across all pages with a shared weather API layer. All apps now share location. Bottom nav across all pages. Mobile viewport and no-zoom font fixes.
v1.2
2026
TXT weather view added — plain language forecast with wear and ideas. Weekend comparison and week-ahead grid. Speech synthesis (read-aloud) added.
v1.1
2025
What to wear screen launched. Clothing advice built from temperature, wind, rain probability, UV index, and sunrise/sunset logic. Forecast screen with 48-hour hourly grid.
v1.0
2023
First version. Now screen with live temperature, weather condition, and cheeky one-liners. IP geolocation on first load. Flexoki colour palette chosen.
Data sources
Open-Meteo
Weather data · CC BY 4.0 · open-meteo.com
Free, open-source weather API. Powers all forecasts, hourly data, and daily summaries across MatService.
Open-Meteo Geocoding API
Location search ·Docs
Location search and reverse geocoding. Translates place names and GPS coordinates into latitude/longitude for weather lookups.
ipapi.co
IP geolocation ·ipapi.co
Used on first load to estimate your location when no saved location exists and GPS permission hasn't been granted. No personal data is stored or sent to MatService.
Libraries & tools
Chart.js
Charts · MIT licence · chartjs.org
Used for the background temperature and rain chart on the Now screen.
Fathom Analytics
Privacy-focused analytics · usefathom.com
Anonymous, privacy-respecting page analytics. No cookies, no personal data collected. Used to understand which features people actually use.
Design & typography
Flexoki
Colour scheme · MIT licence · stephango.com/flexoki
The warm, ink-on-paper colour palette used throughout MatService, designed for readability on digital screens.
Atkinson Hyperlegible
Typography · Free · Braille Institute
The primary interface font. Better for everyone.
Instrument Serif
Typography · SIL Open Font Licence · Google Fonts
Used for display text & temperatures, verdict times, and it adds warmth.
DM Mono
Typography · SIL Open Font Licence · Google Fonts
Used for labels, metadata, timestamps, and data values. Clean and readable at small sizes.