How to View Your Area’s Air Quality Index on Your Mac’s Menu Bar
You really have no reason to think about air quality if there are no problems. And when there is a problem, there is a problem. I live in Northern California, and a tragic camp fire has created incredibly unpleasant – if not unsafe – conditions throughout the area. Schools have closed due to poor outdoor air quality over the past few days, usually in the Unhealthy / Very Unhealthy / Dangerous range of the official air quality index.
I’ve regularly checked sites like AirNow , but it gets a little tedious and depressing when you see regular images like the one on the right. (Red means that the air quality is rather poor; purple means that it is really bad.)
Luckily, software engineer Gabriel Lewis wrote a little app a few days ago that lowers the Air Quality Index right in your Mac’s menu bar. All you have to do is provide the zip code and the app, simply called ” Air, ” will regularly update the Air Quality Index for your area. The number will even change color to help you determine at a glance whether the conditions are good (green) or problematic (red).
As I type this, where I live in Northern California is slowly starting to rain, which means the air is much better since yesterday and the Air app notification is green. My lungs hope it stays that way for at least a few days.