Several things have become synonymous with smartphones: weather and stocks. With stock markets looking so depressing, perhaps your best use of time is sitting and watching the weather around the world. 

You probably already have the provision for weather on you phone. If you have one from any of the big manufacturers there is probably something to cover your weather needs, with HTC being the biggest proponent of weather that ever there was. But if you fancy something a little different, then this might just hit the mark.

Yahoo! Weather

Platform

Android

Price

Free

Where

Android Market

Yahoo! Weather has been around for a while, but recently updated. There are a number of interested parties involved in this particular app. The Weather Channel supplies the actual weather data, but it's the involvement of Flickr that we find makes it all the more interesting.

Install the Yahoo! Weather app and like most modern apps, it will detect where you are and present the weather details for your location. You can assign different locations, with space for 10 on offer, perhaps places you travel regularly.

The app then pulls in the weather details, pretty much as standard, but then fills in the background using images from the Project Weather group on Flickr. This group has been setup by Yahoo to let people submit their weather photos for inclusion. If accepted, by meeting the criteria, the image will form part of the pool that then livens up the app.

It's an interesting approach and more interesting that looking at the same weather animation or graphic each time you glance at your phone. The idea is that you not only get a photo of that specific location, but in the weather conditions as well. 

Clicking on the background will move the weather forecast aside so you can marvel at the photo, with a link through to the original image on Flickr if you want to see more of it, or more from that photographer.

The downside is that the supported locations are limited at the moment, so users in the UK will probably find a picture of London when their selected city is Bristol. But that said there are some stunning photographs and we like the community-sourced nature of them.

There is a widget available too, but it is rather small. This too will supply a background picture consistent with the app. If you want more weather information, turning the phone into landscape will give you more details.

It's not a groundbreaking app by any measure, but if you're bored of the same old weather symbols or animations, then it does give you something a little different.