Windows 11 Weather App: A Resource Hog That Slows Down Your PC
The Windows 11 Weather app is consuming excessive RAM and slowing down PCs. Learn about the app's resource usage and its implications for users.
For users of Windows 11, the built-in Weather app may be inadvertently causing performance issues on their computers. Reports indicate that this application consumes an excessive amount of RAM, even when it is not actively in use.
The Weather app has been a point of contention among users for several years. The troubles began when Microsoft rolled out an update in the summer of 2024, introducing advertisements between weather updates. Recently, however, a new issue has emerged, as noted by Windows Latest, revealing that the Weather app is not alone in its resource consumption troubles.
Why the Weather App Consumes So Much RAM
In a recent evaluation, experts observed that the Weather app can use up to 1.2 gigabytes of RAM while in a dormant state. The Task Manager aggregates nine different subprocesses under a single entry labeled "Weather," which includes components such as Renderer, GPU Process, and various utility applications.
This significant resource usage not only exceeds one gigabyte of RAM but also accounts for 16.5 percent of CPU processing power. For comparison, Windows Latest analyzed the Apple Weather app on macOS, which uses only about 250 megabytes of RAM when idle. In initial tests, the Apple app consumed up to 30 percent of CPU resources upon launch, but this dropped to a mere 1.3 percent when not in active use.
The excessive resource demands stem from the fact that the Weather app is not a native Windows 11 application; rather, it operates as a Webview 2 application. This means that the app essentially loads a web version of the weather service—specifically, a version of MSN Weather—and presents it in a way that resembles a standalone application. In reality, it is merely displaying a browser window.
Webview 2 has previously caused issues within Windows 11, leading to slower loading times for web-based applications compared to their native counterparts. For instance, the web version of Outlook takes longer to load than the native app, and after transitioning to Webview 2, WhatsApp also exhibited a significant increase in memory usage under Windows 11.
Unfortunately, there is no straightforward solution for users reliant on the Windows 11 Weather app. While Microsoft has promised to replace some web apps with native alternatives, it remains unclear whether the Weather app will be included in these updates. For those who frequently check the weather on their smartphones, exploring the best weather apps for Android and iOS might be a more efficient option.
