I usually check the weather using the builtin default app on my iPhone. It works well enough to tell me the important things, like hot or cold, raining or not raining, with a minimum of fuss. Sometimes I check the weather on my desktop, for which I’ve recently been using the forecast.io website. It has a clean design jarring distractions, people on the web tubes say it’s cool, and best of all, they’re based in the Indian Ocean.

Last night I had occasion to question the accuracy of the iPhone app’s weather report, so I wanted a second opinion. Fire up Safari on my phone, browse over to forecast.io, and here’s what I get:

Before I continue, I’ll clarify that the website on my phone was exactly as interactive as the jpg above. I tried tapping, scrolling, pinching, swiping, even giving it a dirty look. But it did not respond to anything I did. (Actually, the jpg above is more responsive because unlike the website, you can zoom in on it.)

I had several questions at this point, but one question stood out. Why would I ever want to install this steaming pile on my home screen? You have proffered no evidence that your site will be useful. I only bookmark sites after I find them valuable, but I’ve had no opportunity to make that decision. The various interstitial pages and dropdown gadgets mobile sites use are annoying, but at least I can see the content eventually. Maybe on my second visit, if you haven’t pissed me off too much, I’ll install your app. Not likely, but maybe. However, gating access to the site like forecast.io means you’re not just asking me to add it to my home screen, you’re demanding I add it. No. Not now, not ever.

The second question I had was actually the same as the first, but with more emphasis on the word this. Of all the pages on forecast.io’s site, why would this be the page I want to bookmark? Do I really want an icon on my home screen that goes to a page that tells me to add it to my home screen?

Here’s a terrifying thought: I’ve had an iPhone since the original model and love having a working browser that’s always with me, but the utility of that browser is actually decreasing every year. I could browse more sites on my phone in 2008 than I can in 2014.