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Comment by joshgachnang | Hacker News Reader

The colors having different meanings shouldn't come up in typical cases, because who's looking at their air quality map from two different countries? There's also a key to the upper left.

It's interesting and well designed IMO. I don't think this actually causes issues for any users.

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The difficulty seems to be that depending on what country you are in, the colours you are used to will have different meanings.

Hopefully the german definition of good air quality isn't too overly optimistic, or someone with actual health issues might get a surprise if they are used to being ok on days with a certain "colour" when traveling.

Well, they said the AQ for NL was “insufficient” but the same value was “good” according to Germany. So it’s not just different colors, it’s different standards for AQ.

I guess you’re proposing that the AQ meter always use the scale of your home country. Doesn’t seem unreasonable but also seems like a quibble so tiny that it could be defeated if someone more knowledgeable offered a single reason against it.

Hm. That seemed unnecessarily contentious. We were largely in agreement. Yes, the german one is using more lax standards, as I was saying, hopefully not too lax, but yes, the colours indicate entirely different standards.

And yes, I think a simple solution would be to use the colour of your home country that you are used to. Presumably if you moved, you could just learn the standards of your new country. A consistent standard that you can rely on in your phone when on a trip to another country definitely seems more useful if you are actually relying on this iOS app. It could be a simple app pref, a little toggle switch..

> The colors having different meanings shouldn't come up in typical cases, because who's looking at their air quality map from two different countries?

Anyone who travels between countries?

> who's looking at their air quality map from two different countries?

I do it a few times per week while I commute from Belgium to France and when I'm doing my groceries in whichever country is best for what I need. I'm interested in the air quality in France when I'm leaving Belgium, and in the quality in Belgium when I'm leaving France.

I don't look at them from iOS though so I don't really have any problem. But crossing borders is a rather common thing around here.

> because who's looking at their air quality map from two different countries

People that travel. Are you serious?

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