Helpers from the smartphone

Springtime is pollen time. However, many allergy sufferers look forward to the blossoming plant world with little anticipation, as they have to struggle with itchy eyes and runny noses. In addition to SLIT, SCIT and the like, technical aids have also been available for some time now to help us adjust to this: special allergy apps warn us of pollen counts. However, the scope and functionality of the applications sometimes differ greatly.

c’t magazine, a German-based journal for computer technology, tested twelve pollen count apps, some of which are operated by state authorities, foundations or associations, but also by pharmaceutical companies and a health insurance company [1]. Five of these twelve apps (Air Quality & Pollen, Pollen+, Pollen Alarm & Pollen Count, Pollen News and WetterOnline) also cover Switzerland.

At first glance, the different number of pollen/allergens covered by the apps is striking: Pollen News from the aha! Allergy Center Switzerland – the only app that is operated by a Swiss provider and focuses on Switzerland in its forecasts – feeds its data from the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) and monitors seven types of pollen (birch, beech, oak, alder, ash, grass and hazel). According to MeteoSwiss, these cover over 90% of the most common allergies in Switzerland. Air Quality & Pollen, on the other hand, only evaluates five species (alder, grass, tree, ragweed and olive pollen), while the Austrian Pollen Information Service’s Pollen+ evaluates eight. Significantly more allergens are covered by WetterOnline (14) and Pollen Alarm & Pollen Count (19), including some “exotic” allergens such as olive or cypress, which play a minor role in Switzerland.

Different allergens and data sources

Similar to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology in Switzerland, data on pollen counts in Germany is collected by the German Pollen Information Service (PID) foundation and the German Weather Service (DWD). The Austrian product Pollen+ is also based on the PID, and the European Aeroallergen Network (EAN) is used for EU-wide data. According to the company, Air Quality & Pollen draws on various data sources, including satellite data from NASA and ESA, government-provided data and models as well as data from the private open source community “Sensor Community”. WetterOnline and Pollen Alarm & Pollen Count did not provide c’t-Magazin with any information about their data sources.

The PID maintains twelve measuring stations in Germany where the pollen count is analyzed all year round using volumetric pollen traps. This data is shared with the DWD, which then combines it with data on plant growth and the weather forecast to create its pollen hazard index. There are measuring stations at 14 locations in Switzerland.

Individual advantages and disadvantages

Most apps have advantages and disadvantages, depending on what the individual user pays particular attention to. Pollen-News and WetterOnline have a matching website that also makes their information accessible outside the app in the browser.

However, c’t advises against using WetterOnline and Air Quality & Pollen if data protection is important to the user, as they “happily use trackers and demand many authorizations, even in the paid versions”. There is only an English version of Air Quality & Pollen, but no German version. WetterOnline is, as the name suggests, an app that focuses primarily on the global weather forecast and offers the pollen forecast as an add-on. However, there are no settings for pollen types or push notifications.

Pollen Alarm & Pollen Count was initially published in French (Alerte Pollen) and is currently only available as an Android app. With Pollen-News, the user selects one of the 14 measuring locations and certain types of pollen and then receives the current values and a forecast for three days. Individual push messages are also possible. Pollen+ predicts pollen count and air quality, offers push notifications and has a practical helper in the form of a symptom diary (customer account required).

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