Writing

Someone reads Storm’s words with a storm coming. Every rule here is about being read in two seconds and believed.

Rules

NWS’s words are NWS’s. The event’s name, the headline and what to do are quoted as issued, in quotation marks, and credited. Storm never paraphrases an instruction, never softens one, and never adds one of its own.

Never “safe”, never “all clear”. Storm can say NWS has nothing for a place: “No alerts”. It can’t say the sky is safe.

Lead with what to do and how long. The level, the hazard, where you are against it, the time left. Then everything else.

Say how old the news is. “Checked 6:22 PM”. Offline, say what’s still shown and when it expires.

Apple’s voice, US spelling. Plain, not cheerful: no “please”, “oops”, “simply” or “!”.
Title Case for buttons and screen names; sentence case for everything else, as Apple does.
Facts are joined by “ · ”. Real ’, “ ” and ….
Times as the clock shows them: “6:45 PM”. Time zones only when a place is in another one: “6:45 PM CDT”.
Durations: “23 min left”, “Ends in 23 min”. Distances: “4 mi from a warning”.
25 words at most in a notification; the first line must stand alone on a watch face.
® on the first use of “onNAV” in the store listing, as Anchor Alert does.

Notifications

Do
Tornado Warning · Home
You’re inside it until 6:45 PM. NWS: “Take cover now.”

Don’t
⚠️ DANGER! Tornado headed your way!! Seek shelter immediately

Do
Tornado Watch · Mom’s
Moore is 4 mi from a Tornado Warning. Watch until 11:00 PM.

Don’t
Severe weather near Mom’s. Tap for details

Glossary

Use	Not	Meaning
Warning, Watch, Advisory, Statement	Alert level, severity, red alert	The four levels, in NWS’s own words
alert	notification, message	Anything NWS issued, at any level
Place	location, favorite, saved spot	Somewhere you asked Storm to watch
Here	Current location, My location	Where the phone is
No alerts	All clear, Safe, Nothing to worry about	NWS has nothing for this place right now
inside it, 4 mi from a warning	affected, in the area, nearby	Where a place is against a warning’s shape
Ring on silent	Critical Alerts, emergency bypass	Apple’s Critical Alert, in plain words
Quiet hours	Do Not Disturb, sleep mode	When watches and advisories wait
NWS	NOAA, the government, the weather service	Spelled out once per screen as “the National Weather Service”
Storm Pro	Premium, Plus, upgrade	The subscription

onNAV Storm • A pitch for onNAV, October 2026