The Paku App: View PurpleAir Air Quality Data

Paku is an IOS app that allows you to view your PurpleAir sensor, as well as others, on an integrated map that pleases the eye and makes understanding air quality easy. Sporting a number of features, Paku is the number-one choice for many PurpleAir community members. It was created and is supported by someone who is a community member himself: a passionate developer named Kyle Bashour. But why did Kyle decide to build Paku in the first place?

The Origin of Paku

Paku started because of an issue I’m sure resonates with many of you: concern over air quality, specifically because of wildfires.

Kyle first became worried about air quality and aware of PurpleAir during the latter half of 2020 when he was subjected to what has now been dubbed “Orange Skies Day.” A climatological event in which smoke in the upper atmosphere, originating from numerous nearby fires, blocked blue light from reaching the surface. The result was an apocalyptic light bathing the city of San Francisco in an ominous orange glow: a shocking sight, to say the least. Kyle himself captured the day in the photo seen above.

Spurred by the event, Kyle immediately started working on Paku, releasing the first version in just twenty-four hours. It didn’t have all of the features it has now, but it was what Kyle wanted: a widget that showed him AQI readings from the closest PurpleAir sensor. With that out of the way, Paku developed naturally as Kyle implemented both features that he enjoyed creating and features requested by his gradually growing user base. Now, Paku is comprehensive, supporting a number of features that make monitoring air quality easy and accessible.

Benefits and Features

Today, Paku incorporates a number of features that are enjoyed and appreciated by its user-base. As mentioned above, these include those that Kyle wanted to add (it is a passion project, after all) and those that have been requested by community members. Some of the more popular features are listed below:

• All PurpleAir sensors load instantly on the Paku map, with options available to add your private sensor.
• Numerous charts and widgets allow you to view up to one week of historical data.
• App notifications alert you if air quality levels exceed a certain threshold.

In a message to me, Kyle noted: “I think my favorite feature is all the different widgets—there are several different options for your Home Screen, but you can also set them up on your Lock Screen, in Stand By, and on your Apple Watch.”

The PurpleAir API

As I’m sure might be obvious, Paku is an app that uses PurpleAir data. This means that it queries our API to get that data and display it on its map. It does this for all public PurpleAir sensors by default, but you can add your private sensors as well. This means that if you own a sensor or plan on getting one, those sensors will appear in Paku. But how does this process work?

An API—Application Programming Interface—is not something that is unique to PurpleAir. They are widely used for an innumerable number of reasons. To give a technical definition, Amazon Web Services says, “APIs are mechanisms that enable two software components to communicate with each other using a set of definitions and protocols.” Essentially, an API is a communication tool often used to ask for and receive data.

For PurpleAir, our API is something like the waitstaff at a restaurant. You give them your order, they bring it to the kitchen, and then serve it to you when it is ready. They act as a communication medium between you and the kitchen. When Paku is looking to get PurpleAir data, it goes to our API and requests data for a certain number of sensors. The range of data available is quite diverse, but some of the main things it’s asking for are fields such as particulate matter (PM), temperature, or humidity. The API says “okay,” goes to the servers where that data is stored, grabs what was requested, and brings it back. Then, Paku takes that data and displays it on its map.

Kyle now has extensive experience working with the PurpleAir API and adapting as it has developed over time. In his opinion, it has been “pretty easy to use,” although it might not have the “most standard design.” Regardless, the API is “well-documented, which is incredibly helpful.” Something that he notes improved over time.

Generally, Kyle states that he has had good interactions with PurpleAir and loves the mission of the company. He says, “I own my own sensor, of course - it’s been really helpful to keep an eye on AQI and temperature right outside my door.”

Check out Paku here!