Load JSON without bloated AFNetworking

JSONFromConnection.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface JSONFromConnection : NSObject

+ (void)sendAsynchronousRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request completeWith:(void (^)(id dataFromJSON, NSError *connectionOrJSONError))complete;

@end

JSONFromConnection.m

#import "JSONFromConnection.h"

@implementation JSONFromConnection

+ (void)sendAsynchronousRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request completeWith:(void (^)(id dataFromJSON, NSError *connectionOrJSONError))complete {
  [NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:request queue:[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *connectionError) {
    if (connectionError) {
      complete(nil, connectionError);
    }
    else {
      NSError *jsonError = nil;
      NSMutableData *unserializedData = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData: data options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers error:&jsonError];
      if (jsonError) {
        complete(data, jsonError);
      }
      else {
        complete(unserializedData, nil);
      }
    }
  }];
}

@end

YourController.m

- (void)fetchData
{
  NSString *urlAsString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"https://api.example.com/%@/%@", apiKey, yourQuery];
  NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:urlAsString] cachePolicy:NSURLRequestUseProtocolCachePolicy timeoutInterval:20];
  
  __weak UIViewController *weakSelf = self;
  [JSONFromConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:request completeWith:^(id dataFromJSON, NSError *connectionOrJSONError) {
    if (connectionOrJSONError) {
      // Handle the error
      weakSelf.…
    }
    else {
      // Do something with dataFromJSON (NSMutableData)
      weakSelf.…
    }
    [weakSelf broadcastWeatherDataFor:index onQueriedLocation:queriedLocation];
  }];
}

AppDelegate.m

#import "AppDelegate.h"

@implementation AppDelegate

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application willFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
  // Setup URL Caching (always a good idea)
  NSURLCache *URLCache = [[NSURLCache alloc] initWithMemoryCapacity:4 * 1024 * 1024
                                                       diskCapacity:20 * 1024 * 1024
                                                           diskPath:nil];
  [NSURLCache setSharedURLCache:URLCache];
  
  …
  return YES;
}