2026-10-09 APP 2.0.0-beta48 has been released !
This is mainly a bug fix release for the reported bugs in beta47. In addition it has a significant User Interface performance improvement noticable when you need to process 1000s of images in APP.
2026-10-03 APP 2.0.0-beta47 has been released !
This is a very big release... many code optimizations/rewrites, many parts of APP are much faster and more precise, especially star analysis and registration are much faster ! Big mosaics will go much faster 🙂
And we introduce a new preview filter, which includes the new Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch and a General Levels Stretch, this has been long over due. The old preview filter (the panel on the right side to stretch and preview your data) has not been updated for a couple of years and it is a critical part of any APP session.
Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch or ADSS is a much more intuitive stretch algorithm. It is also color preserving (which is a great new addition in itself ! ) which means that the highlights are no longer bleached, color is maintained from the linear data while stretching. You can simply stretch your data using the sky background level and signal width sliders which work much easier and more intuitive. You no longer need to fiddle with the old complicated sliders with zoom buttons. All the zoom buttons for the sliders are made redundant. And you can enter slider values in the slider value fields yourself. I will make a youtube video in the coming days to explain and fully introduce ADSS. Once the video is ready, it will be highlighted on the forum.
RGB Combine upgrade !. The RGB Combine Tool has been rewritten mostly. The tool is faster and easier to use and most importantly, the Luminance slider to inject a luminance channel or channels into the RGB composite is now working correctly. It no longer bleaches the RGB colors. Combined with the new ADSS preview, you will get much better and easier great composites with great color! I will also explain this in a new youtube video.
Hi Mabula,
Having run the trial version I am interested in buying a full license for APP. I already have processing software that I am happy with and would be buying APP for pre-processing.
Unfortunately now I am semi-retired I can't afford the rental model and am interested in the perpetual model, however I haven't managed to find any information about on-going costs.
Could you outline what on-going costs I could anticipate, for example how much will a major upgrade cost, how often you think chargeable upgrades will be released? I can understand you probably won't know exactly, I'm just trying to work roughly what I would be buying into.
Thanks
Jon
Hi Jon @midnight_lightning,
If you would buy the Owner license, you would simply pay once and the software keeps working.
If I were to release a major upgrade like indicated in the product description at:
https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/product/astro-pixel-processor-owner-license/
- an Astro Pixel Processor license that never expires. You buy the software, so the software wil never stop working after the initial software activation.
- in case of a big upgrade of Astro Pixel Processor in the future, that introduces new features or structurally enhances the user interface, you could be asked an upgrade fee if you want to use the upgraded version. The old version without upgrade will not stop to work.
your APP version will still continue to work. If you like the new upgrade, you can always choose to pay a small upgrade fee for the new features/enhancements off course, but you are not obliged to do so.
As it stands at the moment, it's safe to say, that upgrades like this will happen only once every 2-3 years depending on my progress with APP's development and possible future additions in the development team to speedup development. So it definitely won't happen multiple times per year 😉
Regarding the cost of such an upgrade, it does depend on the actual upgrade features as you can understand, but you should expect an upgrade fee that is around 10-20% of the initial Owner license price. So it will be a small part of the actual purchase.
I can understand you probably won't know exactly, I'm just trying to work roughly what I would be buying into.
I understand as well ;-), I hope my indications will help you in this regard. Do let me know if you have further questions.
Kind regards,
Mabula
Thanks Mabula, much appreciated. I’m out of the country right now but am happy with that and will purchase a full license when I return.
Great package btw and I really like the automation you added to registration/ stacking - makes processing so much easier.
Jon
Thanks Mabula, much appreciated. I’m out of the country right now but am happy with that and will purchase a full license when I return.
Great package btw and I really like the automation you added to registration/ stacking - makes processing so much easier.
Jon
Thank you Jon for your feedback on this matter and your nice compliment 😉 @midnight_lightning,
