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.
This is an effective way to crash one's own reputation...an absolute no-go in ANY business.
Wanted to buy a license this fall, but in view of this?
What a pity for APP.
I've always liked APP, but I don't like the lack of communication from you at all.
There have been no new versions for 8 months, and honestly hearing that in the next few days we will go faster, makes us understand that eight months were not enough.
You had promised a post to explain the thing, but there was no post.
Who knows...
I like using APP for stacking. But the fact that you can't save all your settings is a gigantic pain in the rear. It may be the only piece of software in the world that anyone is using that requires you to go through a complex configuration step every single time you use it. The ability to save your work was promised to us months and months ago. If it doesn't happen in the next couple of weeks, I'm out. I'll just buy another PC and run WBPP on it. It's slower, but my time is more valuable to me than computer time. And not only can you save your work in WBPP, it's a helluva lot less work to begin with because it's smart about identifying files, directories, and calibration frames. I think APP produces very slightly higher quality results, but WBPP has really caught up with the addition of LNC.
I decided not to renew my license until 2.0.0 was actually released and out of beta. I made that decision in May 2023...which was beta17.
I feel like they'd be better-off Open Sourcing the code to get community involvement instead of running a 1-2 man development team.
I'm the OP of this thread.
You sort of reassured us that the product was still alive, and promised us prompt communication about what was going on, several weeks ago.
With all due respect, I think what's happening now isn't fair to the (paying) user community - please let us know what's going on, where the product is going, and be specific about next steps.
I think all the users here love the product... it would be a shame if some started to hate it!
Best regards,
Rodolphe
I've lost all hope in APP now. A few years ago I was singing the praises of the software everywhere and I know they sold a lot of copies because of me. I can't do that anymore. It takes years to develop every little thing, it's so behind other programs. Right now it's just a very expensive stacker with no ability to save projects. This still feels like a trial version to me.
The lack of communication and false promises are no longer acceptable to me.
WBPP is much better now than it was a few years ago. So I switched to PixInsight completely because I have no other choice. I have to move on and I can't imagine this happening with APP anytime soon. I have an owner's license and will use it from time to time for things like mosaics.
Robert
To renew, or not to renew.... Which is a bigger question now seeing how my renters license expired...
Pixinsight broke my brain...
DSS is decent, and while not as good, does let me save my filelist (a multi year promised addition to APP). Seeing how I often have cloudy nights, and tonight's project is may or may not be resumed next year...
Please lock this thread and make it disappear. I'm tired of seeing this clickbait.
Yes, it is annoying indeed. Obviously we can not expect a further development of this piece of software. So, I'll still use it for stacking only as it is. I have an eye at Siril as well. They improved their software a lot and it seems to be a very active team. I use the included photometric colour correction, DBE and GHS very frequently in my workflow. Maybe it is an alternative - and it's free ! I also considered PixInsight - ordered a trial version but at the end I'm sure we are not going to become friends. The only thing I miss - included in PixInsight - is BlurXTerminator. But there are also alternatives as AstraImage and Cosmic Clarity.
If you don't like this thread, use some self control and don't click on it.
@astrogee The Secret Astrophotographers Don't Want You To Know!
I lie. There is no secret. Just keep scrolling.
If you don't like this thread, use some self control and don't click on it.
Mabula has already graciously answered this thread so why doesn't everybody just give it a rest. Someone is always resurrecting this thread just when i think it's dead... I won't say anymore about it.
Mabula has already graciously answered this thread so why doesn't everybody just give it a rest. Someone is always resurrecting this thread just when i think it's dead... I won't say anymore about it.
That's not graciousness, that's just business practice.
Saying an update will happen in a few days, then weeks later nothing, that's bad business practice.
If APP becomes abandonware, with a small update to disable licensing, then updates from Mabula become gracious.
I have no words to comment on Mabula's behavior ...
yes, I won't renew until they tell me what's going on!!! As far as we still pay them, they won't change a thing. Please take care of your customers!
Hi all,
Forum support will continue today by me. Things have been rather rough for me for several reasons and I will now continue all support (email and forum) and APP's development on a full-time basis going forward.
Updates about the situation are in this new sticky topic and I hope we can continue all in that topic going forward.
Thank you all and please forgive my bad behaviour in the past couple of months with silence on the forum. Please realize that email support has been responsive and up-to-date.
I close this topic now and any questions and feedback can be posted in the new sticky topic that I have just opened.
Greetings from Mabula.
