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.
If I am shooting one series at higher ISO and another series at lower ISO, is it generally better to process them separately and then layer them in another program or process them all in a single session on APP. Still pretty new to APP and haven't found the right balance in luminosity of various parts of the shot when processing them all at once. The end I want to get to is to keep crisp stars I get with lower ISO combined with the nebulosity I get with the higher ISO series; just trying to figure out the best path to get there.
@leolibbey APP is not capable yet of HDR compositions like what you are looking for. The next version will have a star extraction tool such that the stars and the background can be processed separately and that will be the first step towards true HDR processing. So until then it's better to integrate the two sets of lights separately and combine them in another tool.
Thanks! The star extraction tool sounds great. Any estimate on when that version is planning to be released?
