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.
APP is not perfect... but it's on its way. I'm proud and like it because it continuously produces new versions and constantly changes to perform better, and also i hope it continues innovating new processes to make the stacking better.
Just spreading some love to APP! Héctor
No software is “perfect.” Among astrophotography stacking software, APP is already the best. Neither Pixinsight, Astap, Seti Astro, nor Siril can hold a candle to APP when it comes to stacking and calibration. That’s a fact. However, APP falls a bit short when it comes to processing. I don’t know what kind of progress it will make in areas like photometric and spectrophotometric color calibration, masks, curve transformations, etc., but I don’t quite understand why there isn’t integration with software like Graxpert, Starnet2, and similar programs—which are both free and extremely successful, having proven themselves. Maybe these are already on Mabula’s “to-do list,” and Mabula will implement them in the future; I don’t know that either. Another area where APP falls short is support. I was saddened to observe that a user who lost his license key recently went three weeks without receiving a response.
I’m writing this not to criticize APP, but rather to encourage it to improve. I’m very happy I purchased APP for stacking, and I’m eagerly awaiting improvements in its processing capabilities and support.
I’m sorry, I don't agree with you, but I'll explain why. I believe that the great success of APP has been precisely to dedicate itself entirely or mainly to the stacking processes. This is what makes it the best tool. I like that it is the best stacking program, and not that it is a regular program like others.I prefer it to be the best stacking program available nowadays
APP is not perfect... but it's on its way. I'm proud and like it because it continuously produces new versions and constantly changes to perform better, and also i hope it continues innovating new processes to make the stacking better.
Just spreading some love to APP! Héctor
Dear Héctor @hcdv,
Thank you very much for your love ! That is really appreciated 🙂
I will work as good a s can on further improvements, especially after the 2.0.0 stable release with the full manual. I will release it as soon as possible now, I am very close.
Mabula
Thank you for your feedback, I am working as hard as I can and definitely will work on better support and more progress on the (post-)processing side of APP.
Once I release APP 2.0.0 stable with the full manual, more time will be there to do all of this better. The writing of the full manual actually is very time consuming, but it is nearly ready so I can nearly release it in both full PDF format for offline use and an identical version in HTML which will be online on the website. Of course, once released, the manual will be updated continuously with all of the upcoming changes in APP. I think that already will improve the support big time.
Mabula
I’m sorry, I don't agree with you, but I'll explain why. I believe that the great success of APP has been precisely to dedicate itself entirely or mainly to the stacking processes. This is what makes it the best tool. I like that it is the best stacking program, and not that it is a regular program like others.I prefer it to be the best stacking program available nowadays
Thanks @hcdv 🙂 !
… I prefer it to be the best stacking program available nowadays
+1
@mabula-admin: Please focus and continue to be the best stacking program 👍
Thanks Michael ! Will do !
