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 đŸ™‚
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
I'm totally loving APP! I'm consistently amazed by what you have managed to achieve so far. I know i will be using APP for many years to come, so please keep up the good work đŸ™‚
I have a couple of small improvement ideas i just thought of.
1. The file list already gives the exact time that each frame was shot. But it would be good to see beside it, a column that gives the time in seconds between one frame and the next. This way, it would be easy to see a visualisation of the inter-frame delay. This could be useful in determining if one needs to tweak their dithering settings, which for the newer CMOS cameras (of which i don't own!) is pretty important, as they usually use shorter exposures.
2. I sometimes like to do a few different stacks and compare them. For example, a regular Average stack, A Bayer Drizzled one, and an x2 Drizzle one. But each time i have to do the new Integration, APP still has to re-load all the light frames again. And if you have a lot of subs, this can take up quite a lot of time. Would it be possible to keep the already loaded frames in memory until, say, the user closes APP? That could really speed up doing multiple stacks! đŸ™‚
CiarĂ¡n.
