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.
I'm having a problem with the Image Viewer window on Beta 32 - it doesn't want to stay on top. So if i change a preview setting (black level, stretch level etc.), the Viewer window hides behind the Main Control window - I then have to go down to the taskbar and click on the Image Viewer to bring it back again. It's only just started happening, in the last few Beta versions.
Dave
PS. I am still having problems opening APP - about 50% of the time - the start process hangs a few activities after reading the license (they update too fast to tell me exactly where). As my PC is about 12 years old, it is possible that the Image Viewer bug and the start-up bug are both related to my outdated graphics driver. The PC is too old to run Win 11.
Hi David, @bucket,
Thank you very much for posting your issue.
Indeed, I would share your conclusion here : As my PC is about 12 years old, it is possible that the Image Viewer bug and the start-up bug are both related to my outdated graphics driver
Very likely, there is a problem with the graphics driver and it's support for OpenGL I think. It would explain the issue with startup and also issues with this external image viewer window when OpenGL is enabled.
Do you have OpenGL enabled? Do you see OpenGL on the top left button in APP?
In many cases, the issue is caused by the graphics driver from Microsoft for your graphics chip. It will have buggy support for OpenGL probably. Solution would be to found a correct graphics driver yourself for your graphics chip and not rely on the graphics driver that windows 11 provides. For instance, if the graphics chip is from INTEL, then go to the INTEL website, look for support and download the correct driver for your graphics chip if it is available for Windows 11.
Let me know if this helps.
Mabula
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Well, I did find a newer graphics driver on the Intel site, for my Core i5-3470 processor. Just installed it, re-started the PC and ........
.....it doesn't fix the problem.
Up in the top left corner of the APP main screen, the graphics button is showing "OpenGL4" in green.
Hi David @bucket,
Okay, thank you very much for your feedback. So I understand correctly that you are on Windows 10 then, right?
"I'm having a problem with the Image Viewer window on Beta 32 - it doesn't want to stay on top. So if i change a preview setting (black level, stretch level etc.), the Viewer window hides behind the Main Control window - I then have to go down to the taskbar and click on the Image Viewer to bring it back again. It's only just started happening, in the last few Beta versions."
We fixed a window focus issue recently and this changed the window behaviour. As it is now, it actually is the they way it should work actually. If you click on controls in the main application window, that main window should get focus and become on top over the window with the image viewer if those windows overlap.
I suggest that you either have the image viewer inside the main window, or otherwise, make sure that the image viewer window and the main window do not overlap, then all shoudl work fine and nicely I think. Please let me know if this makes sense, maybe I do not fully understand the issue that is happening on your system.
Mabula
Yes, you're right. I've become so used to the image window staying on top that I'd forgotten that it conflicts with normal Windows behaviour.
I'll just change the CFG settings so that I don't have a separate image window. If I want to go full screen, I'll just change the CFG setting temporarily.
It's a behavioural change thing ! Thanks and it's good to see you back at the wheel.
