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.
Although I have been image processing for several years, I am new to APP. I am very impressed with the balance between ease of use and functionality. One thing that seems to be missing from the #9 (Tools) tab is some form of noise reduction processing. I find I use noise reduction processing a lot in PixInsight -- sometimes successfully and sometimes not. Since APP uses linear images throughout the processing, that would seem to allow for some simplification of the noise reduction process.
Are there plans to add a noise reduction process to APP?
Hi @chasmiller46,
Thanks 😉 and yes, a noise reduction tool will soon come. I intend to make a tool that will enable you to perform noise reduction on different scales/resolutions snd the possibility to use different filters including star protection like available already in the preview filter for sharpening.
Cheers,
Mabula
Plans to add a noise reduction tool is good news. As part of my APP learning, I re-processed a narrow band image I had already processed in PI about a year ago. I experimented with the APP shapening / protection tool and I was able to get a better looking image with APP than the image I produced with PI; that is, the detail visible in the APP sharpened image was better than the detail in the PI image.
Charlie
Hi Mabula
Is there any chance the noise reduction tool to be ready in the next update?
Furthermore a step back and forth (or undo-redo) button would be very helpful in order to compare reviewing fast any change made (like history in photoshop)
Hi @kkoutr,
Welcome to the forum 😉
The noise reduction tool is not yet scheduled for the next release currently. But probably the one after that 😉
Do you mean a undo-redo on the preview filter settings? Or in a certain tool? On tools like Remove Light Pollution, the undo/redo is to be done with the drawn area select boxes. Each calculate uses the original data and is not dependent on a previous calculate.
Let me know where you see use for this 😉
Mabula
Ι think the undo-redo function would be helpful to use no matter in a tool area or not (if it is possible to program). Photoshop is providing a history catalog of any movement made so you can click back and review/compare current image with previous status just with a click. In this way it is easier to compare and decide if an improvement made or discover which command ruined the final result.
Hi @kkoutr,
Thank you for your feedback. Work on undo/redo functions is on my todo list, so I will keep this in mind.
However, I know how Photoshop works, I have used it extensively as well in the past.
In APP each tool let's you save the result, so you can always go back to the result after a certain tool. The intermediate results from the tools are always saved in your work directory 😉
Perhaps the most useful place to implement undo/redo is with the preview filter on the right? Would you agree?
Mabula
Has this function ever been implemented?
No, but noise-reduction as well as other features are much requested and will be a focus to integrate in the coming year (I personally can't be specific about timelines).
Just dropping in on this old thread, and as a very new user, to put in a vote for both an undo button (specifically on the preview filter) and a noise reduction tool. As a new user, these are the 2 things I immediately missed!
You can undo changes to the preview at all times basically as it doesn't change the data itself. Are you talking about some kind of reset button for the stretch, saturation panel on the right?
For me, it would be more of a "go back a step." (Understood that the data hasn't changed, but the preview isn't what I want now and before I clicked 'something' it looked better.)
Directly related to this problem: The buttons and sliders on the right side desperately need a makeover. If you know how to use them, you can make it work. But they're a complete mystery to new users and not at all user-friendly.
Agreed yes and we do want to make that part better.
Yes, what Cheetah said. It is specifically to 'undo' the change I just may have made on a preview slider. I may have had something looking good, but then changed a setting in the preview which makes it all look worse, but have no idea what the previous value was before I made the change. So I just want to be able to step back over the last n changes I made to any of those values.
(again, I appreciate the underlying data hasnt changed, but I dont want to have to go back to the very start to try to then get to some earlier iteration of my sliders)
Yes, that would also be nice, I think it's best to see the preferences being saved first and maybe that makes an undo function etc also easier.
Hi Guys, thank you for a fab piece of software which has vastly improved by astro imaging results. I note this thread stated that a noise reduction tool/application was planned back in 2018 but has yet to be incorporated. I wonder if this tool is due anytime soon? Thank you.
Still planned unfortunately, however Mabula is getting back to regular updates again and this should result in moving forward a bit faster. We prioritized the other functionalities we have now. It is planned though, not sure about which release yet.
@vincent-mod Thanks for the prompt response
I am desperate for a noise reduction process and looking to buy elesewhere which I do not want to do as this will complicate my processing routine. Will noise reduction be coming in the next planned releases, please??
Well, it's very high up on the todo-list. For the next version we will have settings (so you can save projects and other things) and work on the manual will start. After that, noise reduction may be added, but I can't pin-point which version exactly unfortunately.
I understand how busy you are with the development of this software and the manual. NR would be a great addition that has been requested by users since 2018. I do hope that we don't have to wait another few years for this addition, fingers crossed. Thank you for your continued efforts.
Not yet, but I expect work to start on it in 1-2 versions down the road. We're currently focusing on migrating to Java 17, saving of settings etc.