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.
RfC: it would be nice for users to run the entire workflow (from 2 to 6) unattended based on presets.
The presets could be generated somewhere with a tool in 9:) tools tab based on all the prior chosen settings?
The presets could be loaded somewhere under the 1) load tab.
When APP is number crunching for hours ... this would greatly enhance the efficiency for users.
Hi Marc,
Thank you for the suggestion.
I'll have to think about this one. I think it's already setup so you can set all parameters and then click on the action button in any of the meun's 2) to 6) to do all tasks up until and including the menu where you click on the action button.
Are you thinking more like fixed settings for different cases? Like settings needed for a mosaic, or just a regular stack for instance? In that case, I guess it's a good idea to further improve user experience.
Mabula
Hi Mabula,
I was thinking unattended, load the master calibration files, and the lights, load your "workflow", presets i.e. go to bed ... and wake up with the stack ready. APP can take a long time with some options ... this RfC would be a nice feature for users.
No clicking = unattended.
Marc
Regarding:
Are you thinking more like fixed settings for different cases? Like settings needed for a mosaic, or just a regular stack for instance? In that case, I guess it's a good idea to further improve user experience.
This could be another RfC ... scenario pre-sets.
How about something like a profile that you can load in specific to a telescope or mosaic for example.
As it stands, I have a long focal length scope, short focal length scope and also I like mosaics. To that end, I'd have three profiles to suit each task and after loading in the lights I can be given an option to load in profile x that suits that particular scope / task. Then I can leave it to work unattended 🙂
Thank you Sara,
We will definitely try to introduce this in APP to further automate the workflows 😉
Mabula
What is the status of this RfC Mabula?
Hi Marc,
Apologies for the delay in my response, I had a short holiday, but I am back to work now 😉
The status is that it is on hold for now.
I do intend to support the option to run APP with certain profiles/presets for 2)Calibrate to 6)Integrate, but for development reasons, it will be far more efficient to implement this once there are no more pressing development priorities for modules 2) to 6).
As it stands, in the upcoming APP versions, there will be lots of adjustment/improvements/changes in 2)-6), like a completely new and upgraded calibration engine, new outlier rejection algorithms, new mosaic algorithms. This will cause additional changes in the options that you can choose and therefore this would warrent changes in the profile/preset module as well. So I think it's best to keep it on hold until the modules 2) to 6) are mostly free of pending changes.
Kind regards,
Mabula
Â
