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.
Hi - is it possible to save the "meta data" of an APP session or do I have to start from step 1 (load files) every time I want to do another integration on the same source data? Or is this idea / concept nonsense?
My workflow so far is like in all tutorials: load lights/darks/flats/etc... check off some boxes here and ther on tabs 1 through 6, perhaps run them one by one or click on integrate right away, then do some conditioning in the tools section with LP removal, star color correction etc. In the end I have 1 to 2 GB of "intermediate" FITS files, and if I so desire, even a stretched, more saturated TIFF. But no other information. If I close APP I can't load the list of lights/darks/etc. back, all the sliders and checkboxes on the tabs are reset. Get my point? I don't mind deleting the intermediate files and have my PC redo the integration, if I only didn't have to load all the image frames back, redo all the settings, etc...
Or am I missing a point here? LOL... could very well be... but I'd somehow like to get a way how I could save a snapshot of my work just as if I had kept APP open and running... for a later time to return and try out some things differently.
Thanks,
Andreas
@drfritz142 Hi Andreas, this is not possible yet but will be with APP 2.0.0. Currently beta2 of this version has been released and that doesn't have this capability. Stay tuned!
@wvreeven Hi and thanks for the info. I will stay tuned :). Let me know if you're looking for more beta testers.... just now downloading that release. Clear skies!
@drfritz142 Hi Andreas, thanks for offering to help with beta testing. All beta versions will be made publicly available so anyone using them can consider themselves to be a beta tester. Please report anything you find here and we will make sure to follow up on it.
@wvreeven so did this feature (saving session settings and selected files) make it into the soon to be released 2.0 stable version?
Not yet, Mabula is working on that for the 2.0 stable version.
Okay, looking forward to being able to save (i.e., as mentioned above saving files loaded and the associated settings, especially for steps/tabs 1 through 6). This will be a huge time saver. Love the program, especially in terms of flexibility. I feel that if I did not get the result perfect the last time, I just need to work on it a bit more. This is why saving will be huge for me - making me efficient at iterative improvements. All of the work to date is appreciated!
+1 for this. Being able to save the status after each step will be really useful when processing large image sets. 👍
I second the +1. This would be huge for me. Because I live in a Bortle 8, when I do broadband, I may have 3,000 1-minute subs taken over 40 nights. Being able to save the session would save me hours of time--especially when I'm doing interim stacks to check my progress.
+1 for me, too.
Does it still look like this will happen for the 2.0 stable release? I am happy with the other functionality so this is, by a large margin, the biggest advantage feature for me. I really like the software in general. This feature though would save me lots of time and foster consistency when running through the same files multiple times.
Thanks
Alan
Yes it is, I'm currently working on the saving of settings in the different tabs for instance. Saving of projects Mabula is working on.
Excellent! I am looking forward to it. What a time saver and so much easier - thank you!
+1 from me on this, too. This will be awesome!
+1 Please please please session save pleaseee. Im spending sometimes hours just for creating sessions for a large files and long sessions.
Hi all.
Late to the party ... and a +++1 from me, too.
(I am using 2.0.0 beta34 ... and if I missed the "save project" button, please accept my excuse.)
Michael
Hi Michael @michaelacg,
the project save/load feature is not there yet, but this is the last new feauture to be added to the 2.0.0 beta cycle before the 2.0.0 stable release.
Mabula
+1 on this feature. I have an 8 day session so far and plan on adding more. I like to check the progress of the image over time but I hate having to rebuild it everytime I use APP. It's become a major pain for me. Thanks!
+1 on this feature. I have an 8 day session so far and plan on adding more. I like to check the progress of the image over time but I hate having to rebuild it everytime I use APP. It's become a major pain for me. Thanks!
