# AstroShader — Astrophotography and night sky

> Mobile app for capturing, stacking, and editing astrophotography images. (iPhone/iPad app by AstroShader Limited.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astroshader/id6444631986 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [AstroShader Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1655754202)
- Category: Photo & Video
- Price: $1.99
- Rating: 4.20/5 from 98 App Store ratings · 107 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 9 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2022-11-29
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astroshader/id6444631986/reviews.md

## What is AstroShader?

AstroShader is an astrophotography app for capturing, stacking and editing. All you need is a stand, tripod, telescope or rock (to lean your phone on).

One-time purchase. No subscription.

AstroShader lets you align and stack live during the image capture process. You can also align and stack images from you Photos library. No need to transfer images to a computer to align and stack them separately (but there is a built in intervalometer if you need it).

To take an image follow these steps:
 • Use a stand, tripod, telescope mount (or lean your iPhone on a rock).
 • Zoom in on stars and set focus manually, or use autofocus.
 • Set the exposure time, ISO and white balance, or leave to auto-exposure.
 • Set the number of exposures to be automatically aligned and stacked.
 • Calibrate your images from the edit tools.
 • After the capture is complete you can edit and save your image—including as 16bit TIFF.
 • You can open images directly to use the edit tools in AstroShader - rather following a new image capture.

Image capture options include:
 • Number of exposures to be aligned and stacked
 • Exposure time
 • ISO
 • White balance
 • Camera type
 • Countdown timer
 • Manual focus
 • Pause the capture to reposition iPhone or telescope

Edit options include:
 • Stretch image
 • Background extraction
 • Dynamic background extraction (DBE)
 • x5 Histogram curves for fine tonal adjustment
 • x3 sharpen layers each with radius and intensity with layer blending rather than chaining
 • Brightness (low light enhancement)
 • Saturation
 • Black point
 • Temperature
 • Tint
 • Save format options; HEIF, PNG, JPEG, TIFF

## Key features

- Live image alignment and stacking
- Manual focus control
- Adjustable exposure, ISO, and white balance
- Intervalometer for timed captures
- Advanced image editing tools
- Save in multiple formats including TIFF

## Chart rankings

- #6 in Top Paid · Photo & Video (US App Store)
- #158 in Top Paid (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 107)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astroshader/id6444631986/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Save doesn’t work

*2026-08-17*

When I try to press save on iPhone 13 Pro nothing at all happens even when I tested it on an extremely basic image with no editing

**Developer response:** Sorry about this.
Please try updating to version 1.2.5 and also check you have granted permission to add to your Photos Library.

(I'm not seeing any crash reports for an issue like this - so struggling to debug. I regularly test on an IP13 Pro so fairly sure it's not a device specific issue).

### 5/5 — Using for super resolution?

*2026-08-16*

I love the app. Even though, admittedly, I haven’t really used it for astrophotography. Despite that, it is still one of the most interesting (camera) apps I have ever used.

It does noise reduction for “regular” photography great. I just wish it had the ability to get scaled (12mp to +48mp) up before or after stacking.

I also understand that this app is for astrophotography, so I wouldn’t be surprised if experimental “super resolution” wouldn’t be the first thing to implement. But I would like to ask anyways, as no other app I have ever seen can do anything like this one.

Either way, I love the app.

5 stars!

### 1/5 — Ne fonctionne pas

*2026-08-13*

Passez votre chemin, l’appli ne fonctionne pas du tout.

**Developer response:** Je vous prie de m'excuser pour cela.

Veuillez essayer de mettre à jour vers la version 1.2.5.

### 5/5 — Can’t use the new AstroShader

*2026-07-28*

Used to take T-CrB (mag 12) nova everyday, while weather permits in the past more than a year.  Ever since after version update, since late June., the updated app can not produce good enough picture.  Can you provide the older version such as the 1.0.38, the version just before the v1.2.0, so that I can continue to picture the T-CrB. Thank you.

### 3/5 — I can’t take clear pictures of the planets anymore, yet it still works a bit

*2026-07-15*

I used to be able to take good clear shots of all the planets with this app such as Jupiter and Saturn. Nowadays, whenever I try to do Saturn again in the morning, it would often appear very blurry no matter how hard I try to change the settings in the app. But it would work for some of the other planets such as Mars, Neptune, and Uranus. Sometimes even Venus too. I’m curious if there is a specific setting besides changing the ISO and exposure time to make them clear again or if there needs to be some additional update to compensate for this problem. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do because I want to take clear photos of the planets with my telescope like I once did before. Thank you so much for your understanding. And please fix it to make it the same good old version again. I beg you developers, please!

**Developer response:** There was an issue with v1.2.0 affecting alignment

v1.2.1 has resolved this!

### 5/5 — Love it

*2026-06-17*

Great app

### 5/5 — Makes Astrophotography iOS friendly

*2026-05-15*

You couldn’t shoot the stars on iPhone before but this app has changed it now. Best app out there.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t stack

*2026-05-10*

I tried for an hour to image M13 with this software. I tried different amounts of exposures, exposure times, iso, and stacking methods. Every single time I tried imaging all I got were long stretchy blobs and star streaks. I could clearly see a good image during the capturing process but as soon as the post processing begins it just turns in to streaky nonsense. The app doesn’t even have app support to contact someone for help. 

0/5 stars.

### 5/5 — Congratulations

*2026-04-29*

Add a pro version, i will buy imediatly

### 3/5 — Bug

*2026-04-24, version 1.0.38*

Very good app, but need bug fixes, astroshader can only be used 1 time and the rest of the taken pictures from then on are all black

## Frequently asked questions about AstroShader

### What is AstroShader used for?

AstroShader is an application designed for capturing, stacking, and editing astrophotography images. It allows users to take photos of the night sky and process them directly on their mobile device, simplifying the workflow.

### How does AstroShader differ from traditional astrophotography workflows?

Unlike traditional methods that require transferring images to a computer for alignment and stacking, AstroShader performs these processes live during image capture. This integrated approach streamlines the entire astrophotography process.

### What are the key features for capturing images?

Key capture features include setting the number of exposures for stacking, exposure time, ISO, white balance, camera type, and a countdown timer. It also offers manual focus control and the ability to pause capture to reposition equipment.

### What editing tools are available in AstroShader?

The app provides a comprehensive set of editing tools, including image stretching, background extraction, multiple histogram curves for tonal adjustment, sharpen layers with blending, brightness enhancement, saturation, black point, temperature, and tint adjustments.

### What file formats can I save my images in?

You can save your edited astrophotography images in various formats, including HEIF, PNG, JPEG, and TIFF. The option to save as a 16-bit TIFF is particularly useful for further professional editing.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.6 — 2026-08-27

Make TIFFs compatible with Siril, Astro Pixel Processor, and other tools.

### 1.2.5 — 2026-08-19

- "Default" render pipeline will have higher quality
- Resolves an autofocus UX bug

### 1.2.4 — 2026-08-13

- The people have spoken! Camera settings will now save after they are edited rather than only after a capture
- Various stability improvements (that hardly anyone will notice)
- Bug fix for a crash when shooting straight after app launch
- Various small UI improvements to prevent accidentally changing settings or tapping random buttons

### 1.2.3 — 2026-08-05

Stack images from your Photos library:
- Choose photos from your library to stack (can be captured with any app or imported from an external camera)
- Set the stacking options and go
- Use the "enhanced" alignment method for images with lots of movement

### 1.2.2 — 2026-07-25

Bug fixes and improvements to alignment

New advanced option: Choice of rendering pipeline

## Apps similar to AstroShader

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [NightCap Camera: Long Exposure](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nightcap-camera-long-exposure/id754105884) | 4.4 (2,953) | $2.99 | Photo & Video |
| [Nightcam Camera: Night Mode](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nightcam-camera-night-mode/id1485217423) | 4.1 (2,523) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [StarryLens - Night Sky Camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/starrylens-night-sky-camera/id6448165469) | 4.3 (123) | Free | Photo & Video |

## More apps by AstroShader Limited

- [MacroShader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/macroshader/id6751045993)

All apps by AstroShader Limited: https://appshunter.io/developer/1655754202

## Related topics

[astro photography](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/astro-photography) · [astroshader](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/astroshader) · [image stacker](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/image-stacker) · [deep sky camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/deep-sky-camera) · [ksontelescope](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ksontelescope) · [sky camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/sky-camera) · [night photography](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/night-photography) · [astronomy camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/astronomy-camera)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*