FinderCam with Plate Solving vs DWARFLAB
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FinderCam with Plate Solving
This app helps you find celestial objects in the night sky using your device's camera. It identifies stars for accurate alignment, guiding you to targets even with light pollution or partial clouds. Advanced features assist with telescope and binocular use for deep sky object hunting.
- Night sky object identification
- Plate solving for accurate alignment
- Works with light pollution and clouds
- Telescope and binocular integration
- Star map and celestial object catalog
- Guiding line for target acquisition
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M31 is located using FinderCam and shot by Daniel Mendell This app is used for finding objects in the night sky with a telescope, binoculars and the naked eye. The latest demo video was recorded on March 19, 2023 at https://youtu.be/md9LDchUuzU. In this video, I use FinderCam to find some bright stars and M42 Orion Nebula instantly. It shows the plate solving alignments that lead the user accurately to the target. How does it works? 1. Open the app and point your device camera at the night sky. 2. Tap Solve button in the app. 3. It will identify 3 stars in the camera image. Working Conditions: 1. Works in city with blocked sky view. 2. Works with partial cloudy sky. 3. Works during full or new moon. 4. Works with city light pollution. Advance use with telescope: 1. You will need a suitable holder to fix your phone to your telescope or binoculars for alignment. 2. The app contains a star map and large catalogs of celestial objects. The star map will automatically adjust to your location and time. 3. The view through the scope or bino can be aligned with the star map. 4. Tapping the Solve button displays 3 star names for plate-solving alignment giving their az-alt positions. 5. After alignment, other objects can be searched and their location is shown by a green guiding line for moving the scope. Benefits: - More stars than with the naked eye can be seen. It uses image processing to make more stars visible. - It saves you many frustrating hours finding your deep sky objects. - Attach your phone to your telescope or binocs and it can lead you to 110 Messier deep sky objects accurately, as well as to planets and bright stars, - It works in heavily light polluted cities and partial cloudy night. Requirements: - For most telescopes, you need a basic phone holder or home-made holder with 45 degree mirror. If you are using a binocular, you will need a L mount. - You may need a mount with slow motion control like a Dobsonian telescope or slow motion tripod. The app requires you to move a crosshair to the target. - Requires iOS 14 and above. Tips: - Draw a user defined area for solving by tap hold the screen and drag to draw a rectangle. Tap hold and release to remove the user define rectangle.
DWARFLAB
This app connects wirelessly to a smart telescope, offering intuitive control for capturing stunning images of the night sky and dynamic terrestrial scenes. It features automatic tracking, in-app image processing, and panorama creation for both astrophotography and everyday use.
- Wireless telescope connection
- In-built star atlas for astrophotography
- Automatic celestial and motion tracking
- In-app image stacking and post-processing
- Gigapixel panorama creation
- Time-lapse photography
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DWARFLAB smart telescope, empowered by advanced technology, opens up a world of diverse perspectives for users, capturing the wonders of life. No guidance or experience needed, it's ready to use out of the box. Wireless Connection Use the App to connect wirelessly with DWARFLAB smart telescope, enabling not only precise control but also making the shooting process more flexible and efficient. Astrophotography The App features an in-built star atlas, allowing you to simply tap on the celestial you desire to proceed with automatic star tracking and enjoy real-time image stacking. You can also adjust the astro curves and personalize the color grading to create your own 4K astronomical images. In-App Post Processing Capture, select, stack, and enhance — all in one seamless workflow for astrophotography. Supports both onboard stacking and cloud-based processing, with multi-format export options to make every astro image crisp and brilliant. Motion Tracking You can freely select the target to track on the shooting interface, enjoying the flexibility of manual selection; or you can use the telescope's automatic recognition function, which intelligently identifies tracks, and starts recordings, easily capturing dynamic scenes such as bird predation, flights, and sports close-ups. Gigapixel Panorama Simply set the shooting range and tap to start — with one-click stitching, you can create extremely detailed and vast panoramic images, supporting deep zoom and experiencing an unprecedented level of detail richness. Time-Lapse Photography Capture the flow and changes of time, recording the hustle and bustle of traffic, the blooming and wilting of flowers. Combined with astronomical tracking functions, it can also record the trajectory of the sun, solar/lunar eclipses, and the star trails.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: DWARFLAB at 140 against FinderCam with Plate Solving's 3. DWARFLAB also leads on rating (3.5 vs 3.3). FinderCam with Plate Solving's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DWARFLAB holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DWARFLAB has 140 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of FinderCam with Plate Solving's written reviews are positive against 36% of DWARFLAB's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
FinderCam with Plate Solving ships an update every 10 days, DWARFLAB every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 15, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FinderCam with Plate Solving | DWARFLAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (3 ratings) | 3.5 (140 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews — better | 35.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 140 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 205 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | yong chong loh | Tinyphoton (Wuhan) Technology. Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
FinderCam with Plate Solving
DWARFLAB
Bugs and requests
FinderCam with Plate Solving
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
DWARFLAB
Reported bugs
21 issues- WiFi connection fails repeatedly or drops within seconds
- App crashes on iOS 18 and older iOS versions
- Account creation security verification fails
- Full-screen mode freezes with no escape option
- Autofocus produces inconsistent or blurry results
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- Manual focus unresponsive
- Tracking takes excessive time to initiate
- Dark frame calibration lines appear and ruin images
- Temperature-related calibration failures
- Settings reset to defaults after stacking
- IR Cut/Pass filter constantly resets to Pass mode
- Photo saving to album is inconsistent (hit or miss)
- App freezes when changing camera systems
- Inverted controls and flipped image display
- Battery icon obscures capacity readout on iPhone
- STA mode connectivity broken
- Firmware update errors prevent connection
- Image preview not displaying in app
- Joystick controls unresponsive intermittently
- Wide and telephoto lens menu settings reversed
- App incompatible with iOS versions below 15
Requested features
13 requests- One-tap return to home and power off function
- Panorama/mosaic image merging capability
- Comet-aligned tracking mode
- Dew control for iOS (available on Android)
- iPad-optimized app version
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- Histogram display in app
- Burst mode functionality
- External Barlow lens support
- Mac M-series silicon compatibility
- Ability to skip firmware updates until convenient time
- Milky Way capture documentation for Dwarf Mini
- Photo album integration improvements
- STA mode WiFi connectivity fix
In-app purchases
FinderCam with Plate Solving
No in-app purchases
DWARFLAB
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is FinderCam with Plate Solving free?
Is DWARFLAB free?
Which has better reviews, FinderCam with Plate Solving or DWARFLAB?
Do FinderCam with Plate Solving or DWARFLAB have ads?
Which is updated more often, FinderCam with Plate Solving or DWARFLAB?
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