Star Stacker vs AstroShader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Star Stacker
Create stunning star trail images and time-lapse videos from sequences of night sky photos. Offers various effects like full trails, faded trails, shooting stars, and warp mode. Supports importing photos from your device's gallery.
- Create star trail images
- Generate time-lapse videos
- Full trails effect
- Faded trails effect
- Shooting star effect
- Warp mode effect
- Import photos from gallery
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Star Stacker allows you to import a sequence of star photos taken throughout the night and turn them into star trail images or a time lapse video. After importing you can create the images and/or a time-lapse video with a few different effects. - Full trails - every star at full brightness - Faded trails - Stars get brighter as the process runs - Shooting star - Like faded trails but the last image is brighter than any previous giving a shooting star effect - Javelin - Both ends of the trail are faded - Warp mode - zooms into the image stack slowly creating a warped effect. This will also affect the foreground so post processing may be required if the images have the foreground included. You can also choose to save a video of the time-lapse based on the options used for the image stacking. Can import images from your photos app. RAW files that have been recently imported from an SD card reader, may take a few minutes before the full resolution files are available. There are resolution limits depending on the device being used and the memory it has: - 6gb - 62mp - 5gb - 62mp - 4gb - 62mp - 3gb - 42mp - 2gb - 30mp
AstroShader
Capture, stack, and edit stunning astrophotography directly on your mobile device. This app streamlines the process by aligning and stacking images live during capture, eliminating the need for external software. Fine-tune your celestial images with a comprehensive suite of editing tools.
- 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
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One-time purchase. No subscription. 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). 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
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: AstroShader at every 3 weeks against Star Stacker's every 2 months. AstroShader also leads on chart position (#12 vs #143) and price ($1.99 vs $3.99). Star Stacker's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
Star Stacker costs $3.99 and AstroShader $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Star Stacker against 4.3 for AstroShader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 99 and 119 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Star Stacker's written reviews are positive against 62% of AstroShader's.
Star Stacker ships an update every 2 months, AstroShader every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.
| Parameter | Star Stacker | AstroShader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (99 ratings) — better | 4.3 (119 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | 62.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 99 | 119 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #143 | #12 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | michael webb | AstroShader Limited |
Customer experience
Star Stacker
AstroShader
Bugs and requests
Star Stacker
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes when starting stack
- App crashes when attempting to stack
- App crashes during stacking process
- App crashes when rendering video
- Cannot load photos
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- Cannot enter the app
- Cannot select photos after choosing specific access
- App crashes at nearly 90%
- App crashes after stacking completes
- App crashes on MacBook Pro
- App crashes when trying to stack images
- App crashes when adding images
Requested features
12 requests- Option to export live photos
- Help info for stacking options
- Manual stacking option
- Advanced editing software
- Automatic alignment function
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- Ability to set picture format
- Support for .raw files
- Ability to import from Files app
- Option to select all photos
- Clear all option
- 4K video export
- Chinese language support
AstroShader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Star Stacker
No in-app purchases
AstroShader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Star Stacker free?
Is AstroShader free?
Which has better reviews, Star Stacker or AstroShader?
Do Star Stacker or AstroShader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Star Stacker or AstroShader?
Which is more popular, Star Stacker or AstroShader?
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