DWARFLAB vs The Phenom App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
The Phenom App
This app serves as a global intelligence tool for collecting, analyzing, and reporting on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and other unexplained events. Users can report sightings with real-time data, and others can corroborate these reports. It aims to promote cooperation and education on anomalous phenomena through evidence-based analysis.
- Real-time sighting alerts
- Upload photos and videos
- Location-based reporting
- Corroborate user reports
- View global sightings map
- Access to detailed website resources
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The Phenom App is the tool for experiencers. For the first time, the world is willing to listen. Congressional hearings. Declassified footage. Career scientists and military witnesses saying out loud what experiencers have lived with for decades. But disclosure only counts if the accounts behind it hold up. That is the gap The Phenom App closes. It turns what happened to you into a record that survives scrutiny: sealed the instant you capture it, and impossible to quietly alter afterward. If you have seen something, this is where it goes on the record. BUILT FOR EXPERIENCERS, NOT FOR CONTENT Your phone seals each recording at the moment you make it, with your location, heading, altitude and motion locked in alongside the video. Anyone can verify afterward that the file is the original and that it came from your device. Your account stops being an anecdote and becomes data. WHAT THE PHENOM APP RECORDS - Tamper evident video, sealed with a cryptographic signature as you capture it. Built on C2PA, the content authenticity standard backed by Adobe, the BBC and major camera makers. - Synchronized GPS location, compass heading, altitude and motion, captured continuously while you film and carried inside the sealed file. - Precise timestamps, so your account can be placed alongside other accounts of the same night. - A data overlay you can show or hide on playback. Your original footage is never altered. TRIM WITHOUT LOSING THE PROOF Shorten a clip and The Phenom App seals it again, with the original still on record. Nothing about its history goes missing. MORE THAN LIGHTS IN THE SKY The Phenom App is built for the full range of the unexplained: UAP encounters, contact and experiencer accounts, paranormal activity, cryptids, and magnetic, infrasound and ultrasound anomalies. YOU ARE NOT ALONE Post what you recorded to a community that takes it seriously, see what others have documented, and add your record to an archive built to outlast the ridicule. YOU STAY IN CONTROL Sign in with Apple or Google. Save a draft and finish it later. Keep a recording to yourself or post it. Delete your account from inside the app. The witnesses were never the problem. The record was. Make yours count.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Phenom App at 4.3 against DWARFLAB's 3.5. DWARFLAB's advantage is ratings volume (141 vs 4) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
The Phenom App holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DWARFLAB has 141 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 36% of DWARFLAB's written reviews are positive against 25% of The Phenom App's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
DWARFLAB ships an update every 5 weeks, The Phenom App every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DWARFLAB | The Phenom App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (141 ratings) | 4.3 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.0% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 141 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 209 MB | 96 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Tinyphoton (Wuhan) Technology. Co., Ltd. | Phenom LLC |
Customer experience
DWARFLAB
The Phenom App
Bugs and 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
The Phenom App
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DWARFLAB
No in-app purchases
The Phenom App
No in-app purchases








