Comparison

DWARFLAB vs +Frames

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

+Frames

This app helps astrophotographers plan their shots by providing a sky atlas, equipment-specific target recommendations, and field-of-view previews. It also offers an AI assistant for personalized advice and project tracking for deep-sky objects.

Highlights
  • Sky atlas with millions of stars and deep-sky objects
  • Ranked target recommendations based on equipment and sky conditions
  • True field-of-view preview for cameras and eyepieces
  • Mosaic planning up to 4x4
  • Project tracking for exposures and filters
  • AI assistant for personalized astrophotography advice
  • Augmented Reality (AR) mode for target location
Read full description

+Frames plans your night: what to shoot, when, and how. THE ATLAS The whole sky in your pocket: stars down to magnitude 21 when you zoom in, 8,800 deep-sky objects, Sun, Moon and planets, asteroids, comets and satellites moving live. Real astrophotos lie on the map, galaxies are drawn with their position angle, and every object opens a card with the numbers that matter tonight. TONIGHT'S TARGETS, RANKED The Night tab scores every object for YOUR equipment, YOUR sky and YOUR horizon: altitude, field-of-view fit, filter fit, moon, usable dark window. Grade A to E, the best target for tonight is always on top. FRAME IT Field-of-view preview for your camera or eyepiece. Rotate the frame, plan mosaics up to 4x4, check the sampling, swap camera and telescope while the frame stays on screen. An 8-sector horizon profile per site keeps trees and rooftops out of your plans. PROJECTS Track every target over nights: hours target per filter, subs, exposure, gain, location. Camera angle and position are saved with the project. Export the plan in ASIAIR format or as a NINA target set. Observing log for stars, lucky imaging log for Sun, Moon and planets. ASTRO BUDDY Your assistant knows the whole app, your gear, your site and tonight's sky. It does the work from the chat: creates projects, logs your nights, saves gear and locations, opens any screen. Ask what to shoot, which filter fits, how long to expose. Name a device and it looks up the specs and saves it. New here? Type "tour". AND MORE Weather on every location: clouds, dew, rain and wind for the next 48 hours. Calendar with moon phases, moon-free nights, eclipses and showpiece targets at their best, searchable up to 2050. Plate solving puts your own photos on the atlas. AR mode shows where a target sits in your real sky. Red night mode protects your dark adaptation. Works offline; no account, your data stays on your device (private iCloud backup). +Frames Premium unlocks the whole app, 7-day free trial. Languages: EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, PT, JA, KO, ZH, UK, RU, PL, TR. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ App terms: https://plus-frames.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://plus-frames.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

DWARFLAB4 screens
+Frames4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: +Frames at 5.0 against DWARFLAB's 3.5. +Frames also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 weeks). DWARFLAB's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (145 vs 1). On price, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. +Frames sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. DWARFLAB asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

+Frames holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DWARFLAB has 145 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DWARFLAB ships an update every 5 weeks, +Frames every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
DWARFLAB versus +Frames: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDWARFLAB+Frames
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (145 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews36.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings145 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size219 MB746 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTinyphoton (Wuhan) Technology. Co., Ltd.LEVIN GIDEON MERANER

Customer experience

DWARFLAB

All ratings143 ratings
Positive60.1%
Neutral7.7%
Negative32.2%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive36.0%
Neutral21.1%
Negative43.0%

+Frames

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 16 more
  • 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
Show 8 more
  • 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

+Frames

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

DWARFLAB

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

+Frames

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is DWARFLAB free?
DWARFLAB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is +Frames free?
+Frames is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DWARFLAB or +Frames?
+Frames is rated higher. DWARFLAB averages 3.5 out of 5 from 145 ratings, while +Frames averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do DWARFLAB or +Frames have ads?
Neither DWARFLAB nor +Frames shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DWARFLAB or +Frames?
DWARFLAB ships an update every 5 weeks, and +Frames every 10 days. Most recently, DWARFLAB was updated on October 30, 2026 and +Frames on October 24, 2026.

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