Comparison

DWARFLAB vs Astrowetter

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

Astrowetter

This app provides a consolidated weather forecast specifically for stargazing and astrophotography. It integrates data from multiple weather models to offer a clear score, time window, and confidence level for observing conditions, including cloud cover, seeing, and moon phase.

Highlights
  • Multiple weather model integration
  • Observing score and time window
  • Cloud cover forecast
  • Seeing and dew point estimation
  • Moon phase and light pollution data
  • ISS and planet pass tracking
  • Astrophotography shooting tips
Features
Read full description

Is tonight worth setting up for – and from when to when? Astrowetter answers exactly that question. With a score, a time window and an honest statement of how certain it is. ONE APP INSTEAD OF FOUR OR FIVE Until now, finding out whether a night was any good meant keeping several apps and websites open: one for rain radar, one for cloud layers and dew point, one for seeing, one for an overall score – and often a spreadsheet to compare the hourly values. The reason for all the switching: each of these tools shows a single weather model and hides the fact that the others say something different. Astrowetter runs up to four weather models at once (DWD ICON-D2 and ICON-EU, NOAA GFS, ECMWF) and shows how far apart they are. If all four say clear, set up. If they disagree, you see it immediately – instead of finding out at the telescope. THE NIGHT BAND The whole night from dusk to dawn in one picture: cloud cover as the median of the models with their spread behind it, and below it low, mid and high cloud, seeing and the moon. The observing window is marked in green. WHAT'S INSIDE • Verdict with score, time window and confidence ("4 of 4 models say clear") • Seven nights at a glance • Radar film of the last two hours with 50 and 100 km rings, then the forecast cloud cover hour by hour until morning • Seeing in arcseconds, estimated from the jet stream and air layering • Dew point spread – so your optics don't fog up • Moon: phase, altitude and how much it interferes • Light pollution on a zoomable map, in mag/arcsec² and as a Bortle class, plus the way to the nearest darker sky • Planets with altitude and best time • ISS passes with the track on a world map – green where it is visible from your location • Milky Way: when and how high the galactic centre stands • Reminders for good nights, optionally only for "good" or "very good" • Widgets for the Home and Lock Screen • Shooting tips for the Milky Way, ISS, planets, moon, star trails, galaxies and nebulae • Exposure calculator using the NPF rule, so your stars stay round HONEST, NOT PRETTIED UP Seeing is estimated, not measured. The Bortle class is derived from satellite data. Forecasts beyond two or three days are uncertain – the model spread usually shows that by itself. The two high-resolution DWD models cover Central Europe and Europe respectively; elsewhere the app works with the remaining models and says so. YOUR DATA No account, no ads, no tracking, no subscription. Your location is only requested when you tap "Current location". Sun, moon, planets, Milky Way and ISS are calculated on the device. Maps and place search come from Apple Maps, weather data from Open-Meteo. All sources are listed in the app under "Info". English, German and Spanish. For iPhone and iPad.

Screenshots

DWARFLAB4 screens
Astrowetter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Astrowetter at 100% against DWARFLAB's 36%. DWARFLAB's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and iOS requirement (15 vs 26.5). On ads, in-app purchases 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

DWARFLAB is free to download; Astrowetter costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DWARFLAB versus Astrowetter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDWARFLABAstrowetter
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating3.5 (141 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews36.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings141 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size209 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTinyphoton (Wuhan) Technology. Co., Ltd.Frank Deubert

Customer experience

DWARFLAB

All ratings141 ratings
Positive61.0%
Neutral7.8%
Negative31.2%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive36.0%
Neutral21.1%
Negative43.0%

Astrowetter

Written reviews1 reviews
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

Astrowetter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

DWARFLAB

No in-app purchases

None

Astrowetter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DWARFLAB free?
DWARFLAB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Astrowetter free?
Astrowetter costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do DWARFLAB or Astrowetter have ads?
Neither DWARFLAB nor Astrowetter shows ads.

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