# PhotoPills vs DWARFLAB

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PhotoPills at 85% against DWARFLAB's 36%. PhotoPills also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 145). DWARFLAB's advantage is price (Free vs $10.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

DWARFLAB is free to download; PhotoPills costs $10.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

PhotoPills holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PhotoPills has 1.5K ratings behind it against 145, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of PhotoPills's written reviews are positive against 36% of DWARFLAB's.

PhotoPills ships an update every 2 months, DWARFLAB every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PhotoPills | DWARFLAB |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $10.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.7 (1.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photopills/id596026805/reviews)** | [3.5 (145 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dwarflab/id1667394131/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.5K** | 145 |
| Positive reviews | **84.9% of reviews** | 36.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 5 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#12** | — |
| Size | 41 MB | 219 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [PhotoPills S.L.](https://appshunter.io/developer/596026808) | [Tinyphoton (Wuhan) Technology. Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1470898020) |

## What reviewers say

### PhotoPills

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photopills/id596026805)

**Currently charting:** #12 Top Paid · Photo & Video, #97 Top Paid (US App Store)

Plan and capture stunning photos of the sun, moon, and Milky Way. This app helps you visualize celestial events and landscape compositions with advanced planning tools and augmented reality.

**Highlights:** 2D Map-Centric Planner (Sun, Moon, Milky Way), 3D Augmented Reality Views, Celestial Event Finder, Photo Plans Manager, Location Scouting Tool, Calculators (Long Exposure, Timelapse, etc.)

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Comprehensive planning tools
- 🚀 Powerful features for astrophotography
- 💡 Excellent tutorials and support
- 🌟 Indispensable for photographers
- ⭐ Incredible value for money

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🤔 Steep learning curve
- 🤯 Overwhelming complexity
- 🤖 Confusing user interface
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🗺️ Inaccurate location tracking

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when using depth of field calculator
- Location settings not persisting between sessions
- Milky Way position not aligning correctly

**Requested features**

- User guide in multiple languages
- Improved integration with other apps
- More customization options
- Weather forecast integration
- Apple Watch companion app


### DWARFLAB

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dwarflab/id1667394131)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 📸 High-quality astrophotography results
- 💰 Excellent value for price
- 🎯 Intuitive sky atlas and target selection
- 🔄 Frequent app updates and improvements
- ⚡ Responsive developer team

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔌 Persistent WiFi connectivity issues
- ⏱️ Slow connection establishment (15-30 minutes)
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 📉 Tracking frame drops (25% loss reported)
- 🔄 Connection drops after minutes

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PhotoPills free?

PhotoPills costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is DWARFLAB free?

DWARFLAB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, PhotoPills or DWARFLAB?

PhotoPills is rated higher. PhotoPills averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while DWARFLAB averages 3.5 from 145 ratings.

### Do PhotoPills or DWARFLAB have ads?

Neither PhotoPills nor DWARFLAB shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, PhotoPills or DWARFLAB?

PhotoPills ships an update every 2 months, and DWARFLAB every 5 weeks. Most recently, PhotoPills was updated on November 1, 2026 and DWARFLAB on October 30, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*