Comparison

AstroShader vs AstroFileViewer

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

About

AstroFileViewer

View astronomical image files like FITS and XISF on your iPhone or iPad. Get an early impression of your data with PixInsight-compatible auto-stretching, gradient control, and noise reduction. Fun and useful for astrophotographers.

Highlights
  • Open FITS and XISF files from various sources
  • PixInsight-compatible STF auto-stretch
  • Mono and RGB image support with OSC debayer
  • Dark point and contrast sliders
  • Color saturation adjustment
  • GPU bilateral denoise
  • Gradient correction
Features
Read full description

AstroFileViewer lets you open and view astronomical image files (FITS and XISF) directly on your iPhone or iPad. Whether you receive a sub-exposure via AirDrop, download one from Safari, or browse your imaging files in the Files app — AstroFileViewer displays them with a proper PixInsight-compatible STF auto-stretch so you can actually see what's in your data. Why stretching, gradient control and denoising on an iPhone? Simple. You get an early impression of how your data could look after post-processing. And it's simply fun too. Features: - Open FITS and XISF files from Files, Safari, AirDrop, email, Google Drive, or any share sheet - PixInsight-compatible Screen Transfer Function (STF) auto-stretch for proper visualization of linear astronomical data - Supports mono and RGB images from all major astro cameras, including OSC debayer (RGGB, GRBG, GBRG, BGGR) - Dark point slider — clip noisy backgrounds, just like AstroBlink on macOS - Contrast slider — S-curve with logarithmic response for fine control - Color saturation slider — boost Ha reds and OIII blues in your OSC data - GPU bilateral denoise — edge-preserving noise reduction, up to 300% strength - Gradient correction — auto-detects and removes linear light pollution gradients - Auto-rotate — landscape images automatically fill your screen in portrait mode - File history with swipe navigation — swipe left/right to flip through recently opened files, even after restarting the app - Recent files on start screen — thumbnail grid of your last 6 images for quick access - Tap-to-fullscreen — single tap hides all UI for distraction-free viewing - Pinch-to-zoom up to 10x with smooth panning - SNR and star count shown in the status bar - FITS/XISF header inspector — view all keywords with important ones highlighted - Save to Photos as a stretched JPEG with all adjustments baked in - Full compression support: LZ4, LZ4HC, zlib, zstd, fpack (Rice, GZIP), ByteShuffle - Persistent settings — all sliders and toggles remembered between sessions - Built-in help section — tap the ? icon anytime - All processing happens on the GPU. All sliders respond in real-time. AstroFileViewer registers as a handler for .xisf, .fits, .fit, and .fts files on your device. No account required. No internet connection needed. Your files stay on your device. Built by an astrophotographer, for astrophotographers.

Screenshots

AstroShader4 screens
AstroFileViewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AstroFileViewer at Free against AstroShader's $1.99. AstroFileViewer also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (100% vs 61%). AstroShader's advantage is ratings volume (105 vs 1) and chart position (#13 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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

AstroFileViewer is free to download; AstroShader costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AstroFileViewer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AstroShader has 105 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of AstroShader's written reviews are positive against 100% of AstroFileViewer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AstroShader ships an update every 3 weeks, AstroFileViewer every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
AstroShader versus AstroFileViewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstroShaderAstroFileViewer
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (105 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings105 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#13 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstroShader LimitedJoerg Klaas

Customer experience

AstroShader

All ratings105 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral8.6%
Negative11.4%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral14.7%
Negative23.9%

AstroFileViewer

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AstroShader

No in-app purchases

None

AstroFileViewer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AstroShader free?
AstroShader costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AstroFileViewer free?
AstroFileViewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AstroShader or AstroFileViewer?
AstroFileViewer is rated higher. AstroShader averages 4.2 out of 5 from 105 ratings, while AstroFileViewer averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AstroShader or AstroFileViewer have ads?
Neither AstroShader nor AstroFileViewer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AstroShader or AstroFileViewer?
AstroShader ships an update every 3 weeks, and AstroFileViewer every 11 days. Most recently, AstroShader was updated on October 17, 2026 and AstroFileViewer on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons