Comparison

AstroShader vs On This Day

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

On This Day

This app displays a photo from this day in previous years on your home screen widget. It uses on-device AI to select the best image from your library, excluding screenshots. An optional one-time purchase unlocks more photos and customization options.

Highlights
  • Daily photo widget
  • On-device AI photo selection
  • Excludes screenshots
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
  • Customizable themes
  • One-time purchase for full features
Features
Read full description

On This Day finds photos you took on today's date in earlier years. It selects the best one and puts it in a widget on your Home Screen. One photo a day is free. A single purchase unlocks a gallery showing the five best photos of the day. PHOTO SELECTION On This Day looks through your library for today's date in earlier years. It scores what it finds using Apple's Vision framework, entirely on your device. Your Favourites come first, and screenshots are excluded. You see the highest-scoring photo. WIDGET SIZES Small and large Home Screen widgets, plus a Lock Screen widget. THEMES CRT, No Theme, Mixtape and Pocket. Tap any theme to preview it with today's photo before you choose. FREE • One photo from this day in an earlier year • Small and large Home Screen widgets, and a Lock Screen widget • The CRT and No Theme themes • Tap through to see the photo full-screen FULL VERSION — A ONE-TIME PURCHASE • Five photos a day, rotating from midday into the evening • Page through the day's whole set in the app • Pin a photo to hold it on the widget until midnight • The Mixtape and Pocket themes PRIVACY Everything happens on your device. On This Day needs no account and uses no cloud. Your photos never leave your phone. No tracking, analytics or cloud-based algorithms are ever used. If today's date has no photos, the previous set stays on the widget.

Screenshots

AstroShader4 screens
On This Day4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: On This Day at Free against AstroShader's $1.99. On This Day also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). AstroShader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (105 vs 1). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

On This Day is free to download; AstroShader costs $1.99 up front. On This Day sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. AstroShader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On This Day 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AstroShader ships an update every 3 weeks, On This Day weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
AstroShader versus On This Day: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstroShaderOn This Day
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (105 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings105 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#16 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstroShader LimitedHamish Tennent

Customer experience

AstroShader

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

On This Day

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

In-app purchases

None

AstroShader

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

On This Day

One-time1
  • Full Version$1.99

Questions

Is AstroShader free?
AstroShader costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is On This Day free?
On This Day is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, AstroShader or On This Day?
On This Day is rated higher. AstroShader averages 4.2 out of 5 from 105 ratings, while On This Day averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AstroShader or On This Day have ads?
Neither AstroShader nor On This Day shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AstroShader or On This Day?
AstroShader ships an update every 3 weeks, and On This Day weekly. Most recently, AstroShader was updated on October 17, 2026 and On This Day on October 8, 2026.

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