Touch vs OnStep Controller
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Touch
Control your astrophotography sessions remotely from your mobile device or Mac. Manage imaging, focus, guiding, and polar alignment. This open-source tool enhances your workflow without ads or in-app purchases.
- Remote imaging session launch
- Focus control
- Guiding performance monitoring
- Three Point Polar Alignment
- Connected device control
- Open source
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Touch-N-Stars brings the core features of the popular astrophotography software N.I.N.A. right to your phone, tablet, or Apple Silicon Mac. Start imaging sessions, adjust focus, monitor guiding, or perform a Three Point Polar Alignment – all from the palm of your hand. Key Features: - Launch imaging sessions and control focus remotely - Monitor guiding performance in real time - Perform Three Point Polar Alignment (requires N.I.N.A. v2.2.2.0+) - Control all connected devices such as the dome or flat panel - 100% open source. No ads. No in-app purchases. Requirements: - A running N.I.N.A. instance on your imaging PC - Advanced API Plugin enabled (Port 1888, API v2) - Touch'N'Stars Plugin Touch-N-Stars is a companion tool – not a full replacement for the desktop experience. Enhance your astrophotography workflow and stay flexible – wherever you are.
OnStep Controller
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OnStep Controller Take full control of your OnStep telescope mount from your iPhone. OnStep Controller is a clean, dark-mode companion app for amateur astronomers — connecting over WiFi (OnStep or OnStepX) or Bluetooth Low Energy (OnStepX with the BLE plugin required) to give you everything you need from setup to the final star. Connect and Configure Connect to your mount over your local WiFi network or via Bluetooth Low Energy. Send your GPS coordinates and current time directly to the mount for accurate alignment, and verify that the mount's site data matches your device before you start observing. Interactive Sky Chart Browse a live star chart showing hundreds of named stars and Messier deep-sky objects projected for your exact location and time. Pan and zoom freely, then tap any object to see its details and issue a GoTo command. Horizon, overhead, and meridian flip limits are drawn directly on the chart so you always know what your mount can reach. Visual Star Alignment Begin a 1- to 9-star alignment from the Setup tab and get guided through the process on the sky chart. Pick your alignment stars visually, slew to each one, then fine-tune with the on-screen directional pad and accept. Full Mount Control Move the mount in any direction at four slew rates — Guide, Center, Find, and Slew. Toggle tracking on and off, switch between Sidereal, Lunar, and Solar tracking rates, park and unpark, and find home — all from a single screen with live RA, Dec, Alt, and Az readouts. GoTo from a Catalog Search a built-in catalog of stars, open clusters, globular clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and planetary nebulae. Filter to objects currently above the horizon and slew to any target with a single tap. Or enter coordinates manually for objects not in the catalog. Designed for the Dark The entire app runs in forced dark mode with a deep red accent color chosen to protect your night vision at the eyepiece. Requires an OnStep or OnStepX telescope mount controller. WiFi works with both; Bluetooth requires OnStepX with the BLE plugin installed. iOS does not support Classic Bluetooth.
Screenshots
Verdict
Touch and OnStep Controller are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Touch | OnStep Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 45 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Johannes Maier | Gray Digital Arts LLC |
In-app purchases
Touch
No in-app purchases
OnStep Controller
No in-app purchases






