PaintBox Basic vs AstroTool
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PaintBox Basic
This is a basic paint application offering various brushes and auto-save functionality. Users can easily share their creations via email or social media platforms. It includes banner ads and lacks advanced features like undo/redo.
- 8 types of brushes
- Auto save image
- Transfer to Mac via iTunes file sharing
- Share images via email, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr
- Banner ads displayed
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PaintBox Basic is paint software. -8 type of brushes. -Auto save image. -The transfer of the image to your Mac iTune file sharing. -Share of image send the image email, twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc. What is different from the Pro version -Banner AD is displayed on the screen. -There is no Undo Redo function. -It is impossible to create and edit color palette.
AstroTool
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AstroTool — Astrophotography Planner & Sky Map Plan better. Shoot more. Miss nothing. AstroTool is the complete astrophotography companion for iPhone — from scouting tonight's targets to logging every capture. A live sky map you can actually use in the field, planning tools built around how astrophotographers think, and a session logger that keeps your imaging history in one place. FREE FEATURES Sky Map A fully rendered live sky chart with 100+ bright stars, all 110 Messier objects, the Sun, Moon, and all planets. Constellation lines, constellation name labels, the Milky Way band, and the ecliptic arc are all drawn in real time. Tap any object for instant identification — name, type, magnitude, and position. Procedural rolling-hill horizon with compass ticks and cardinal labels. Motion-driven so the sky moves as you move. Deep Sky Catalog Browse the complete Messier catalog with search, type filters, and sort by ID, magnitude, or altitude. Every object shows rise, transit, and set times for your location, a visibility chart for tonight, and your full capture history for that target. Mark favorites and pick up right where you left off. PREMIUM — ONE-TIME UNLOCK Planner Everything you need before you head out. Moon phase and illumination with an imaging impact rating. Full twilight schedule — civil, nautical, and astronomical dusk and dawn with total dark-sky hours. All visible planets with live altitude and transit times. Jupiter's Galilean moons in a live canvas diagram. Best targets tonight ranked by a composite altitude and moon-separation score. Target schedule to plan your imaging windows object by object. Astrophotography Calculator Field of view for your exact sensor and focal length with sensor presets for Full Frame, APS-C, Micro 4/3, and custom. Unguided exposure limits via the 500, 400, and 300 rules for fixed tripod, tracking mount, and guided setups. Integration time calculator with sub count and a signal quality indicator. Session Logger Log every observing session with sky conditions — Bortle scale, seeing, and transparency. Add individual captures with exposure length, sub count, gain, filter, equipment, reference path, and a star rating. Total integration time tracked automatically. Export any session as formatted text to share or archive. Full equipment manager for telescopes and cameras with sensor specs, focal length, and reducer support. Target Schedule Build a nightly imaging plan by scheduling capture windows for specific catalog objects. Log past captures directly from the schedule. Mark targets done as you work through the night. Events & Alerts Upcoming meteor showers with ZHR and peak dates, lunar phases, planet oppositions and conjunctions, greatest elongations, and solstices and equinoxes. Notification support so you never miss an event. Polar Alignment Guide & Pre-Session Checklist Step-by-step polar alignment instructions and a fully customisable pre-session checklist with presets covering setup, camera, focusing, guiding, imaging, calibration, and wrap-up. — No subscription. No ads. No account required. Pay once, own everything forever. All calculations run on-device using your GPS location. No data is sent anywhere.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PaintBox Basic at none against AstroTool's 1. PaintBox Basic also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). AstroTool's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 7 months). On price 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
Both are free to download. AstroTool sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PaintBox Basic asks for nothing beyond the download.
PaintBox Basic ships an update every 7 months, AstroTool every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and August 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PaintBox Basic | AstroTool |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kouichi Hayashi | luciano cavazos |
In-app purchases
PaintBox Basic
No in-app purchases
AstroTool
- AstroTool Premium Unlock$4.99





