AstroOwl
Yong Tze Chi Photo & Video iPhoneiPadiPod touch
AstroOwl is a free Photo & Video app for iPhone and iPad by Yong Tze Chi. Rated 5.0/5 from 1 ratings. Requires iOS 18.2. Updated August 23, 2026.
- Rating
- 5.0
- 1 ratings
- Price
- Free
- on the App Store
- Size
- 69 MB
- Age 4+
- Updated
- Aug 23
- 2026 · v1.2
Screenshots
About AstroOwl
AstroOwl is the night photographer's whole workflow in one app: find the night, frame the shot, prove the exposure, then drive the camera — without juggling three apps and an intervalometer at 2 AM in the dark. PLAN THE RIGHT NIGHT • Best-nights calendar scores the next several months for your location — moonlight, Milky Way visibility, darkness windows, weather, and light pollution, distilled to an honest verdict ("Fair — moonlight") instead of a mystery number • Milky Way core position, rise/set and darkness windows for any date • 33,000+ locations with offline time zones and measured/modeled sky darkness, including DarkSky International certified places • Scrub time with a knob and watch the whole sky move COMPOSE THE SHOT • Pick your camera and lens (or browse presets) and see the real field of view framed on the sky • Exposure recipes with NPF-aware shutter limits — start from presets matched to your subject (Milky Way, star trails, moon, timelapse…) and save your own • Simulate the result before you commit: realistic star trails, stacking, and noise for YOUR gear and settings • AR mode — hold the phone up and see targets over the live camera view SHOOT — HANDS OFF (Pro) • Connect your Sony Alpha camera over Wi-Fi and fire recipes directly • Multi-frame sequences run on the camera body itself — stacks, star trails, timelapses keep shooting even if the phone sleeps • Focus magnifier, session progress with ETA, automatic reconnect, and session recovery if anything drops mid-shoot • Your photos stay on your camera's card — they never pass through us FREE VS PRO The planner, composer, and simulator are free. AstroOwl Pro unlocks camera control and removes the free tier's monthly caps and watermark — as a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation; subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and can be managed in your Apple Account settings. CAMERA COMPATIBILITY Camera control supports Sony Alpha bodies with built-in Wi-Fi (validated on the a7 IV). Planning, composing, and simulation work with any camera — or none at all. No account, no sign-up; the app works offline at dark-sky sites once you've planned. Terms of Use: https://astroowl.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://astroowl.app/privacy/
What’s new
Version 1.2 · Updated August 23, 2026
Camera connection, made robust • Lock your phone, switch apps, or let it idle — AstroOwl reconnects to your camera on its own when you come back. • Turned the camera off? Switch its Wi-Fi back on and tap Connect. AstroOwl remembers your camera, so there's no QR code to scan again. • Lost the connection mid-sequence? The frame count picks up exactly where the camera is — no restart from zero. Also in this release • Fixed the Milky Way texture seam so the core renders where it should. • Removed on-screen clutter in the Shoot screen once a shot is running.
App privacy
The developer, Yong Tze Chi, reported these privacy practices to Apple.
Data Not Linked to You
The following data, which may be collected but is not linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes:
- Purchases: Purchase History
- Location: Precise Location
- Identifiers: User ID
- Diagnostics: Crash Data
Used for: App Functionality
Alternatives to AstroOwl
Looking for apps like AstroOwl? Here are 6 similar apps on the App Store. The highest rated is Starlapse (5.0/5), and all 6 are free to download.
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Cosmo Sherpa
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Nightlux: AI Star Sky Camera
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Dark Skies: Astrophotography
4.9
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Star Photo - Milky Way Camera
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Starlapse
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Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision
| App | Rating | Price | Last updated | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AstroOwl | 5.0 / 5 (1 rating) | Free | August 23, 2026 | |
| Cosmo Sherpa | – | Free | Aug 27, 2026 | Compare |
| Nightlux: AI Star Sky Camera | – | Free | Oct 2, 2026 | Compare |
| Dark Skies: Astrophotography | 4.9 / 5 (9) | Free | Oct 21, 2026 | Compare |
| Star Photo - Milky Way Camera | 1.0 / 5 (1) | Free | Jul 17, 2026 | Compare |
| Starlapse | 5.0 / 5 (1) | Free | Oct 27, 2026 | Compare |
| Kamera Pro: LiDAR Night Vision | – | Free | Oct 25, 2026 | Compare |
Compare AstroOwl with the top alternatives: ratings, updates, ASO score and keyword gaps →