Astro Capture

MajinSoft

In-app purchases

About this app

Turn your smartphone into an astrophotography camera.

Leave the laptop behind. Astro Capture runs your ZWO ASI camera straight from your Android phone or tablet — no PC to haul into the cold, no laptop battery dying mid-session. Connect the camera, frame your target and start shooting in seconds. Image the Moon, planets, the Sun and deep-sky objects; save as TIFF, FITS, DNG or SER with full manual control of exposure, gain and resolution — all in a red night-vision interface that protects your dark adaptation.

NEW — Sky Map: know what you're looking at
Astro Capture recognises the sky itself. Turn on the Sky Map and it plate-solves your live frame — identifying the field from the star pattern alone — then labels the stars, planets, the Sun & Moon, the Messier & Caldwell catalogues and the constellation figures right over your preview. Nothing to enter: no pointing, no focal length. Point roughly and the app names what's in frame and shows which way to nudge to centre your target. It works on saved captures too, on the phone or in the browser, and every solve is written into the file as real sky coordinates (a WCS) that any astronomy tool — or the free AstroViewer desktop companion — can read. (Pro)

Live Stacking (EAA)
Point at a faint target and tap Stack. Astro Capture aligns and combines each incoming frame in real time, so noise falls with the square root of the frame count (about 100 frames ≈ 10× cleaner than one sub) and dim galaxies and nebulae emerge live on screen. Satellites, planes and knocked frames are rejected automatically; the result saves as 16-bit FITS. You can also stack an already-recorded SER from the Gallery. (Pro)

Remote Control (Wi-Fi)
Run the whole session from a bigger screen. Turn on Web Control and open the address the app shows in any browser on the same Wi-Fi — PC, laptop, tablet or a second phone. Live preview, full settings, histogram, Sky Map and gallery all appear on the large display while the phone stays at the scope. Nothing to install, hardware-accelerated preview, and downloads straight to the computer. (Pro)

Why Astro Capture:
- No laptop — your phone is the screen and the controls, ready in seconds
- Know what you're looking at — Sky Map plate-solves and names every object, live*
- Keep shooting longer — charge from a power bank while you capture (USB PD)
- Dark-sky friendly — red night-vision theme on every screen
- Real data out — RAW TIFF / FITS / DNG / SER for stacking and post-processing

Features:
- Sky Map* — plate-solve a live frame or saved capture; label stars, planets, Messier/Caldwell objects and constellations; save real sky coordinates (WCS)
- Stills: RAW8 or RAW16* — TIFF, FITS, DNG
- Video: SER (RAW8/RAW16*) or MP4 (H.264)
- Live Stacking (EAA)* to a clean 16-bit FITS; stack a recorded SER from the Gallery*
- Remote Control (Web Control)* — live preview, settings, histogram, Sky Map, gallery, downloads
- Manual exposure, resolution, gain, offset, binning
- Multi-frame (1–1000), HDR* (±1/3/5 stop), Timelapse*
- GPS geotagging, camera temperature, live histogram + Min/Max, ROI, zoom & pan, image flip, framing grids
- Internal & external storage (microSD, USB SSD/HDD)
- fps + lost-frame indicator, remote shutter (volume up), shutter countdown, session notes
- Connection: USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 OTG

Supported devices:
- ZWO ASI USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 astro cameras (official SDK)

Notes:
- Android 13+ must enable the USB OTG system setting.
- If your device can't sustain the USB bandwidth, lower the resolution or bit depth.
- A USB-PD splitter with a USB 3.0 data port lets you charge while capturing.
- Tip: if the camera won't power on, connect the cable to the phone first.

User Manual: https://www.majinsoft.com/apps/AstroCaptureManual.pdf

RAW16, HDR, Timelapse, multi-frame, Live Stacking, Sky Map, Remote Control, exposures over 5 s and gain over 300 require the Pro subscription, available in-app.

Majinsoft and this app are NOT endorsed by ZWO in any way.

Ratings and reviews

Looks promising! But deeply disappointed the Pro version is subscription only, I loath subscriptions and greatly prefer one time purchases. I'm inclined to want to support a paid version, but not by subscription, especially at these prices. Sad I'm stuck on the free version. A Pro version at a reasonable one time price would be a good option and a Pro Premium version if the developer is dead set on an expensive subscription only version. Buying an ASIAIR makes more sense than the subscription!

Samsung s21 ultra couldn't hold a connection with the camera (asi 533mc pro) through the app. It would be stable for a moment, start to slow, then eventually crash. I hope the issue can be somehow addressed before I purchase an ASIAIR.

Is it possible to add debayer option? Currently the TIFF file does not show color info of a color camera. Thanks!