My Astro Journal - AVAILABLE NOW!
Updated: Jun 7, 2023
This page regroups some information about our Astrophotography app: My Astro Journal.
The app is now available on the Apple store for iPhone and iPad devices, for free! We have worked on this app for several years and it is our hope that lots of amateur astrophotographers, beginner or experienced, will find it helpful!
See the app on the app store here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-astro-journal/id1511428500
Learn more about the app below!
My Astro Journal is an innovative app that will quickly become your best companion under the stars!
Entirely dedicated to amateur astrophotographers, My Astro Journal will help you keep track of all your imaging sessions, check your progress over time and challenge yourself in community competitions. One of the core aspects of the app is the card catalog, where cards unlock as you photograph and attempt to capture all of the most iconic objects in the night sky.
We have been working on this app for almost three years before announcing it. It is an enormous amount of work and a project that was way more expensive than we anticipated. Please consider supporting the app either on Patreon or through Paypal to help us keep it free and without any ads. This will help us pay our developer, Google's cloud service, Apple's annual subscription and other maintenance fees.
Save all your memories under the stars
Spent 6 hours imaging a difficult target last night?
Met some friends, had fun and made great memories under the stars?
Enter the Calendar tab and record it all!
First, add the object's name on the top left, the constellation will be recognized automatically!
Then, input the time, location, equipment used, and write down your memories from the night.
Check the “Observed”box if you have seen the object through an eyepiece, or the ”Photographed” box if you have captured the target and are proud of the result!
If your photo is awesome, it may be featured as Imaged of the Week and visible to all other users under the calendar!
You can also add up to 3 extra photographs to your entry about pretty much anything. For example, if you met some friends and took some cool selfies or if you also did some wide field Milky Way photography that night, feel free to add them!
Capture them all!
When making a new entry into the calendar and attaching an image of a target, its card will unlock!
You can browse through all your cards in the Catalog tab where you can see your entire card collection. Each card fits into their proper catalog and category for easy access.
All cards are locked and greyed out by default and can be unlocked when photographing deep sky objects or astronomical bodies. Cards offer a quick look at an objects stats, and can be turned over to see a better image or the target, a map on where to find it in the sky and some more statistics.
Your goal is, of course, to unlock all the cards in each catalog!
Track your progress
One of the most emotional feeling for an advanced astrophotographer is to look back at their images from years prior.
With My Astro Journal, all your memories, photos, acquisition details and tips you gave yourself are easily accessible through the calendar!
Go back to your very first entry and see how much progress you've made over the years.
In the Calendar tab is also the Monthly Challenge button which you can tap to access this month's challenge. Make sure to compete in it to have a chance to win a $50 gift card! More info on that below.
You can also tap on the Image of the Week to see the entry page of the image chosen as the best this week. You can also comment on that image and access the user's profile from their entry.
Go give them some love!
Be a member of the Amateur Astrophotography community
Create your profile and add some information about yourself! You can include your name, set your location, add your social media links if you have any (website, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook) as well as a description of yourself.
You may also save your equipment for easy access when creating new entries. You can save up to three telescopes, three mounts and three cameras.
The app also keeps track of your statistics!
It records many hours you spent imaging under the stars, how many objects you have observed and photographed, and how many times one of your images got featured as Image of the Week!
Your profile will be visible to others if you are featured for an Image of the Week or compete in the Monthly challenges. Other users will be able to see your information and access your social media links, a good way to get more views and followers on your other channels!
Get featured on Image of the Week or compete in Monthly Challenges
Proud of your newest journal entry image? It might be selected as image of the week!
Images featured on Image of the Week are visible to all users and will permanently be marked with a golden ribbon. When your image is featured, everyone can access your profile, see your stats and visit your social media links.
Furthermore, a specific deep sky object will be selected each month as the monthly challenge.
Every user who photographs the target during that month will automatically be entered into the competition.
The author of the best image will earn a $50 gift card for your next astronomy gear purchase!
More features to come!
We have lots and lots of ideas to make the app even better! We thought we'd share a few of them with you:
Implement an Astrobin Social Media icon
Add a Social/Friends tab
Make the acquisition detail field better by adding pre-sets for filters, exposure time, Bortle scale and more
Implement user ranks that reward users when they unlock a certain amount of cards with discounts or exclusive customization items
Make a web version of the app
Keep track of more stats in the profile
Make the app available on Android
Add a "Like Comment" and "Reply To" for the comments section
A New tab with guides and tutorials for each month
Notifications
... And more!
It may not seem like it, but designing, coding and testing all of these features is extremely time consuming and expensive!
Please consider supporting the app either on Patreon or through Paypal and know that your donation will help us release these features faster.
Final Thoughts
We'd love to get your feedback! Let us know what you think about the app in the comments and if you'd like to request some specific features! Do you already have the app? Please leave a review on the App Store!
Clear Skies,
Antoine & Dalia Grelin
Galactic Hunter
Requested by Apple. Don't worry there is nothing bad hidden in there :)
Terms & Conditions
By downloading or using the app, these terms will automatically apply to you – you should make sure therefore that you read them carefully before using the app. You’re not allowed to copy, or modify the app, any part of the app, or our trademarks in any way. You’re not allowed to attempt to extract the source code of the app, and you also shouldn’t try to translate the app into other languages, or make derivative versions. The app itself, and all the trade marks, copyright, database rights and other intellectual property rights related to it, still belong to Antoine Grelin.
Antoine Grelin is committed to ensuring that the app is as useful and efficient as possible. For that reason, we reserve the right to make changes to the app or to charge for its services, at any time and for any reason. We will never charge you for the app or its services without making it very clear to you exactly what you’re paying for.
The My Astro Journal app stores and processes personal data that you have provided to us, in order to provide my Service. It’s your responsibility to keep your phone and access to the app secure. We therefore recommend that you do not jailbreak or root your phone, which is the process of removing software restrictions and limitations imposed by the official operating system of your device. It could make your phone vulnerable to malware/viruses/malicious programs, compromise your phone’s security features and it could mean that the My Astro Journal app won’t work properly or at all.
The app does use third party services that declare their own Terms and Conditions.
Link to Terms and Conditions of third party service providers used by the app
You should be aware that there are certain things that Antoine Grelin will not take responsibility for. Certain functions of the app will require the app to have an active internet connection. The connection can be Wi-Fi, or provided by your mobile network provider, but Antoine Grelin cannot take responsibility for the app not working at full functionality if you don’t have access to Wi-Fi, and you don’t have any of your data allowance left.
If you’re using the app outside of an area with Wi-Fi, you should remember that your terms of the agreement with your mobile network provider will still apply. As a result, you may be charged by your mobile provider for the cost of data for the duration of the connection while accessing the app, or other third party charges. In using the app, you’re accepting responsibility for any such charges, including roaming data charges if you use the app outside of your home territory (i.e. region or country) without turning off data roaming. If you are not the bill payer for the device on which you’re using the app, please be aware that we assume that you have received permission from the bill payer for using the app.
Along the same lines, Antoine Grelin cannot always take responsibility for the way you use the app i.e. You need to make sure that your device stays charged – if it runs out of battery and you can’t turn it on to avail the Service, Antoine Grelin cannot accept responsibility.
With respect to Antoine Grelin’s responsibility for your use of the app, when you’re using the app, it’s important to bear in mind that although we endeavour to ensure that it is updated and correct at all times, we do rely on third parties to provide information to us so that we can make it available to you. Antoine Grelin accepts no liability for any loss, direct or indirect, you experience as a result of relying wholly on this functionality of the app.
At some point, we may wish to update the app. The app is currently available on iOS – the requirements for system(and for any additional systems we decide to extend the availability of the app to) may change, and you’ll need to download the updates if you want to keep using the app. Antoine Grelin does not promise that it will always update the app so that it is relevant to you and/or works with the iOS version that you have installed on your device. However, you promise to always accept updates to the application when offered to you, We may also wish to stop providing the app, and may terminate use of it at any time without giving notice of termination to you. Unless we tell you otherwise, upon any termination, (a) the rights and licenses granted to you in these terms will end; (b) you must stop using the app, and (if needed) delete it from your device.
Changes to This Terms and Conditions
I may update our Terms and Conditions from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. I will notify you of any changes by posting the new Terms and Conditions on this page.
These terms and conditions are effective as of 2020-05-31
Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions about my Terms and Conditions, do not hesitate to contact me at nevadaastrophotography@gmail.com.
Hello Antoine, revisiting this app. Any plans to bring this app to Android? Has the expense changed?
@mailjt2 Thank you! Sadly, it is too expensive at the moment to port to Android.
This looks like a brilliant app - any pla s for a port to Android?