MacroStack 2.1

Install: download MacroStack.apk below on your phone (Android 10 or newer) and open it. It installs over 2.0.1 and keeps your settings.

What's new, found on the first 10 studio stacks shot with MacroStack (Galaxy S24 Ultra, 1×/3×/5×):

• Pyramid: no more dark specks or dark rims. Near a strong edge, neighbouring pixels could take their finest detail from different frames and come out darker than any frame was there: black specks along edges, dark shadows beside bright, blurred light. Now no pixel of the result is darker or brighter than every frame was at that spot. Real edges are untouched.
• Shooting: re-shoots fixed. A frame the camera reports as failed twice is re-shot once (no more NNN (1) duplicate files), and a frame whose files were all lost is re-shot instead of going missing.

On all 17 test stacks, MacroStack adds 0–2% made-up detail (focus-stack: 2–50%, Shine Stacker: 0–37%). Full results: https://macrostackapp.github.io/macrostack/#results · Engine notes: docs/ENGINE_LOG.md

Help improve the engine: share a focus stack. Everyone who helps is credited.

MacroStack 2.0.1

The first public release of MacroStack: a focus-bracketing camera for Android that stacks on the phone.

Install: download MacroStack.apk below on your phone (Android 10 or newer), open it, and allow "Install unknown apps" when Android asks.

• Shoot: set the nearest and farthest focus points and the number of frames; the app sweeps the focus in one fast burst (21 frames per second on a Galaxy S24 Ultra), with exposure and white balance locked. JPEG or RAW (DNG).
• Align: focus breathing, hand-held shift and tilt, and flickering light are corrected frame by frame.
• Stack: Depth map or Pyramid, in the background while you keep shooting.

Tested against focus-stack and Shine Stacker on 7 stacks: under 1% made-up detail on every one, and hand-held frames aligned to 0.06 px. Full results: https://macrostackapp.github.io/macrostack/#results

The engine is the same as 2.0. If you had a pre-release test build installed, uninstall it first: this release is signed with the project's permanent key, so Android won't install it over the old one.

Help improve the engine: share a focus stack. Everyone who helps is credited.