The browser app now, desktop apps next
Star Trail Stacker runs in your browser today with nothing to install. Desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux are in development, and no build can be downloaded yet.
Ready now
In your browser
- Browsers
- Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari
- Computers
- macOS, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS
- Install
- nothing; your frames are read in the tab and never uploaded
- Memory
- a stated budget per browser, checked before a run starts
In development
macOS
- Planned for
- Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
- Build
- none yet
- Signing
- signed and notarised before it is offered
Counted, thank you. There is no build yet, so there is nothing to download.
In development
Windows
- Planned for
- Windows 10 and 11 on x64
- Build
- none yet
- Signing
- signed before it is offered
Counted, thank you. There is no build yet, so there is nothing to download.
In development
Linux
- Planned for
- x64, as an AppImage and a .deb
- Build
- none yet
- Signing
- checksums published with every build
Counted, thank you. There is no build yet, so there is nothing to download.
What the desktop apps are for
The same engine, with the machine's resources instead of a browser tab's. A browser gives a page a slice of memory, a capped number of worker threads and only the files you pick or drop; the desktop apps are meant to size a run from your computer's own memory, use every core, and read a folder where it lies.
| Browser, today | Desktop, planned | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory for a run | the tab's stated budget | sized from your computer's memory |
| Worker threads | what the browser allows a page | one per core |
| Files | files you pick or drop; a whole folder in Chrome and Edge | folders read in place |
| Speed | not claimed until it is measured on a named machine with the same frames and the same recipe | |
The desktop apps are not a different product: the modes, the recipes and the files they write are the same as in the browser. See star trail stacking on a Mac for how the browser app compares with the desktop stackers people use today.