Charging phone while flying

Jacobegg · Dec 19, 2016

I thought I'd share my recent discovery. If you have a external charging case on your iPhone that will take a lighting cable to charge the case you can charge and fly at the same time! I was able to connect my phone to the mavic controller through the charging case.
Downside is that it is bulky and doesn't fit to well in the controller.

My case's input is 1 amp and now the controller charges the case as well while the case charges the phone.
So if your phone dies a lot it might be good to look into this!

scott rand · Dec 19, 2016

Great Idea ! I have the iPhone 7+, but have a charging case that I used for my iPhone 6+, it'll fit my phone, just covers up the camera on the back of the phone, which doesn't matter, because I wouldn't be taking pics with the camera at that time anyway. Good idea. Bought one of those tablet holders for the Mavic, so it should fit.

Jacobegg · Dec 19, 2016

Yea it's a little wonky for me but hey at least my phone won't die. My only concern would be how the battery life of the remotewould be now it is charging the case and if the case creates any lag.
Any thoughts?

hiwese1 · Dec 19, 2016

That is a good observation and definitely a work around. I decided to just do a committed ipad mini 2 for my display so I didn't have to worry about battery life and my phone as a hotspot to get maps and so on.

Jacobegg · Dec 19, 2016

I really want DJI to come out with this crystalsky already . Might be worth getting that!

hiwese1 · Dec 19, 2016

I was just looking for an update on that as well. The one thing I have been looking for is will it have capability to download android or ios apps. That may be the deal breaker for me

F6Rider · Dec 19, 2016

hiwese1 said:
I was just looking for an update on that as well. The one thing I have been looking for is will it have capability to download android or ios apps. That may be the deal breaker for me

Not IOS for sure as it is Android based, but from what I have read it will be able to connect to the play store for DJI GO app updates as well as other apps. I just wish we could get some availability information on it. In the meantime I am using a iPad Air2, which works great by the way, so if the CrystalSky is to expensive I will just stick with it. I tried my iPhone charging case but the lighting connector would not line up with the slot in the left arm of the controller.

hiwese1 · Dec 19, 2016

That is good to hear about the Android based. I was using my Google pixel and had some android apps bought but bit the bullet and bought a Ipad Mini 2 on ebay that is my dedicated viewer with my phone as a hot spot. I have the hoodman setup to block glare so depending on the price I will have to see if it is worth the upgrade?

magsta · Dec 29, 2016

Jacobegg said:
I thought I'd share my recent discovery. If you have a external charging case on your iPhone that will take a lighting cable to charge the case you can charge and fly at the same time! I was able to connect my phone to the mavic controller through the charging case.
Downside is that it is bulky and doesn't fit to well in the controller.

My case's input is 1 amp and now the controller charges the case as well while the case charges the phone.
So if your phone dies a lot it might be good to look into this!

Can you maybe post a picture of what your case looks like and where i could get one?

CyberdyneSystems · Dec 29, 2016

Here is a photo of my Life Proof Fre Power case in the Mavic controller. Battery case has enough battery to charge the phone one full charge. The case is charged by micro USB so you have to use that cable with the remote but everything plays through just fine. I haven't been able to get the controller to provide any noticeable charging to the phone or the case. But if the case is charging the phone and you plug it into the Mavic Controller the charge cycle pauses until you unplug.

The Live Proof case is too thick to fit in the slots for the phone clamping arms but it wedges up against them secure enough. I haven't had anything slip loose while flying.

AndrewDDS · Feb 11, 2017

How were you able to get the controller cable plugged into the base of your phone with the Lifeproof case on? I'm trying all sorts of things, and I just can't seem to find any way to use the Mavic controller without taking the Lifeproof case off the phone.