why is android a problem

[JohnMFord]

Kilrah, could you tell me which Android devices you have been using. Thanks.

johnf

 

[JohnMFord]

Well, this discussion has brought out 2 possibilities for why Android uses have so many problems with DJIGo app.
1. Because of the open source nature of Android, it is extremely difficult to write a stable app for the drones OR
2. DJI is very good at hardware design, but not so good at software design.

I kind of like a 3rd option. There is a secret arrangement between DJI and Apple wherein DJI produces an unstable app for Android so that their customers will gravitate toward Apple products. It's crazy I know but I am a fan of conspiracy theories.

 

[Alex_S]

There is another aspect. I am using Android for many good reasons but I have used Apple for a long time as well. The main issue I personally think is that Apple produces high spec hardware only. Very fast processors , good amounts of ram. Good screens.

Android is an operation system, nothing else. The same Android version runs well for DJI drones on one type of Android capable hardware and not well on another.
So it's not Android it's your unsuitable hardware if there are problems. Android OS can run in low spec and high spec devices. That is the beauty of Android. It runs on a $ 80.00 phone. So the main features are available to anyone with an Android capable device. Games don't play very well on low spec Android devices, video playback can stutter more on cheap devices with mediocre cpu/gpu/ram layout. Flying a quad is no fun on low spec Android devices. You need real power like the Apple devices.
Use the ones with Snapdragon CPUs , 2 and more GB of ram and fast Mali GPUs. There are some high spec devices which have obviously problems of some unidentified nature like some series of Samsung S7 I heard.
I personally use Samsung Note 4, Xiaomi Mi max with a beautiful 6.4 inch screen, Samsung S2 tablet, NVIDIA K1 tablet and they all work great with Android 6. Never ever had a problem. When you fly make sure there are no other programs running in the background which is so often forgotten and that autoupdate is switched off. When you fly the whole phone/tablet ability needs to be focussed on this task only and not checking emails, WhatsApp, Facebook and for updates in the background. Switch phones to flight mode.

 

[JohnMFord]

Alex_S, a very well thought out post. I noticed that you mentioned you were using the Nvidia Shield K1 running Android 6. Have you heard of problems with that tablet running Android 7? I have that tablet and I have been putting off getting a Mavic because of all the posts about Android problems. Thanks.

johnf

 

[Alex_S]

When I ordered the K1 3 weeks ago it came with Android 6. This hardware has a problem with Android 7 when it comes to the DJI software. Other tablets do not as far as I know. Hope NVIDIA comes up with a patch for Android 7. It might be the DJI software though.
The K1 is a nice tablet to have. I run the Glyph video goggles off the HDMI out socket.
You can downgrade to Android 6 and you will then have a great fast (192 core GPU! ) tablet very suitable for Drone operation.

 

[geigy]

[snip] I wold love to own a Mavic but I refuse to have to get an Appple device when I have several perfectly good Android devices running the latest Android version(7.0). DJI is the king of the quadcopter industry so what is their problem. I just don't get it.

johnf

Apple owns 1/3 of DJI, and has a hand in the hardware and software design. It's why everything is so beautiful and works so well.

This means that if you work for DJI, you want to be on the IOS team programming Apple devices. The big guns - the really smart programmers - are either working on the Mavic software, or they are going to be programming IOS. Android has the second stringers, and is always playing catch-up. This is not due to Android being flaky - for example the maps are better for android (cacheable maps). Maybe some day, Android will finally catch up, and be more stable, but until that happens an Apple device is definitely the way to go, IMHO.

There's another irony, which is that the Mavic is itself an Android device.

 

[Alex_S]

Apple owns 1/3 of DJI, and has a hand in the hardware and software design. It's why everything is so beautiful and works so well.

This means that if you work for DJI, you want to be on the IOS team programming Apple devices. The big guns - the really smart programmers - are either working on the Mavic software, or they are going to be programming IOS. Android has the second stringers, and is always playing catch-up. This is not due to Android being flaky - for example the maps are better for android (cacheable maps). Maybe some day, Android will finally catch up, and be more stable, but until that happens an Apple device is definitely the way to go, IMHO.

There's another irony, which is that the Mavic is itself an Android device.

How interesting that you say that the Mavic and then very likely the rest of the DJI drones are Android based devices. That never occurred to me.
So why is it then that as you suggested their best programmers focus more on IOS ? How about making Android better and catch up with IOS? 1/3 of shares in DJI is by far not the majority.
I agree, Mac/Apple OSs are top of the shelf software. Extremely stable and functional. What I hate about their iPhones and Tablets that they force their view of Technology on you. I will never buy a phone or tablet again I can not put an SD card in for example without some funny adapters. I totally dislike I have to go through iTunes for too many tasks and I like to support Open Source rather than a dictatorship from a big Multinational.
But that's just me and I understand why not everyone thinks like that. I paid under A$ 400 for a Xiaomi Mi max with a 6.4 inch screen and 128 GB . I would pay for the big iPhone 128gb far overA$ 1100.00. I personally consider that a rip off for a phone even though I can afford it. Again I never had a problem flying drones with Android devices and I fly them since Phantom 1 through all numbers to Mavic now. I always buy high spec devices running Android and with these I have the same reliability and fun than with IOS devices. I tried them both as the female side of the family insisted on IOS devices. Prestige reasons ? Very likely

 

[geigy]

There are no shares, as such, since DJI is a privately held company, and Apple is glitzy. Google has no ownership, and I suspect very little cultural presence at DJI, other than providing them with the Android SDK - ho hum. I've worked at companies like this all my life, and the smart people always scramble for the glitz, haha.

I agree with you regarding Apple hardware and software, and their closed philosophy. But the issue for me came down to having as stable a screen as possible so I could focus on learning to fly my Mavic. I think of my iPad as a DJI device that happens to be made by Apple.

And, of course, with each new release of DJI GO there is a chance that Android will be stable, and I can get decent Google map functionality (caching!) again.

 

[MikeyNick]

I hate to drop the old online "well I'm an XXX so I know", but I WAS an android developer (switched teams about a year ago). At this day and age, you really can't blame android's hardware/software for this. Yes, if you run DJI GO 4 on a $40 walmart phone it's not going to be an amazing experience. but if "meh hardware" is an issue, why does this app suffer on high end latest models of samsung phones? I haven't gotten around to decompiling their APK yet but if I had to guess, most of their logic is probably written in C++ so they can share between iOS and Android. Objective C (iOS) can directly communicate with the C++ but Java (Android) has to use a "translation" layer to communicate with the c++. Since Java is a garbage collected language, usually memory leaks are going to happen here (unless you have exceptionally poor understanding of the activity lifestyle and are somehow managing to continue owning objects that should be cleaned up.

I actually like JohnMFord's conspiracy theory. I was not aware that Apple owned 1/3 of DJI. I'm not going to go as far as saying they intentionally made the Android app a pile of crap, but when Nougat came out (which did come with some changes, but nothing that I would have expected to be app-breaking), they probably weren't in a rush to update it.

I think a big problem is that they have such an insane dominance on the hardware, that it's hard to "Stick it to them" with your wallet when the software. I would have absolutely bought from a different company if there was anything comparable on the market. My saving grace is that they actually expose their SDK, so I can start working on my own Android app.

 

[flemmodk]

I bought a Nvidia K1 for my Mavic, downgraded it to 6.0 after several glitches with 7.0. But it still sucked and had a lot of errors. So bought an IPad mini 4 and so far it's been a great tablet without any major glitches. But otherwise I am a android fanboy.

 

[JohnMFord]

MikeyNick, I enjoyed your explanation of the differences in programing languages. Although I do not have any expertise in programing, I do have a background in electronics, so I do understand the problem with using a translator to make one programing language talk to another.
As much as I would like a Mavic (and believe me, I really, really do) I cannot justify $1000 and then be pushed to spend another $300 to $500 for an Apple device. Especially since I have two Android devices which run the Starlink app for my Autel Robotics X-Star Premium(current drone) perfectly. And both of those devices are running Android 7. I wish DJI would put more effort into Android programing, or outsource it to someone who can fix all the bugs.

johnf

 

[SeaComms]

In french... " chaqu'un sa merde". As you are an android lover, dji prefers apple than android. So what?

I thought the MP operating system Android based?

 

[geigy]

The Mavic runs Android internally - Kitkat I believe. That is different from the DJI Go software, which is primarily IOS, with Android playing second fiddle as far as features and testing.

Eventually Android will probably catch up and be as stable as IOS, but we have not yet reached that point, and it's a serious issue.

 

[SeaComms]

After reading some of the above comments though (and being an Android preferrer myself), I think it was nailed as to the issues being either hardware or manufacturer specific issues due to the openness of the Android platform. Apple on the other hand only have the one hardware provider making the testing and conformance side of things much easier.

As a result, this long time PC + Android fanboy has just started using his first ever apple product (iPad Air 2). Despite my wife having used iPhone, iPad, iPad mini and Mac for the last 10 years we have been together, I have never been tempted to even try one. Now that I have been using the iPad on the Mavic for a few weeks I am sold on the way it all just works. Still hate iTunes, but baby steps...

 

[geigy]

I went through the same evolution, eventually getting an iPad.

Android was solid before DJI Go 4 came out, which belies the idea that Apple hardware is intrinsically more stable. I really think it's just a matter of Android playing catch-up. Eventually it will happen.

Until then, it's iPad.

 

[ed1nh0]

After reading some of the above comments though (and being an Android preferrer myself), I think it was nailed as to the issues being either hardware or manufacturer specific issues due to the openness of the Android platform. Apple on the other hand only have the one hardware provider making the testing and conformance side of things much easier.

As a result, this long time PC + Android fanboy has just started using his first ever apple product (iPad Air 2). Despite my wife having used iPhone, iPad, iPad mini and Mac for the last 10 years we have been together, I have never been tempted to even try one. Now that I have been using the iPad on the Mavic for a few weeks I am sold on the way it all just works. Still hate iTunes, but baby steps...

Couldn't agree more.

 

[GerdS]

I...Android was solid before DJI Go 4 came out, which belies the idea that Apple hardware is intrinsically more stable.

Not true. In the very beginning I have used the GO 3 app with Mavic and had same bad experiences as today. After some minutes in air the video stream was lagging and shortly after the USB connection was broken or the app crashed with error message.
Thought it would be caused by the phone not being in airplane mode or a defective USB cable at that time...

 

[lacion]

android is a nightmare, not because the hardware or the os are a problem, but ****** manufacturers doing bad software and the huge market segmentation make it really hard to do a good release.

some times same android device (brand and model) have different hardware depending on country, not only the hardware changes (RAM CPU Video processing) but they manufacturers do "smart things" to make your device run "better", bad drivers, custom kernels, non needed overclocking are just a few of the things that make having something running smooth on android possible.

ios in the other hand is much easier, you only have to worry about supporting a couple of versions of the OS, and probably a small range of devices that are the same everywhere.

 

[JohnMFord]

I will agree that Android systems are harder to program for than IOS based systems. BUT, the question is why are other companies creating Android apps successfully, while DJI seems to have so many issues.

 

[lacion]

I will agree that Android systems are harder to program for than IOS based systems. BUT, the question is why are other companies creating Android apps successfully, while DJI seems to have so many issues.

the other companies are not creating things from scratch.. they are using the SDK provided by dji and they are not perfect. your comments imply the apps around that use the sdk work wonderfully. many of them have issues.

dji just happens to be slower on the release cycle.