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Yet another reason to go to Airplane Mode

halley

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Today I had a brief in-flight scare. The application I was using, Litchi, decided it wanted to crash or shutdown without warning. There was no "Application stopped responding" sort of message popup, it just quit.

I just stopped piloting, confirmed I had valid flight telemetry data on my R/C controller screen, and started the application again. Even more luckily, the application reconnected to the R/C controller without any problems.

4sn0CjG.jpg

The first thing I noticed after confirming the aircraft was responding correctly was that my map was not visible. Oh, but there is a tiny message barely showing up in that part of the screen. "Google Play services are updating" was the text.

So apparently, if an application is using third party things like Google Maps data, or even your application itself, may get a surprise update mid-flight. Android doesn't seem to really have a concept of "the thing I am doing right now is mission-critical, so don't do stuff that breaks my current activity."

In the Google Play store, you can disable ALL automatic updates. I have typically browsed the My Apps section to disable automatic updates for individual applications (see the three-dots menu in the upper right of the app's info page in Google Play).

SKvLw5L.png


The Google Play services is not an app, though; it is part of the OS. So I recommend you go to Airplane Mode or turn off all automatic updates whenever you're flying.
 
I have my phone set to only update when on Wi-Fi. That is setup in the Google Play Store settings. On my phone for some reason I wasn't able to use airplane mode.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using MavicPilots mobile app
 
I'm a big fan of airplane mode and a clean operating system. Lots of folks seem to be fine with taking phone calls and texts and updates, etc. while flying. Maybe it's just a Zen thing with me, but when I'm flying, I want to only be flying. I don't need to be connected. I just download the local maps before switching to airplane mode and I have everything I need.
 
I'm def not a fan of Android but as suggested, you should fly in Airplane mode. In my opinion; if you've cached your maps there's really no need to be connected to anything other than the controller.
 
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Fortunately this does not seem to be an issue for iOS devices. If Androids auto update like that then I would be sure your settings are correct before flying. It is my personal belief that DJI develops for iOS first and Android secondary. This seems to be backed up by their close relationship to Apple.
 
Hi guys. New poster here.

Are you sure it's not a problem on IOS? I've just used Apple Pay in Costa. My daughter phoned just as I was about to hit the fingerprint sensor. Apple Pay then wouldn't respond. It seems the missed call notification on the screen might have been causing the problem. Once I dismissed it and tried again, the payment went through.

It's not a disaster, but it could maybe cause a momentary loss of control if using the drone app. I don't have a Mavic yet, so I can't try it out.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots
 
Fortunately this does not seem to be an issue for iOS devices. If Androids auto update like that then I would be sure your settings are correct before flying. It is my personal belief that DJI develops for iOS first and Android secondary. This seems to be backed up by their close relationship to Apple.
The OP was using Litchi.... which runs fine on Android, just as DJI GO does as well.
 
Another +1 for airplane mode when flying, also no unneeded background apps/processes running. I want nothing sucking up I/O, GPU or CPU cycles when flying. Whether or not that explains why I haven't had a single app crash or disconnect between the RC and phone/tablet using both Android & Ios on both my P3A or Mavic I have no idea, If it's just luck, I'll take it.
 
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I don't want airplane mode on iOS because I'll tether my iPhone to have gps capability. I just shut all notifications off and set do not disturb and I'm good.
 
I had a few messages scroll across the screen during my first two flights. Luckily nothing happened. Doesn't airplane mode stop all phone transmissions including data?


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots
 
Doesn't airplane mode stop all phone transmissions including data?

Unfortunately there is no legal definition of "airplane mode" between all makers of devices.

There are two reasons for a cell phone to support it. One, the cellular network has a heckuva time handing off your phone conversation as you fly in range of ten or twenty different cells in a short period of time. Two, aircraft go through extremely arduous testing for a specific set of predicted EMI (electro-magnetic interference), and the consumer devices today have until recently not been a part of that testing regime. Remember that many aircraft can be twenty to forty years in service.

The original intent was for any and all radio communications elements to be powered off. However, I have used at least one phone which still allowed wifi and bluetooth while in their "airplane mode," which only blocked cellular tower connections.
 
Interesting detail on HealthyDrones telemetry analysis. They count the number of minor recoverable signal interruptions, and color-code the flight path according to quality of link. In my case yesterday, you can see that it is not always a radio communication problem (all other flights in same area were solid green), but actual background activity on the phone/tablet can interfere with the software too.

PAu3fNv.jpg
 
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