Benefits of Litchi

[MountainMooseAZ]

I am new to drones and DJI products. I have noticed the Litchi app pop up in a few discussions. What are the benefits of using the Litchi app over DJI GO?


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[johnie]

Originally Litchi had way more features than DJI Go but they are sort of the same now bar a few nice features. My favorite two features are..

1 You can pre-plan waypoint missions on Litchi website on your PC/Tablet etc save them and load them up without having to fly the route first. Check it out here. This is great if your travelling somewhere new allowing you to arrive and already have all your missions ready to go.

2 It can use VR goggles, any cheap 'cardboard' type will work.

I'm sure the DJI goggles will be great but at the prices being mentioned not for me I think.

I think the Android version is still in Beta but the iOS one is there now.

 

[nightram]

Well, it voids your warranty as DJI does not suppoort the 3rd party app and has been known on many occasions to not offer warranty.

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[johnie]

I think DJI are a law unto themselves with what's covered and what's not.

According to this post it's sort of covered. I think if your AC flies away or finishes up in water you'll be lucky to get anything out of DJI no matter what app you were using, if your AC is just behaving weirdly or faulty just fly it again using DJI Go and send them the logs from that although Litchi is using DJI's own SDK so still shouldn't really be a problem if push came to shove not forgetting they mentioned using the Mavic with 3rd party apps Litchi in particular in the release day video.

 

[The Editor]

Well, it voids your warranty as DJI does not suppoort the 3rd party app and has been known on many occasions to not offer warranty.

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Really? - where is the source of your information?
All third party apps are enabled via the SDK which is DJI's product.
I'm afraid you're talking rubbish.
In the event of a crash, DJI will examine the flight logs and determine the cause.
If it is aircraft failure it will make no difference whether DJI Go was running or a 3rd party app.

 

[Gimpy]

[Using Litchi] voids your warranty

It's a bit more complicated than that, but just using the app doesn't void your warranty. Apparently if your quad crashes while you're using Litchi, DJI is less likely to be able to determine that the crash was due to something covered by the warranty, and if they can't make that determination then they likely won't cover it.

Check out DJI-Ken's post on November 15th in this thread.

 

[Gimpy]

I think if your AC flies away or finishes up in water you'll be lucky to get anything out of DJI no matter what app you were using

Yes, and that's true even with the DJI Care Refresh program; if you don't recover it or it ends up in the water they won't cover any repairs.

 

[Random155]

I read somewhere that a DJI customer service rep said that using the Litchi app DOES NOT void your warranty. However, it could create issues if you want a warranty replacement mavic for an issue that could have been documented in the DJI Go app, that was not documented in the Litchi app. Meaning, DJI cannot pull log files etc... from Litchi app like they can from the DJI app so it will be hard to get a warrant replacement. Make sense...?

 

[The Editor]

I read somewhere that a DJI customer service rep said that using the Litchi app DOES NOT void your warranty. However, it could create issues if you want a warranty replacement mavic for an issue that could have been documented in the DJI Go app, that was not documented in the Litchi app. Meaning, DJI cannot pull log files etc... from Litchi app like they can from the DJI app so it will be hard to get a warrant replacement. Make sense...?

The log files are not held on or in the app. They are written to a separate non volatile memory (MicroSD) within the aircraft itself and written the whole time the aircraft is powered (even when just sitting on the ground). Once the card/memory is full the older logs are overwritten by new ones.
DJI are able to analyse these 'black box' type log files and determine exactly what happened to the aircraft in the event of a crash.
DJI do not however accept any other type of log file like HealthyDrones for data analysis and will only determine what happened in an accident by utilising their own proprietary logs and analysis.
Hope that helps

 

[Random155]

The log files are not held on or in the app. They are written to a separate non volatile memory (MicroSD) within the aircraft itself and written the whole time the aircraft is powered (even when just sitting on the ground). Once the card/memory is full the older logs are overwritten by new ones.
DJI are able to analyse these 'black box' type log files and determine exactly what happened to the aircraft in the event of a crash.
DJI do not however accept any other type of log file like HealthyDrones for data analysis and will only determine what happened in an accident by utilising their own proprietary logs and analysis.
Hope that helps

Thank you, thats what I was kind of trying to say.

 

[Rom3oDelta7]

Back to your original question… Litchi's waypoint mode is much more capable. Not only can you pre-plan the route but you get more control over things like the gimbal and camera. The POI feature here is especially useful; I use it all the time to create very smooth 2-axis shots. You can also draw the route like Go does on the P4 Pro.

Orbit can be pre-planned also - very useful sometimes to see the satellite view when setting up the shot.

Finally, Litchi has focus peaking so you can see what is in focus. Don't have my Mavic yet but that will probably be a "always on" feature for me.

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[Spy_Corfu]

I have the p4 and now the mavic and from the day i started using Litchi about a year ago it was like buying a new drone.. the things it can do are amazing!
I will quickly try and describe how i use it and you will see...
Using my mac at home i go to the litchi home page and they have a google earth like page which you can pre-plan flights and then save them online to access at any time from your mobile phone before flying.
Missions can be programmed at the exact flight path you want, the speed and hight you want, camera can focus to any point of interest you want and at any angle etc etc...
But the most important thing by far is that you do not need any connection to your remote controller once the mission is loaded to the drone!!! think about that for a minute .. this is amazing staff!
Of course it will return home either when the mission ends or if it calculates there is not enough battery juice to complete the mission then it will automatically return home!
The only thing to be very carefull is the hight which means fly it way above trees and hills and whatever else is bellow the flight path.. including the automatic return to home if it starts it will fly back through a direct line and not reverse mission.. which might be a problem if you fly around a hill.
Using litchi i have flown 22 mins aprox. missions of 14km distance (7 to go and 7 back) while having lost the connection to the drone the first few minutes due to tall trees right in front of me!
This is really amazing as the smooth action you get from litchi flying there is no way you can get it manually... the curve size for example on changing directions can be set so its a smooth change of direction and not right angles for example.
i have attached one of my videos so you get the picture of how smooth the video is with litchi:

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[WolfgangStiller]

The big difference is Litchi allows very cinematic videography. You can do smooth pans and gimbal motions either pre-planned and then automatically flown or setup quickly in the field. This is difficult to impossible without Litchi. I'd say this is a must-have for anyone wanting professional video.

 

[Snoweman]

What about in-building flights. Are there any benefits to film the inside of a factory or stadium?

 

[GerdS]

No, the Litchi functions rely on GPS.

 

[Bernard]

The log files are not held on or in the app. They are written to a separate non volatile memory (MicroSD) within the aircraft itself and written the whole time the aircraft is powered (even when just sitting on the ground). Once the card/memory is full the older logs are overwritten by new ones.
DJI are able to analyse these 'black box' type log files and determine exactly what happened to the aircraft in the event of a crash.
DJI do not however accept any other type of log file like HealthyDrones for data analysis and will only determine what happened in an accident by utilising their own proprietary logs and analysis.
Hope that helps

So, DJI can deny warranty if they don't have these specific information that Litchi can't write in the "black box?...

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Can I change seamlessly between Litchi and Go Pro 4.
Have just downloaded the app, not yet connected to Mavic.

 

[nightram]

So, DJI can deny warranty if they don't have these specific information that Litchi can't write in the "black box?...

Correct, they have stated this.

 

[Marco Cantieni]

Can I change seamlessly between Litchi and Go Pro 4.
Have just downloaded the app, not yet connected to Mavic.

On iOS this works sort of. I start with the Go4 app to check the sensors. Then I close the app and fire up Litchi. Mostly It can't connect to Mavic or can but without camera view. I then shoot the app, pull the plug from the remote and replug. After all Litchi is a fine app worth its price but you have to know what you're doing using the waypoint mode.

 

[Owen Manderfield]

You can easily swap between Go4 and Litchi, either before or mid flight in ios - but you can only have one app running at a time. To close an app (not just put it in the background) double click the home button, select Go4 or Litchi from the scrolling carousel and swipe it upwards off the screen.

I tend to use Go4 to start up and take off (for the precision landing) then swap over to Litchi or Hanger 360. I often swap over multiple times mid flight as it only takes a few seconds for the new app to connect.

If it fails to connect just pull the usb cable out and back in.