Development Kits

Meeko · Dec 4, 2019

Any news for dev kits for windows/linux or android? DJI has an SDK for the spark but can't find anything for the mini. Is it even possible to have one ready for a win/linux computer?

ThorDar · Dec 5, 2019

Meeko said:
Any news for dev kits for windows/linux or android? DJI has an SDK for the spark but can't find anything for the mini. Is it even possible to have one ready for a win/linux computer?

No SDK's at all for the Mini yet. Looks like not until 2020 sometime. Dji is being non-committal about it.

thermalflyer · Dec 6, 2019

ThorDar said:
No SDK's at all for the Mini yet. Looks like not until 2020 sometime. Dji is being non-committal about it.

how long it usually take dji to release the sdk?

ThorDar · Dec 6, 2019

thermalflyer said:
how long it usually take dji to release the sdk?

There is no fixed timeline. Going by the Mavic Pro, it was released at the end of Sept 2016 and by early November there were already third party apps so it was probably added to the SDK's at or before the same time as the release of the drone.

The Mavic Air, on the other hand, was released in late Jan 2017 but SDK support didn't show up until April.

Dji almost seems to be on the fence about the Mini, though, from what I've been able to glean. There's some speculation they're reluctant to release SDK support because they don't want to undercut sales of their more expensive drones too much by making the Mini capable of most of the same things. My guess, if that is the case, they're probably going to wait until they see how Mini sales affect the sales of their other drones before deciding. Which means it could be several months, if ever.

thermalflyer · Dec 6, 2019

Thanks you for in-depth analysis ... But I don't thing these speculation are right ... From what I believe, there is going to be some new drones from dji in 2020 to replace these big boys ... I think we the delay in sdk is usually put by tech companies to avoid some earlier errors ...

ThorDar said:
There is no fixed timeline. Going by the Mavic Pro, it was released at the end of Sept 2016 and by early November there were already third party apps so it was probably added to the SDK's at or before the same time as the release of the drone.

The Mavic Air, on the other hand, was released in late Jan 2017 but SDK support didn't show up until April.

Dji almost seems to be on the fence about the Mini, though, from what I've been able to glean. There's some speculation they're reluctant to release SDK support because they don't want to undercut sales of their more expensive drones too much by making the Mini capable of most of the same things. My guess, if that is the case, they're probably going to wait until they see how Mini sales affect the sales of their other drones before deciding. Which means it could be several months, if ever.

ThorDar · Dec 6, 2019

thermalflyer said:
Thanks you for in-depth analysis ... But I don't thing these speculation are right ... From what I believe, there is going to be some new drones from dji in 2020 to replace these big boys ... I think we the delay in sdk is usually put by tech companies to avoid some earlier errors ...

Well, I'm not holding my breath. It will be cool if they do but in the meantime, I'm enjoying my Mini as is and I still have my Mavic Pro if I want to use Litchi.