DJI GO and Litchi offload from iPad -- very annoying

[cinclodes]

I posted this on the PhantomPilots forum, but I thought it might be appropriate here as well. I have occasionally had an annoying problem and finally realized what was going on and how to avoid it. The iPad has a "feature" in which apps that aren't used for a while will automatically offload. More than once, I have been out in the field ready to make a flight and then suddenly realized that DJI GO and Litchi had been offloaded. Actually, I didn't realize what was going on, but the iPad tried to download the apps, which is hard to do in a remote area with no wifi. In one case, I was able to download the apps by using my phone as as wifi hotspot. I finally found that you can change a setting to prevent unused apps from offloading. I was surprised that nothing turned up at this site with a search on this problem. It seems like it's the type of problem that others would have experienced.

 

[slup]

By offload I assume you mean uninstall?

Seems rather radical in that case, I'm on Android & there unused apps gets it's permissions (like access to sound, position & such) revoked & the app goes into deep sleep (will not be communicating at all regarding updates & will not send notifications while not open in the foreground) , but they can still be started & used.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

In all of my years having Apple devices (a lot) I've never had that happen unless I uninstall things manually.

 

[dstuart]

I have several apps on my iPad that I haven't used for several years, they are still there. What you are saying seems really weird.

 

[DJ Wes]

I posted this on the PhantomPilots forum, but I thought it might be appropriate here as well. I have occasionally had an annoying problem and finally realized what was going on and how to avoid it. The iPad has a "feature" in which apps that aren't used for a while will automatically offload. More than once, I have been out in the field ready to make a flight and then suddenly realized that DJI GO and Litchi had been offloaded. Actually, I didn't realize what was going on, but the iPad tried to download the apps, which is hard to do in a remote area with no wifi. In one case, I was able to download the apps by using my phone as as wifi hotspot. I finally found that you can change a setting to prevent unused apps from offloading. I was surprised that nothing turned up at this site with a search on this problem. It seems like it's the type of problem that others would have experienced.

What you are describing is the IOS "Offload Unused Apps" option. If you go to Settings -> General -> iPad/iPhone Storage, you will see this option:

This setting is off by default. You must have enabled it at one point. I do not use this option because I am not low on storage and I don't want any of my apps offloaded. Yours is another example of why I would not choose to use it.

 

[cinclodes]

This setting is off by default. You must have enabled it at one point. I do not use this option because I am not low on storage and I don't want any of my apps offloaded. Yours is another example of why I would not choose to use it.

I never enabled this setting. I have an older iPad. Perhaps it was the default on older versions, which have less storage space.

 

[DJ Wes]

I never enabled this setting. I have an older iPad. Perhaps it was the default on older versions, which have less storage space.

This setting was introduced in IOS 11 in 2017. It is off by default.

 

[RodPad]

Well,
This is all true..

The other day my iPhone wouldn't let me take some videos, I found the screen stated unload older apps for space, you can restore from the cloud.

OK, that worked.
Went to use one of those apps, of coarse I knew would need the internet..
Well, I also needed my user, pass, etc.

Additional
I had a iPhone 4

You use iTunes make a full backup, then do a factory reset, restore iPhone from iTunes.
The backup needs to have a secure password?

Very TEDIOUS
But, it did work!!
To me, its like cleaning up the registry?

I'm using a 12 mini.
I been thinking about trying it again.
Anybody got any other thoughts, let me know.

Rod ..