IPhone temperature causing dim screen with DJI fly

[Skerrabrae]

Ever since I’ve had my Air 2S in March, after ~10 min flight time my iPhone 12 Pro screen will dim to the point where I cannot even see it. I am assuming it is because the phone is getting too hot so iOS is auto dimming the screen. When this occurs the brightness slider is all the way up but the screen is barely legible. Today this occurred again and a few minutes later the phone shut itself down with a temperature warning on the screen.

Has anyone else experienced this on a regular basis? It’s odd that this never once occurred when flying my Mini 2 but has happened every single time I took out my Air 2S. Not sure if the DJI Fly app is working more when connected to an Air 2S but it seems to generate more heat in the phone.

In any case, I’ll try to mitigate but pulling the case off the phone before flying. Also considering using my iPad instead since I have a tough time anyway with the phone screen when flying.

Considered the Smart Controller but don’t really want to drop all that money on an extra controller and I’ve read the battery life is pretty poor compared to the stock controller/phone combo.

 

[evtide]

I have almost the same thing with an IPad Mini, screen will dim out quite a bit. I never get the high temp shut down though. The screen dimming is troubling, no idea why it’s happening.

 

[jeffcutler]

Same with my iPhone 8. I THINK I solved some of this issue as it was killing me on days when I had multiple missions. *I'm also flying the Air 2. I found that as the video and stuff caches on the phone, it slows down the operation and fills up the memory. As that happens, the phone heats up more because more of its internal memory is working WHILE also trying to show you navigational information and a cool 1080 video.

My workaround - which has NOT been fully tested yet - was to upgrade my phone to the iPhone 11. BUT, pay attention, I am dedicating the iPhone 8 to flying. I have removed 80% of my apps, got rid of all photos and other junk, and only have drone-related apps on it.

As I found when the display was laggy during flight and dimmed right away...once I deleted the old batches of videos from my phone, it perked right up and the light came back. Only advice regarding heat is keep it out of the sun. When it's super hot - if at all possible - I fly from a parked car in the shade or with the engine cranking AC.

I'll post more once I try a few more missions and see if bad behavior comes back. **Turning off location services on everything that doesn't need it during your flight (TikTok doesn't need your location while you're flying) AND putting the phone in airplane mode helps.

 

[bob_r]

Ever since I’ve had my Air 2S in March, after ~10 min flight time my iPhone 12 Pro screen will dim to the point where I cannot even see it. I am assuming it is because the phone is getting too hot so iOS is auto dimming the screen. When this occurs the brightness slider is all the way up but the screen is barely legible. Today this occurred again and a few minutes later the phone shut itself down with a temperature warning on the screen.

Has anyone else experienced this on a regular basis? It’s odd that this never once occurred when flying my Mini 2 but has happened every single time I took out my Air 2S. Not sure if the DJI Fly app is working more when connected to an Air 2S but it seems to generate more heat in the phone.

In any case, I’ll try to mitigate but pulling the case off the phone before flying. Also considering using my iPad instead since I have a tough time anyway with the phone screen when flying.

Considered the Smart Controller but don’t really want to drop all that money on an extra controller and I’ve read the battery life is pretty poor compared to the stock controller/phone combo.

Here's a recent video on the same subject, with a resolution:

 

[Skerrabrae]

Thanks for the info everyone. I’m heading out this morning to test the sunshade option, removing the phone case, ensuring I am not charging the phone at the same time. I’ll report back on what I find.

It’s currently sunny and 89 F(32 C) out so perfect test conditions.

Hope one of these works because my Air 2S is unusable if I cannot see the screen.

 

[hiflyer201]

The automatic heat sensing to save battery life on a iphone is a real pain. I think shade is the real key to solving the problem and it seems to work most of the time.

 

[Skerrabrae]

We’ll just returned from flying and no luck. Removed the phone case , used the DJI shade and stood in the shade. This time the screen dimmed while the drone was still on the ground. I was messing around in the DJI fly settings trying to find the phone charging options . After 5 minutes of looking for this option the screen dimmed.

I later find this charging is no longer a setting but it auto charges the phone with no option to disable. I suspect this is what’s putting the phone over the edge.

so for now I’ll try using my iPad and hopefully this fares better. And as I mentioned my mini 2 does not seem to have this dimming option so I’ll use this for now. Very frustrating that my air 2s is essentially a paperweight until I find an alternative. Perhaps the iPhone 13 this fall will handle this better, who knows

 

[hiflyer201]

And as I mentioned my mini 2 does not seem to have this dimming option

You're in Florida and I'm in the California desert so we're in the same boat. I just never fly in the middle of the day in the summer anymore and I'm rarely bothered with dimming but I have to admit. I've sometimes lost visual line of anything more than once for a short period of time...

 

[tlswift58]

We’ll just returned from flying and no luck. Removed the phone case , used the DJI shade and stood in the shade. This time the screen dimmed while the drone was still on the ground. I was messing around in the DJI fly settings trying to find the phone charging options . After 5 minutes of looking for this option the screen dimmed.

I later find this charging is no longer a setting but it auto charges the phone with no option to disable. I suspect this is what’s putting the phone over the edge.

so for now I’ll try using my iPad and hopefully this fares better. And as I mentioned my mini 2 does not seem to have this dimming option so I’ll use this for now. Very frustrating that my air 2s is essentially a paperweight until I find an alternative. Perhaps the iPhone 13 this fall will handle this better, who knows

Are you putting the iPhone into "Airplane' mode to shut down all unneeded apps /services? you'd be surprised at what runs in the background, esp if you have a lot of other apps that will run in normal mode?

Maybe turning off caching / etc in the FlyApp will also help.

 

[SierraAlpha]

I have this happening with my Mini 2 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. I used a friend’s iPhone 12 pro and it did the same thing.
the new update to fly app automatically charges the phone now and I cannot find where to turn it off. That heats the battery on top of the outside heat.
you are just going to have to deal with the screen dimming and take off your sunglasses.

 

[PinpointUAVS]

We’ll just returned from flying and no luck. Removed the phone case , used the DJI shade and stood in the shade. This time the screen dimmed while the drone was still on the ground. I was messing around in the DJI fly settings trying to find the phone charging options . After 5 minutes of looking for this option the screen dimmed.

I later find this charging is no longer a setting but it auto charges the phone with no option to disable. I suspect this is what’s putting the phone over the edge.

so for now I’ll try using my iPad and hopefully this fares better. And as I mentioned my mini 2 does not seem to have this dimming option so I’ll use this for now. Very frustrating that my air 2s is essentially a paperweight until I find an alternative. Perhaps the iPhone 13 this fall will handle this better, who knows

I live in Northern Alberta, so, on average, not as hot as your location. I’ve had the same issue as you, multiple times, with my Mini 2. My phone doesn’t feel hot to touch when it happens, so if it is a heat issue then it doesn’t have to get very hot to create a problem. I have the iPhone 12 Pro max

 

[PinpointUAVS]

I have this happening with my Mini 2 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. I used a friend’s iPhone 12 pro and it did the same thing.
the new update to fly app automatically charges the phone now and I cannot find where to turn it off. That heats the battery on top of the outside heat.
you are just going to have to deal with the screen dimming and take off your sunglasses.

I was capturing some footage of my Buddy’s daughter on wakeboard last weekend when the dimming issue happened. I took off my sunglasses and put a towel over my head and controller/phone and still I could barely make out what I was looking at. I had a VO in the boat as well, not that there are many obstructions on the lake, but I was more concerned with what the camera was seeing.

 

[Skerrabrae]

I flew my Mini 2 today and confirmed that the issue occurred within 10 minutes of using the Mini 2 as well. Did more research and found the most likely cause is that DJI set charging of iOS devices as a default in one of the post 1.4.0 updates. They also removed the option to toggle this feature off. This simultaneous charging and DJI Fly use causes the iPhone to overheat and iOS responds by dimming the screen.

Although I am in a warm climate in summer many other people in cooler climates are reporting the same issue. Hopefully DJI releases another update soon because my drones are currently unusable.

 

[sarimento1]

just checked, and with latest firmware update, the iphone charging option has re-appeared on my Air2S DJI Fly app. i'll assume same change with the mini2 recent update.

 

[Skerrabrae]

Thanks for the information! I just checked my Air 2S and Mini 2 and confirmed that the phone charging option has returned for both drones. Finally can fly again!

Strange there was no DJI Fly app update or firmware update, the option just reappeared on it’s own. But as long as the option does not disappear again, we’re all good.

 

[Encyclo]

Thanks for the information! I just checked my Air 2S and Mini 2 and confirmed that the phone charging option has returned for both drones. Finally can fly again!

Strange there was no DJI Fly app update or firmware update, the option just reappeared on it’s own. But as long as the option does not disappear again, we’re all good.

So I have tried not charging while using ´Fly’ on my iPhone 8; still overheating. I am starting to wonder if this issue is related to DJI at all? Left my iPhone in the sun a few minutes with nothing running and nothing in the ´background’ and the screen was very dim. Do not remember my phone being that sensitive to the sun.

Comments?

 

[sarimento1]

So I have tried not charging while using ´Fly’ on my iPhone 8; still overheating. I am starting to wonder if this issue is related to DJI at all? Left my iPhone in the sun a few minutes with nothing running and nothing in the ´background’ and the screen was very dim. Do not remember my phone being that sensitive to the sun.

Comments?

is there a display setting "Dim after X minutes" for your iPhone 8?

 

[Encyclo]

is there a display setting "Dim after X minutes" for your iPhone 8?

On iPhone iOs, there is no "dim after X". When it starts dimming in the heat, the brightness scale does not change, remains at maximum value in my case.

 

[sarimento1]

On iPhone iOs, there is no "dim after X". When it starts dimming in the heat, the brightness scale does not change, remains at maximum value in my case.

my mistake, it might be in the settings for Display & Brightness, under Auto-Lock, change to Never while flying.

 

[widget2k13]

im having same issue with 12 pro max, screen dims after 5 ins and cant see a thing, first time out with my mini 2 as well, so gutted