Litchi warning!

[Kilrah]

Been using android devices for years just fine with all my DJI devices.

DJI apps pretty much always have bugs on both platforms, often not the same... just had to deal with that with DJI Mimo and my Osmo Pocket 2 this weekend, both the iOS and android versions had pretty serious bugs, but android ended up being the least broken for my purpose...

Regarding litchi that's just how mobile apps work, since there's no common store between both platforms they'll pretty much always require separate purchases on each platform.

 

[footfly]

I am not taking any sides - but Litchi is about US $25.

For comparison: that is about 1 budget jean or 1 budget collar shirts or 3 to 4 gallons of milk or one modest dinner or a budget dinner for 2 or 1 to 2 large 2 topping pizza or about 20 LED house lightbulbs or 8 gallons of US unleaded gas or one-third of typical oil change for the modern cars.

The rip-off is really DJI Fly, because it only works with limited phones. It is like buying a car but the car can only use gas at Chevron and not Shell or Valero. But, so far, DJI is far beyond other competitors when it comes to drone hardware and software. But other brands like Autel are catching up. No bad feeling, I own DJI drone myself but find DJI monopolizing in that it works only on certain phones (please see the amount of forum entries to the effect "DJI Fly does not work on my phone, I now have to get another cellphone to use my new DJI drone".

 

[AZDave]

I am not taking any sides - but Litchi is about US $25.

For comparison: that is about 1 budget jean or 1 budget collar shirts or 3 to 4 gallons of milk or one modest dinner or a budget dinner for 2 or 1 to 2 large 2 topping pizza or about 20 LED house lightbulbs or 8 gallons of US unleaded gas or one-third of typical oil change for the modern cars.

The rip-off is really DJI Fly, because it only works with limited phones. It is like buying a car but the car can only use gas at Chevron and not Shell or Valero. But, so far, DJI is far beyond other competitors when it comes to drone hardware and software. But other brands like Autel are catching up. No bad feeling, I own DJI drone myself but find DJI monopolizing in that it works only on certain phones (please see the amount of forum entries to the effect "DJI Fly does not work on my phone, I now have to get another cellphone to use my new DJI drone".

I agree with most of that, but personally I would tend to blame the cellphone manufacturers for the incompatibility issues from phone to phone. Hard to say whether it is planned obsolescence, indifferent platform migrations, or just bad software design, but it's pretty crazy how there is such a lack of standardization within the same phone manufacturer as new versions are released. Drone users aren't the only ones plagued by this crap, and DJI isn't the only company that has to try to deal with it.

 

[Meta4]

I get the feeling that DJI Fly was developed with iPhones in mind?

DJI apps work just as well with either operating system.

In fact on the Mini SE box not actually states "for the iPhone.

Clearly states ""made for iphone""but one does need magnifying glass to read it,,I'm android user so had to buy iPhone which was 200 which hurt

Don't be mislead.
Those "made for Apple stickers don't mean what everyone thinks.
They just mean that Apple have looked at it and confirm that it works with Apple devices.
And DJI have to pay Apple to put that sticker on their products.

MFi Program - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Meta4]

I find DJI monopolizing in that it works only on certain phones (please see the amount of forum entries to the effect "DJI Fly does not work on my phone, I now have to get another cellphone to use my new DJI drone".

It's a fairly broad range of phones that will work with the app, much bigger than DJI's little list of approved phones would suggest.
But the app is demanding and won't work with an old banger phone + DJI Fly also requires a 64 bit phone.

 

[Starz]

I'm just a grumpy (poor) English pensioner who would love to just be able to go out there and buy everything I want, but I can't.
maybe a bit hard on Litchi, my apologies guys, but as has been said the OS version isn't available yet so I'll start saving.
I tried several (available) Android devices and they had "issues" so went iPhone which works seamlessly. I get the feeling that DJI Fly was developed with iPhones in mind? In fact on the Mini SE box not actually states "for the iPhone.
I like the versatility of Litchi, planning flights, Follow Me and a whole lot more that DJI Fly just hasn't got.
Any way, right now loving the Mini2. It's a whole new experience after the old P3A.

Would you accept a donation to the enjoyment of your hobby?
I would be willing to contribute.

 

[BigAl07]

What a lot of people don't realize is that every new "Upgrade/Version" of a Flight Control App with it come increased Hardware Demands. All of those new fancy "Flight Modes", in-drone HDR combining, etc etc require more and more hardware on both the aircraft and the Viewing Device. This happens with DJI Go4 as well. Later versions made existing models of iPad etc unusable because the hardware couldn't handle the requirements. There were some cases of iPads that "Could" install and run the App but they would slow down, hang, or overheat simply because the newest version was over taxing the hardware.

This is also why some of the newer "Flight Modes" etc aren't available in older aircraft even though it's the same software (Go4 etc). The aircraft hardware simply can't handle the tasks so they are "eliminated" from the menu for that aircraft.

 

[cheddar-man]

Starz, what a wonderful offer, thank you so much but no, there's no way I could accept it!
When I found that the Shield was not compatible withe Fly app I looked for, and found a suitable "not too big" device to run the Fly app and came up with an iPhone XR with a broken camera as it was cheap - well £150!
At the time I didn't even think whether I could run Litchi on the iPhone, just assumed that as I'd bought it, I could!
Any way, Litchi are not realising their new OS software until end of March according to an email I got from them so plenty of time to save up a few coppers May not even bother other than I loved the "follow me" on Litchi which the Fly app doesn't have.
Again, many thanks for you most kind offer.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

OK for some with endless money for a hobby but for a UK pensioner £40 for a program is £40 (2 X £20)

Just curious, if your flying for a hobby, then why the need for Litchi, you could fly with manual skills. If you fly to do commercial work and make money, then it would be a very small business expense.

 

[cheddar-man]

I fly for a hobby only. I love the flying and putting together videos and stills I capture of places of interest.

Litchi has the one thing all the DJI Apps lack, Follow Me, which I love! Simple!

 

[AZDave]

Would you accept a donation to the enjoyment of your hobby?
I would be willing to contribute.

So would I.

 

[cheddar-man]

Ahhh, you guys are just so kind, thanks so very much but no way could I accept such kindness! I'm old but proud and will always pay my way, buy what I can afford. If I can't afford, do without.

 

[AZDave]

I fly for a hobby only. I love the flying and putting together videos and stills I capture of places of interest.

Litchi has the one thing all the DJI Apps lack, Follow Me, which I love! Simple!

Maven (a $20 app similar to Litchi but available only on iOS) just announced a Follow Me feature that tracks the GPS of the controller instead of tracking an object visually on the screen. That would be more reliable, I think, for tracking the pilot under conditions where he might not be in obvious or continuous visual range. I remember a fellow here who not long ago damaged his drone while in visual Follow Me mode. While riding his off road bicycle because he made a sharp turn on a trail and the drone lost his image. The drone got confused and while trying to reacquire him ran itself into a nearby rock wall. If good access to GPS satellites is available, it would seem a more reliable mode to me if you want to track yourself.

On the other hand, if you want to track something other than yourself the visual mode is needed. I think both modes are desirable depending upon what you are trying to do.

If you want to try Maven but can't afford it, send me a private message and we can work out a way to cover the cost for you.

 

[RGS2010]

OK for some with endless money for a hobby but for a UK pensioner £40 for a program is £40 (2 X £20)

You have to pay to play, my across-the-pond friend!

 

[scro]

Does litchi run on the Nvidia shield tablet? If so then could that not be used to fly the mini SE, since you already have an android licence?

 

[cheddar-man]

Does litchi run on the Nvidia shield tablet? If so then could that not be used to fly the mini SE, since you already have an android licence?

Yes it does but it won't connect to the Mini2 controller - well I don't think it will.
Any way, sold it when I found it wouldn't run the Fly app - maybe a bit premature there

 

[scro]

Yes it does but it won't connect to the Mini2 controller - well I don't think it will.
Any way, sold it when I found it wouldn't run the Fly app - maybe a bit premature there

Ahh not ideal . I guess you don't have other android devices to try it on now either, otherwise you'd have tried that. It's only fairly recently that litchi has become compatible with the Mini2 so if you tried a while ago it may have been before they'd added mini2 support.

 

[cheddar-man]

Litchi have told me that they hope to have the App ready by end of march.

 

[scro]

Litchi have told me that they hope to have the App ready by end of march.

Yes, thats the iOS version. It doesn't currently support the mini2, but should get updated soon to support it. The current Android version supports the mini2 now. Seems DJI released the SDK for android a bit before releasing it for iOS, hence the temporary mismatch between android/apple versions.

Anyway, sounds like the iOS version isn't far away, and should be here in time for the nicer spring weather

 

[coullit]

Bought Litchi to fly my Phantom 3, used it for years so naturally I want to use it with my new Mini2.
Unfortunately the Nvidia Shield is not compatible with the DJI Fly app and if I want to use Litchi with my new drone and iPhone I'll have to buy it again!

Mod Removed) rip off!!

I’ve had litchi for about 10 years only fly my drones fpv with it shot me a better program for this?
I’ve had phantom 3,4, Mavic, Mavic zoom, Mavic air 2 always use litchi I’ve got it on samasung 10 plus I just use for flying normally use iPhone