Well, here is the situation as I currently understand it for the
Mavic Air 2, which I own.
I've seen a reply to a post here on Reddit where DJI has stated that the
MA2 is hardware limited (memory, I assume) and is not capable of autonomous waypoint missions. Whether the issue is hardware or not, DJI stated that they have no plans to ever add that capability to the
MA2. It is possible, of course, that the issue isn't hardware at all, but that DJI has decided not to have their consumer drones capable of flights where the operator is not always in direct control of the drone since any flight where the operator knowingly no longer has direct control of the drone is illegal in most, if not all, of the U.S. ... where government concern about Chinese drones in general runs strong. In any case, anyone who thinks the
MA2 will eventually be capable of autonomous flights, where the mission will continue in the case of loss of direct radio control, is probably deluding themselves.
That leaves virtual sick control as the only option for any control software. Maven has had that capability since either late December or early January but Maven is only available so far for iOS (no Android). Dronelink (both iOS and Android) recently also added virtual stick waypoints for the
MA2. Litchi so far does not, and there is some question whether or not they have any actual plans to do so, which is a shame since Litchi is simple, intuitive, and capable of programming waypoints in height-above-ground instead of just height-above-takeoff point. As you say, Dronelink is more complex and has a much steeper learning curve than either Maven or Litchi .... although Dronelink just put out a "QuickStart" tutorial that more clearly explains the basics for those who don't need all the bells and whistles of the app. I haven't gone through it yet myself, but forum feedback on it has been positive.
Maven now allows a user to import a saved mission from the Litchi mission hub in .csv format, but it currently does not retain the Litchi height-above-ground information. The Maven developer recently stated that he now plans to add height-above-ground capability directly to the Maven software, but I expect that might take him some time to do so since he will have to either license Google's Elevation.api or he will have to use some equivalent open source data (and the only one I found requires programming in Linux). As I understand it, Google requires the output from their Elevation.api to be displayed in a Google visual format such as Google Earth or Maps. Google also has a monetary charge structure for the use of the Elevation.api, but it is waived for users who don't access the .api very often. The combination of the display requirements and the cost structure is probably why Litchi uses a web browser to set up a mission, since that meets the display requirement and also distributes the use of the Elevation.api across all users instead of centralizing it such that the access cost wouldn't be waived anymore. I assume Maven will have to do the same.
The Maven developer has also said in the past that he plans to add the capability to manually fly to multiple positions (more than the four available in the DJI Fly app), and then capture each of them as waypoints (presumably with elevation data) for subsequent flights as a pre-programmed mission. I'm not sure which of the two features is next on his list, or even if he still plans to do this now that he plans to add height-above-ground directly to his app. Personally, I think the manual setup could still be useful for missions requiring precise location.
