No SDK for the Mini 3 Pro in the near future

[RogerDH]

DJI Mobile SDK : déception pour le Mavic 3, le Mavic 3 Ciné et le Mini 3 Pro - HelicoMicro.com

DJI Mobile SDK: disappointment for the Mavic 3, the Mavic 3 Cine and the Mini 3 Pro

During July 2022, William Wong from DJI Developer Support presented version V5 of DJI's Mobile SDK. As a reminder, the Mobile Software Development Kit (MSDK) is a tool that allows access to the functions of DJI devices from applications developed by third parties on mobile phones and tablets.

Reminder of promises

In his message, William Wong indicated that the MSDK would only be available for Android terminals – exit those Apple iOS. He also specified that the MSDK would focus on DJI's industrial models. In the comments (from the Chinese version of the site, still online ), it stated that support for the Mavic 3 and Mini 3 Pro for the end of August 2022 had been notified during an R&D meeting, with a possibility of a delay.

However…

At the end of August, no MSDK for the Mavic 3. Nor for the Mini 3 Pro. Nothing in September either. The MSDK V5 overview now only mentions support for the M30, M300RTK and Mavic 3 Enterprise. As well as " future products, but no older products ". Asked on September 26, 2022 about the future of MSDKs for DJI's consumer drones, William Wong recalled the policy chosen by DJI in a post published on the site dedicated to the Mobile SDK : the " MSDK is now gradually focusing on industrial drones, and the priority of supported models is industrial drones > consumer drones > wearable products ”.

What to have hope for?

No. Because he adds 3 pithy lines in his post: “ There is no support planned for the Mini 3 Pro in 2022. There is no support planned for the Mavic 3 and the Mavic 3 Cine in 2022. has no planned Avata support in 2022. ”

In summary ?

Neither the original Mavic 3 (and the Cine version) nor the Mini 3 Pro will be compatible with DJI's MSDK V5. This means that they cannot be used for automated missions, such as those intended for cartography or photogrammetry. A decision that goes particularly badly with the owners of Mavic 3, a device that was nevertheless perfect for accomplishing this type of task. To tell the truth, the Mini 3 Pro could also have accomplished automated tasks, at the cost of lower photo quality, but taking advantage of the ease of deployment of a device weighing less than 250 grams…

 

[Lastrexking]

I'm not too bothered. What would we really gain that the Mini3 doesn't already do? Waypoints? I prefer to be in control myself.

 

[RogerDH]

I'm not too bothered. What would we really gain that the Mini3 doesn't already do? Waypoints? I prefer to be in control myself.

Mapping and photogrammetry, mainly, but anyone who uses a drone as a flying camera can find plenty of uses for waypoints missions. What I like about them is that I know I'm going to get exactly the shot I want, while knowing exactly what I'm flying over, and do it in one shot, so I'll be down and gone before any concerned citizens can attempt a citizen's arrest.

 

[vindibona1]

It's hard to say what DJI is going to do in the future. They always keep us guessing. But if I may remind everyone, the SDK for the Mini 2 was roughly 18 months after the Mini 2's release. So that one was a long time coming. Will DJI produce and SDK for the Mini 3 at any point in time? No idea.

The functionality of the 3rd party apps for my M2P and Mini 2 is one reason why I'm keeping the Mini 2 and not upgrading from the M2P. I love the Mini 3 with the DJI RC controller, though a bit pricey, as the biggest advantage that I find in the Mini 3 is how smooth it flies compared to the Mini 2 and competes well with the smoothness of the M2P in tripod mode. If DJI doesn't produce and SDK for the Mini 3 the only minor thing that would be missing would be the ability to fly FPV with cheap VR goggles. You'd have to step up to a DroneMask and use a RCN1 controller which has an external USB port so you can use a phone inside the DroneMask.

 

[Lister]

Mapping and photogrammetry, mainly, but anyone who uses a drone as a flying camera can find plenty of uses for waypoints missions. What I like about them is that I know I'm going to get exactly the shot I want, while knowing exactly what I'm flying over, and do it in one shot, so I'll be down and gone before any concerned citizens can attempt a citizen's arrest.

Total agreement. Why we can use waypoints for hyperlapses but not for live video is beyond me. Waypoint-controlled video would be fantastic.

 

[mobilehomer]

Total agreement. Why we can use waypoints for hyperlapses but not for live video is beyond me. Waypoint-controlled video would be fantastic.

Yep, it would not take much code twiddling to make waypoints available for all flight modes.

 

[Cymru]

Mapping, photogrammetry. Third party apps such as Litchi which have far better features for things like panoramas, course lock etc.

Mavic 3 still doesnt have the SDK a year after release whereas the M3E had it on day 1. Its essentially the same hardware. That tells you all you need to know about DJIs policy direction now....

 

[Droning on and on...]

Get a Matrice or Inspire.

That's the reason... DJI product strategy. Presumably they maximize revenue and earnings this way, and I'd bet they know what they're doing.

 

[RetiredInFL]

Been wondering about this and through Googling a number of recent posts/comments by DJI seems to say there are "no plans" for SDK for Mini 3 "Pro" or Mavic 3 (edited to add: Mavic 3 consumer version) . One asks, why is the Mini 3 labeled as "PRO"?

https://sdk-forum.dji.net/hc/en-us/articles/8818033368857-What-is-the-plan-for-the-consumer-level-aircraft-

(read DJI comments on bottom of this linked page)

The above is a change in position from previous DJI comments. It aslo seems, stated bt DJI somewhere that "if there was one it would be Android only."

 

[Cymru]

DJI appeared to have a policy change a few months ago and decided to differentiate their products by software cripples.
Separating the consumer units which *could* do all the tasks from enterprise which are allowed to.

I'd be fuming if i'd bought a Mavic 3 Pro as an SDK was promised, a year later it seems to be cancelled and it still lacks some features promised pre launch.

With this current setup, the Mavic 2 Pro looks to be the most versatile drone they sell in the range. And they're basically crippled Go4 on newer Android versions even for that.

 

[BroomRider]

Been wondering about this and through Googling a number of recent posts/comments by DJI seems to say there are "no plans" for SDK for Mini 3 "Pro" or Mavic 3 (edited to add: Mavic 3 consumer version) . One asks, why is the Mini 3 labeled as "PRO"?

https://sdk-forum.dji.net/hc/en-us/articles/8818033368857-What-is-the-plan-for-the-consumer-level-aircraft-

(read DJI comments on bottom of this linked page)

The above is a change in position from previous DJI comments. It aslo seems, stated bt DJI somewhere that "if there was one it would be Android only."

So, "Android only"... since the RC controller uses a stripped-down version of Android, do you refer to THAT Android, or the Android phone used in the RN-1 controller?

 

[RetiredInFL]

Just repeating what DJI stated.

 

[BroomRider]

Well, considering the above topic thread, & the most recent "upgrade" enforcing RID, not to mention the lack of the option to switch to an intelligent & conventional right-left bank indicator in the Radar display...

I often fly my M3P around a lot of casual passers-by, not to mention, several who've known me for a while & gotten interested in UAV piloting as a result, & I get asked lots of questions & asked recommendations.

At this point, I'm very disappointed with DJI, & I can't recommend either the brand, & as a result of my own experiences thus far, neither the M3P itself.

1 of the members here (I won't mention their name), with whom I've had some private communications, knows that I meet lots of people in my activities.

 

[Sdrone31]

DJI Mobile SDK : déception pour le Mavic 3, le Mavic 3 Ciné et le Mini 3 Pro - HelicoMicro.com

DJI Mobile SDK: disappointment for the Mavic 3, the Mavic 3 Cine and the Mini 3 Pro

Which I'd exactly why I've held on to my air2... mapped nearly 2million sq mtrs using this drone. No problems at all.

 

[vindibona1]

I think DJI is making a mistake by not getting SDK's out sooner... MUCH sooner. It surprises me a bit, based on the sophistication of the DJI marketing team.

What is the #1 thing that might keep me from "upgrading" to DJI's newest/latest/greatest models? Giving up the 3rd party functions available to older models. My Mavic 2 pro and Mini 2 have automated missions. My Mini 3 pro? Just what DJI provides. Having my legacy drones allowed me to go to the Mini 3 pro and possibly one of the Mavic 3 variants in the future. DJI doesn't have to be another Apple/Sony that keeps all the accessories and peripherals strictly OEM. That strategy sunk two of Sony's biggest selling categories over time and I think Apple is on the edge of consumer weariness (you can't even swap parts in identical iphones any longer without losing function). I'd like to believe that Samsung and PiPhone are chomping waiting to eat Apple's lunch. I digress. Sadly there are no heroes on the drone horizon to rescue us from DJI in the short term. We can only hope.

 

[TonyPHX]

DJI Strategy being what it is, there need to be champions within DJI to do the right thing.

 

[vindibona1]

DJI Strategy being what it is, there need to be champions within DJI to do the right thing.

A lot of it is a cultural thing. The Chinese think differently. I had one traditional Chinese client and it was clear from the beginning that they had a different mindset than the typical American client. It's a long story and it worked out for me financially, but the whole thing was very strange, from contracting to shooting to photo ordering. Don't get me wrong. There were very nice but so many laughable issues that one would never experience from an American client.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I think DJI is making a mistake by not getting SDK's out sooner... MUCH sooner. It surprises me a bit, based on the sophistication of the DJI marketing team.

Well, as an example, the entire Litchi installed base numbers in the 100,000s (Apple app store and Google Play data).

DJI sells millions of NEW units every year. It's hard to accept (for some), but the importance of the SDK to DJI's consumer business just isn't there. The sophisticated DJI marketing team knows what it's doing. You just don't like it. Here, you can have one of these:

As for the SDK, what are you talking about? MSDK V5 supports the Mavic 3. If you want to use the Mavic 3 with Litchi et. al., buy an M3E.

 

[Cymru]

Why the obsession with litchi? (Which fwiw has 100,000+ android downloads from play store, similar again from Amazon and yet more from direct APK installs).

The number of people using Drone Deploy/Pix4d and photogrammetry dwarfs it.

 

[TonyPHX]

Drone Deploy + Pix4d capture + Dronelink + Litchi.... + probably more I do not even know about means that there is a reasonably sized market that desires the SDK.

@mightypilot2000 The crying towel suggestion removes you from the Christmas card list.