DJI’s GO 4 app is great for a majority of its users. But for those wanting something more powerful in terms of mapping capabilities or mission planning, some alternatives have risen to the top over the years, including Litchi, Airmap, Pix4D, and UgCS for DJI.
Not too long ago, we wrote that DJI was about to release their software development kit (SDK) for the DJI Smart Controller. Well, they did so earlier this week. The SDK allows third-party developers to build their applications fully integrated with the DJI Smart Controller. Expect Litchi to be one of the first apps available on the, now even more expensive DJI Smart Controller.
Litchi, one of the best known alternative software solutions to fly your DJI drones, just updated their app to include the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro drones. The previous update (version 2.6) from four days ago included support for the new Mavics. The latest update, version 2.6.1 fixes a waypoint curve display issue, according to the company.
Many of our readers are Litchi users and fans for good reason. Some prefer the Litchi app over the DJI Go 4 app because of its simplicity. Others because the app offers the waypoints functionality for the DJI Mavic Air (now also for the Spark). Yesterday the app received a substantial update both for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platform. The update applies to the DJI Mavic, Phantom, Inspire and Spark.
DJI had decided to remove the Waypoints feature from the Mavic Air. Some people noticed that. So did we. We wrote a post about it and contacted DJI. The company said that with enough requests, they would bring Waypoints back to the Mavic Air. Within a matter of weeks, 2.952 of our readers indicated on our site, that they do want the feature back. That has not happened as of yet. However, what did happen today is this: Litchi added the Waypoints feature for the DJI Mavic Air to their latest version of the popular app for both iOS and Android. Thank you, Litchi!
Flying a drone manually is fun, but there are some manoeuvres that are virtually impossible to fly smoothly. Circling an object or person, for example. You’d need to constantly change the balance of forward/backward and left/right inputs to fly the circle in the first place, then simultaneously keep rotating the camera by just the right amount to keep it pointed at the centre of the circle. Anyone who can do that perfectly is either a drone genius or has way more than the usual number of hands.
The DJI Go app offers a range of intelligent flight modes – aka autonomous flying. But a third-party app, Litchi, goes even further: it allows you to program your flight path in Google Earth before you even leave home. As soon as you arrive on site, just load the pre-programmed flight and hit Start.
I decided to give it a go with my ultraportable drone, the DJI Mavic Pro I reviewed last month …