The DJI ecosystem is rich with many different components working together. It’s not an exaggeration to call DJI the “Apple of the drone” industry because of that.
Among these components are DJI’s native apps that all have various roles and work with various drone models. Normally these apps make your flying easier and your life convenient, sometimes though they can be a huge pain in the proverbial.
There are many users online daily who report errors and problems with apps such as the DJI Fly app, Go 4, Mimo, and other apps. In this article I’ll attempt to gather a list of all the problems I’ve found reported online and their solutions.
There are many causes to the various problems that occur in these apps, as we’ll see later in this article. But after my extensive research online, one cause keeps popping up, always.
In fact, it’s so common that it’s one of the few things you should be checking for. That cause is simple… is your phone compatible with the app?
If your phone isn’t compatible, the DJI app is likely to keep crashing, feel very slow, or won’t open up in the first place.
Unfortunately there is no fix for this except for getting yourself a phone that’s compatible. Preferably one with over 4Gb of RAM and an octa-core processor.
The DJI Fly App – Problems & Their Solutions
The DJI Fly app is the most common of all the official DJI apps. It’s used to control flight, update firmware and calibrate the compass and IMU. It also has some intelligent flight modes and is geared towards novice drone pilots who still don’t have much experience. And if you want a more comprehensive guide about this app, check out this article.
Although the app itself is solid and has received many good reviews, no software is flawless. It’s also well known that whenever a DJI Fly update is released, it usually gives a lot of headaches to its users with the sheer amount of bugs.
Let us take a look at some of the most common issues found by DJI Fly users.
This is a common problem it seems with the Samsung S21 and S22 ultra. I originally found it in this forum post, but it seems everyone that uses one of these two phones has it.
Basically, the app works fine, even in camera view. But as soon as you hit record, the screen freezes and you have to restart the app. Making flying your drone a real headache.
Last I’ve seen, one of the moderators replied that they were working on a fix. From the various other complaints though, I’m guessing it doesn’t work for everybody at the moment.
From the looks of it this is a common problem among Fly app users. After modifying the yaw rotation speed and smoothness, most people report that they can’t rest them after tapping “reset”.
The only current fix is to update the app to its latest version, that way it automatically resets. If you’re already using the latest version, you’re going to have to uninstall it and then reinstall it.
If you have one of the latest samsungs and find yourself unable to install the DJI fly app, it’s likely an issue with it not being compatible with Android 12, yet.
I could go on about how to fix this, but I’ve just found the perfect video to troubleshoot this:
9 times out of 10, this is a compatibility issue. Even if you’re successful in installing the app on your phone and using it, don’t think that it makes it compatible. If the Fly App is acting funny, freezing or being too slow, that’s likely the case here.
If you’re using an iphone all iPhones after the 8 are compatible with the DJI Fly app. If you’re using android, these are the supported devices:
Samsung Galaxy S21 | Samsung Galaxy S20 | Samsung Galaxy S10+ |
Samsung Galaxy S10 | Samsung Galaxy Note20 | Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ |
Samsung Galaxy Note9 | HUAWEI Mate40 Pro | HUAWEI Mate30 Pro |
HUAWEI P40 Pro | HUAWEI P30 Pro | Honor 50 Pro |
Mi 11 | Mi10 | Mi Mix4 |
Redmi Note 10 | OPPO Reno 4 | Vivo Nex 3 |
OnePlus 9 Pro | OnePlus 9 | Pixel 6 |
Pixel 4 Pixel 3 XL |
This the “official” DJI list. The actual list of supported android devices is really extensive and I’ve already covered it in this article. The gist of it though is that for an android phone to be compatible, you need to fulfill these conditions:
This is a common problem where the signal drops greatly at around 650 feet, even if you’re in open space. Many users report that this problem only started occurring when they upgraded from version 1.4 to 1.5.
The recent updates however seem to have fixed that, somewhat. So if you’re having connectivity issues make sure you’re using the latest version of the Fly App.
Interestingly though, it seems to occur mostly for the dji mini 2 users.
This is again a problem that seems to be more common in the latest Samsung phones like S21 & S22. I actually think it’s more because of the Android 12 rather than the Samsung devices. It seems to me the DJI simply don’t want to admit that they’re having trouble keeping up with the Android 12.
In a forum post of this same problem, I’ve found this answer from a moderator:
Since then it seems they have implemented some patches in the 1.5.9 version, but I doubt the issue is completely fixed. If you’re facing a black screen when opening up the camera view, make sure the Fly app is up to date.
I’ve seen reports online from DJI users saying that in many instances, notifications that appear in the Fly App disappear almost instantly.
While this is not a huge problem, it can be if the notification is a serious one like the warning of very low battery or an issue with the drone that requires emergency landing.
To date I haven’t found a fix to this, except for the fact that some users are reporting that this problem has been fixed after the recent update.
This is a problem that is unique to the IOS devices. It occurs when changing the ISO 100 to another setting. The video settings seem to work just fine, but the ISO parameter can’t be changed.
I’ve heard that it was fixed after the 1.5.9 update, and since there haven't been many people reporting about the issue, I’d say it’s true.
Unlike the DJI Fly app, the Go 4 seems to have fewer problems, but it doesn’t mean they’re not as annoying.
This happens when there is an incompatibility with your phone and the DJI Go 4. Check first to see if your phone is compatible, if it’s not, there is no workaround. You’ll just have to get one that is.
Like the DJI Fly app, you’ll need to fulfill these conditions:
Sometimes the app will open but will crash either on opening or during flight. Most times this is also due to incompatibility with your device, but there are some workarounds.
The DJI Go 4 app saves some of the streamed footage from your drone’s forward facing camera live when you’re recording. This is to give you the ability to quickly review the footage once you’ve landed.
Sometimes, a full cache can interfere with the memory distribution and load of your device. Clearing the cash though is very simple and can be done manually.
Simply go to the general settings by clicking the three dots in the camera view, then look for the memory section. It should look like this:
This is to be a really common problem with the DJI Mimo, and also one that is exclusive for android phones, which makes me think DJI really has a problem with android.
The gist of this problem is that the app will install, but will close as soon as you open it. This video below, although is just a rant, will give you an idea on the problem:
While looking up online, I’ve found that this latest beta version of the Mimo app seems to fix this issue. It’s unreleased though so download it at your own risk.
You can download it by going here. And if you want to learn more about this DJI tool, check out this post that walks you through the step-by-step editing procedure!
There is no flawless software and we’ll likely continue to see issue after issue with the DJI apps when it comes to android devices. The fact that the apps were taken out of the google play store coupled with this compatibility issue makes me think there is something off.
DJI likely has a problem with google, and I wish it would be fixed soon otherwise we can expect more annoying bugs to come.