Add GPS to iPad mini

CardiacKid · Jul 21, 2016

Sorry for all the questions. I want to fly with my iPad mini which is non gps. I thought I read somewhere you could attach a portable gps to the iPad mini and add GPS to track all your flights and data. Is that right

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WilsonFlyer · Jul 21, 2016

Why do you think you need a GPS in your tablet (of many brand)?

Matt122; · Jul 21, 2016

You can attach a gps to the drone incase of a fly away. But in order to have gps on the tablet it would have to be through a mobile carrier.

CardiacKid · Jul 22, 2016

My brother has a P3 standard and when he flys using his iPhone 6 it's tracks a map of where he went with pictures etc. when we flew on my iPad mini it gave none of that. We assumed because the iPad mini doesn't have gps

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Freedom4 · Jul 22, 2016

If possible, use a phone as a mobile hot spot and connect your ipad to it or to any WiFi spot that's available. Then open app and the map should load. Works for me! I have ipad mini 3 that just has WiFi, no carrier service.

You can also do it at home before you leave. Connect to your WiFi, open DJI go, maximize the map, let it load. Maybe scroll around to the area you'll be flying to make sure it loads up. Do not turn off your ipad after that, you'll lose the data.

Good luck!

WilsonFlyer · Jul 22, 2016

AZRRT said:
My brother has a P3 standard and when he flys using his iPhone 6 it's tracks a map of where he went with pictures etc. when we flew on my iPad mini it gave none of that. We assumed because the iPad mini doesn't have gps

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That's not GPS. That's Google-Earth data provided by the net as mentioned above. You need a WiFi connection or to cache the data in advance, again; as mentioned above. the GPS problem (that really doesn't exist) can be solved by killing two birds with one stone. Celluar iPad Mini. Data with GPS where ever you have a cell signal and a data plan.

WilsonFlyer · Jul 22, 2016

Freedom4 said:
If possible, use a phone as a mobile hot spot and connect your ipad to it or to any WiFi spot that's available. Then open app and the map should load. Works for me! I have ipad mini 3 that just has WiFi, no carrier service.

You can also do it at home before you leave. Connect to your WiFi, open DJI go, maximize the map, let it load. Maybe scroll around to the area you'll be flying to make sure it loads up. Do not turn off your ipad after that, you'll lose the data.

Good luck!

Absolutely! A hot-spot on my phone is why I don't bother with data plans on my other iDevices or other tablets and laptops. Why pay a premium for each device when I can have it on all when I already have it for nothing on my phone?

Lonewolf · Jul 22, 2016

Freedom4 said:
If possible, use a phone as a mobile hot spot and connect your ipad to it or to any WiFi spot that's available. Then open app and the map should load. Works for me! I have ipad mini 3 that just has WiFi, no carrier service.

You can also do it at home before you leave. Connect to your WiFi, open DJI go, maximize the map, let it load. Maybe scroll around to the area you'll be flying to make sure it loads up. Do not turn off your ipad after that, you'll lose the data.

Good luck!

And remember to turn on Airplane mode! I've forgotten to do that a couple of times only to find I lost the map altogether. No idea why it would do that. But, turning Airplane mode on seems to be the trick for me.

Multicoptertec · Jul 22, 2016

WilsonFlyer said:
That's not GPS. That's Google-Earth data provided by the net as mentioned above. You need a WiFi connection or to cache the data in advance, again; as mentioned above. the GPS problem (that really doesn't exist) can be solved by killing two birds with one stone. Celluar iPad Mini. Data with GPS where ever you have a cell signal and a data plan.[/QU

On an iPhone, or iPad for that matter, the map data used by the DJI Go app is provided by Apple maps, not Google. If you have a non GPS tablet, you can add an external GPS such as a Garmin Glo. Note that the external GPS unit does not download map data, it is only a GPS receiver. You can download maps while connected to a wifi network, and enable map caching in the Go app, and even if you turn off your tablet, the maps will persist for a period of time.

jwt873 · Jul 22, 2016

For what it's worth, it is possible to add GPS capability to a non cellular iPad. They make BlueTooth GPS receivers that will pair with iPads & iPods and provide the same functionality as a built-in GPS... Google for "iPad Bluetooth GPS".

CardiacKid · Jul 22, 2016

I see. Oh thanks for clearing it up guys. I appreciate it

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WilsonFlyer · Jul 22, 2016

jwt873 said:
For what it's worth, it is possible to add GPS capability to a non cellular iPad. They make BlueTooth GPS receivers that will pair with iPads & iPods and provide the same functionality as a built-in GPS... Google for "iPad Bluetooth GPS".

I'm sure you can but again, why would you? Besides that, any 3rd party device you add for GPS would have to be directly supported by DJI Go or Litchi, etc. Don't count on that. They are designed to work with the built-in GPS's provided by the manufacturers and supported by the IOS and Android SDKs..

If you want it for street mapping, knock yourself out.