Litchi vs. AutoPilot vs. Other Apps

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What's your experience with 3rd party apps? Any favorites? Why?

I see that Litchi is now supported for the P4 on both iOS and Android. AutoPilot still isn't updated for the P4. A few other apps are though.
 
As far as I know Litchi is the only truly autonomous app out there that will fly the mission whilst out of radio range....but could be others? I have used the iOS version to fly almost 160 missions. It does the flying while I control camera panning and other photo stuff. Other apps are most likely better for serious photography guys...but for me autonomous and accurate flight path is "job one."


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FPV Camera (Mission Planner) is also true autonomous waypoint app support P4, which upload waypoint mission to P4. When RC signal lost or even app crashed/quit accidentally during a mission, the mission will continue until reaching the last waypoint. If you set Finish action to RTH in Setup tab, aircraft will RTH and auto-landing.
 
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Thanks for the PIREP....will definitely take a look at FPV Camera. Does FPV Camera also allow you to auto takeoff similar to Litchi?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Litchi looks bad ***... better be worth it.
 
What about the new features??
Does Litchi have :Tap to fly, etc etc
 
Thanks for the PIREP....will definitely take a look at FPV Camera. Does FPV Camera also allow you to auto takeoff similar to Litchi?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
FPV Camera supports auto takeoff in all waypoint missions, including Target-Waypoint (multi-POI with auto-focus), standard Waypoint and Panorama-Waypoint.
 
I'm not an expert, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt. I see the Litchi app as the one to use for pre-planned waypoint missions. It has a simple interface (which should be familiar if you use DJI's app) and, as already mentioned, lets you fly beyond RC range (with all the safety caveats that entails). In my opinion the AutoPilot app really shines when it comes to getting your drone to focus on a target, letting you worry about the flight path and ignore the camera. I haven't used any other software and am on iOS, if that matters.
 
So far, except for when I got greedy with an overly aggressive battery modification, my birds have always come home from their Litchi missions. I keep the missions to 18 minutes or less.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
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I have a question about these apps mentioned (iOS versions).

I love the waypoint feature using the DJI Go app in that I can fly my P3P to the waypoints and set them as a waypoint. I do NOT want to rely on a map for waypoints. I find that I can be much more precise by flying to and setting the waypoints.

I am looking for that same waypoint-setting feature in a third party app, but one that lets me "smooth out" corners (almost like bezier curves) and have better control of the direction the Phantom camera is pointing along the path.

Do one of the iOS apps excel at that feature? Any other features is gravy.
 
Litchi seems to allow adjustment of how the bird handles corners, I have it but have not tried it yet, maybe get enough nerve to try today
 
The big deal for me with allowing LITCHI to handle corners is that it does not slow down much. I always make sure this feature is set for each waypoint. It makes a long range flight more efficient and much smoother. Most of the time, when flying with the curves, my missions completes about 15% earlier than what the Litchi mission time estimate projects. Without these curved waypoint transitions enabled, the bird will stop, turn and re-accelerate to the next waypoint....not so efficient...and very robotic. From my experience, the curve shown on the Litchi map is almost a perfect representation of the flight path...I would say within a 10-15 lateral corridor. It's quite impressive how accurately it flys the depicted mission. It's a great app for me, but others that are serious photographers might not agree. For me it's about reliable and repeatable performance even if signal is lost for lengthy periods. I know my boomerang is going to come home exactly the way I instructed it....not via an RTH which might take it over a playground, crowded venue, or God knows where.
 
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Do you know if Litchi or the other apps can follow waypoint programs faster than the DJI go app? I always felt like the Go app was too slow and I always had to speed everything up in post and it was less than optimal.

Even better would be if in Litchi or other apps if you can control the speed to/from certain waypoints. Any chance they do that, too?
 
Right now Litchi does allow you to set the speed, but it is for the entire mission. You cannot set different speeds with different waypoints. I know I have asked them about this and they said it is on their list of enhancements for the future.


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I agree that Litchi would be a "cut above" if it let you control speed waypoint to waypoint. For P4 flyers, it would be especially useful to access sport mode warp drive of 35-45 mph to get to the shoot location.
 

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