Phantom Pilot App for Android really that bad?

I just ordered the Phantom 3 pro today but after reading all the issues with the firmware, i better cancel that order until DJI fixes the problems.
I am brand new to this hobby. Would someone please recommend another company that makes a drone with less software issues please?
Thank you

I'm in your position too. I'm going to wait to see what new stuff they have cooked up and if it's still crap then I'm going to order a Yuneec q500 which has a tablet built in to transmitter eliminating any compatibility issues
 
I just ordered the Phantom 3 pro today but after reading all the issues with the firmware, i better cancel that order until DJI fixes the problems.
I am brand new to this hobby. Would someone please recommend another company that makes a drone with less software issues please?
Thank you
Well .. DJI just fixed things by finally bring out the long awaited and heavily tested firmware.
Despite your anxiety, most Phantom owners have been flying without any serious issues anyway.
Now .. to recommend another company etc etc.
You won't find anything competitive with the Phantom in today's market.
Nothing is competing for price or features. The P3 is so far ahead it's going to be a while before anything comes close.
 
I'm in your position too. I'm going to wait to see what new stuff they have cooked up and if it's still crap ..
If it's still crap?? It's amazing how persuasive a few noisy people in forums can seem.
For the majority of P3 users, happily flying their P3 further than any other drone and with better video and control and the best camera on a ready to fly machine, the P3 hasn't been crap at all.
It's easily the best thing in its market segment.
.. then I'm going to order a Yuneec q500 which has a tablet built in to transmitter eliminating any compatibility issues
Good luck with the huge Yuneec snail.
Probably a good idea to research its pros and cons before putting your $$ down.
 
I did have some stress and problems at beguining,,,,but with less 10 flights im confident on fly high and longer....and i agree with Meta4 post...

Of course, like allways, human error must be taken on the equacion and cannot be taken lightly...
 
If it's still crap?? It's amazing how persuasive a few noisy people in forums can seem.
For the majority of P3 users, happily flying their P3 further than any other drone and with better video and control and the best camera on a ready to fly machine, the P3 hasn't been crap at all.
It's easily the best thing in its market segment.

Good luck with the huge Yuneec snail.
Probably a good idea to research its pros and cons before putting your $$ down.

Well that's exactly what I'm doing, research! By looking at the app reviews and coming on here to ask direct questions to owners I am getting a clear picture that there is currently some real issues with it. I am fully aware that people probably don't comment too much on the good stuff and are extremely vocal with problems but when researching I don't have anything else to go by.

Also, if I do buy the Phantom 3 and it doesn't work then it's probably my fault because I know that the Nexus 6 isn't a supported device and I'll be stuck with a brand new machine that I can't fly properly. I know that in terms a specs there is nothing else that can compete but if I'm constantly hampered by problems and worried to fly then what's the point? All I have said about the Yuneec is that I like the integrated design.

I'm buying in 2 weeks, if people start to post about positive android experiences then I'll go with the P3, I really hope that happens too
 
Also, if I do buy the Phantom 3 and it doesn't work ... but if I'm constantly hampered by problems and worried to fly then what's the point?
If you have those issues, you'll be part of a very small minority who for a whole range of causes have problems with their P3.
if people start to post about positive android experiences then I'll go with the P3
People post every day about positive flight experiences but the noisy negative squawking gets a lot more attention.
Here's one to start you off. After flying since April with a Nexus 7 and no problems (yes some minor glitches but nothing that effected my flights), I updated the firmware this morning and went out and flew 4 batteries and 13.5 km over the ocean, up to 2.7 km offshore.
The experience I've had with the P3 gives me the confidence to do that.
This is a shot I took testing the P3 with new firmware today.
DJI_0303A-L.jpg
 
If you have those issues, you'll be part of a very small minority who for a whole range of causes have problems with their P3.

People post every day about positive flight experiences but the noisy negative squawking gets a lot more attention.
Here's one to start you off. After flying since April with a Nexus 7 and no problems (yes some minor glitches but nothing that effected my flights), I updated the firmware this morning and went out and flew 4 batteries and 13.5 km over the ocean, up to 2.7 km offshore.
The experience I've had with the P3 gives me the confidence to do that.
This is a shot I took testing the P3 with new firmware today.
DJI_0303A-L.jpg

Great shot, I don't deny it's capabilities.
 
Ok, like I also said.. Try to make it compatible with all the different hardware configurations on android to utilize the gpu decoding... Maybe soon but currently not able to do so.

First off...I just want to say that unlike the other guy who was simply being a jerk, I understand that we are just having a discussion and that is fine when two people make actual points with data to back it up.

So anyway...i think we are just not connecting on a certain point. You are saying because of different android phones, it is hard to set the software up right to use GPU decoding. What I am saying is that NONE of that should be needed. The video decoding should be done by the copter/controller themselves, and simply pipe the video feed out to the phones/tablets.

By keeping the video encode/decode channel contained within their own hardware, DJI would eliminate a lot of these compatability issues...and also lower the system requirements for the phones/tablets.

Forcing the phones to do the heavy lifting of video decode (assuming that is what is going on right now) is just NOT the best way to have set this up.
 
If you have those issues, you'll be part of a very small minority who for a whole range of causes have problems with their P3.

People post every day about positive flight experiences but the noisy negative squawking gets a lot more attention.
Here's one to start you off. After flying since April with a Nexus 7 and no problems (yes some minor glitches but nothing that effected my flights), I updated the firmware this morning and went out and flew 4 batteries and 13.5 km over the ocean, up to 2.7 km offshore.
The experience I've had with the P3 gives me the confidence to do that.
This is a shot I took testing the P3 with new firmware today.
DJI_0303A-L.jpg


The shots I take are great..the video is great....I love the copter. But you even say above:

(yes some minor glitches but nothing that effected my flights)

:The point some of us are making is that for $300 I expect that...but for over $1K I dont want MINOR glitches.

And I understand that sometimes that happens, but I have said before if DJI would at LEAST admit they are hearing about these issues...and tell us they are working on it...I would shut my mouth and wait and see what happens. The silence from them is the reason a lot of us are on here being so loud.

I have NO plans to sell mine...i can make it work using the equipment I have access too..but I shouldn't have to MAKE IT WORK.

Having said all that...I plan to sell my phantom 2+ soon and hopefully we will all see some improvement in the phantom 3 platform with more software/firmware updates.
 
There is no doubt that DJI has the best out of the box experience. I appreciated that even more after buying a Solo :)

But the tablet framerate deal is a problem and I hope its resolved soon. I know there are a multitude of guys doing work arounds to get it to fly. The Play Services rollback is the most significant but cripples the tablet for other uses including the map function.

This might be the only thing I found to work better on Solo. Even at 2.1 miles out the video was much smoother than the P3.
 
I run the Android app v1.2 on a Note 3 (4.4.2) and Nexus 7 (5.1.1). Note 3 has a lot of junk on it but still runs the app pretty well. Purchased a used Nexus 7 II off of eBay for cheap because I wanted a larger screen. It works great. The only time I had it crash was after a flight when I tried to exit the program.

For all of those blasting Android, take a look at all the IOS overheating threads. They have their problems too.
 
First off...I just want to say that unlike the other guy who was simply being a jerk, I understand that we are just having a discussion and that is fine when two people make actual points with data to back it up.

So anyway...i think we are just not connecting on a certain point. You are saying because of different android phones, it is hard to set the software up right to use GPU decoding. What I am saying is that NONE of that should be needed. The video decoding should be done by the copter/controller themselves, and simply pipe the video feed out to the phones/tablets.

By keeping the video encode/decode channel contained within their own hardware, DJI would eliminate a lot of these compatability issues...and also lower the system requirements for the phones/tablets.

Forcing the phones to do the heavy lifting of video decode (assuming that is what is going on right now) is just NOT the best way to have set this up.

Unfortunately this is not how it was designed. The controller does to the decoding on the HDMI side but that is it. The app is a USB data stream, you will need something to decode that stream.
 
I run the Android app v1.2 on a Note 3 (4.4.2) and Nexus 7 (5.1.1). Note 3 has a lot of junk on it but still runs the app pretty well. Purchased a used Nexus 7 II off of eBay for cheap because I wanted a larger screen. It works great. The only time I had it crash was after a flight when I tried to exit the program.

For all of those blasting Android, take a look at all the IOS overheating threads. They have their problems too.

Because the note3 has been optimized and is a supported device;)
 
The nexus7 2 is a supported device correct? I still have issues with it...2 different ones.
Correct and is pretty much one of the slowest device you can use, in todays standards. It is what it is, if you want the best performance you will have to get a iOS device. I'm an android guy but have 3 ios tablets, only thing loaded on them are the DJI apps.
 
Unfortunately this is not how it was designed. The controller does to the decoding on the HDMI side but that is it. The app is a USB data stream, you will need something to decode that stream.


And I understand that was not how it was designed. my whole point since the start was that this is the reason it was a dumb decision...designing it the PROPER way would have eliminated these issues.

I don't do programming for android...only PC. But I have some friends that do mobile apps, and they are telling me that this easily could have been set up so the heavy lifting was done by hardware ont he controller/copter and lighten the load on the mobile app. It doesnt HAVE to run the data stream over USB and THEN decode it...the USB set up will allow you to pipe video through the connection at a fast enough rate to not need to have it heavily encoded before hitting the phone.

The other thing I am being told is that even if you DO need to make this decode....they have API's in place to allow the program to offload to the GPU without have to optimize for each individual phone/tablet. This leads me back to the statement that DJI needs to hire better programmers because they are making this harder than it needs to be.
 
Correct and is pretty much one of the slowest device you can use, in todays standards. It is what it is, if you want the best performance you will have to get a iOS device. I'm an android guy but have 3 ios tablets, only thing loaded on them are the DJI apps.

So let me just ask you this then.

Lets just assume I want to forget about all of this and just get the best...lag free...experience I can get on a tablet that is between 7-10 inches and will fit on the phantom 3 controller.

It appears I HAVE to go apple....but can you tell me EXACTLY which one to get so that I know I am 100% getting the most supported, capable device for the phantom 3?
 

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