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Serious Issue with DJI Flight app and iPhone 6 Plus Battery Life
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8684 74 2015-5-24
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mackie1604
lvl.1

United States
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Just got my P3P Friday.

First thing I noticed after my first 10 minute flight was it ate nearly 20% of my iPhone 6 Plus battery.  Weird.

Every flight after (except 1 when the battery started at 100%) it did the same thing (the one that started at 100% only dropped to 90%)

Tonight, I went to the park and was at 26% battery on the phone.  I flew about 4 minutes and it hit 20%, 6 minutes, 10% (I immediately brought it home)

Landed it, phone was at 1%.  WTF!

A passerby I was talking to had a Mac Book Air and I plugged my phone into it.  3 minutes later the phone at 22% charge.  Impossible.

Something with the DJI Flight app is making the phone think the battery is lower than it really is.

This is obviously a huge problem.  Anyone else hit this?  Is it an iOS, Iphone or app version issue?

Thanks,

Jon
2015-5-24
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DJI-Autumn
First Officer

Hong Kong
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I have not heard this problem before. Did anyone with ip6+ have this issue?
If you do not unlock the motors the battery won't drop that fast?

2015-5-24
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mackie1604
lvl.1

United States
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DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-25 11:38
I have not heard this problem before. Did anyone with ip6+ have this issue?
If you do not unlock the ...

I'll have to test that tomorrow.  Turn on the quad and the remote, and let it sit with the camera on.
2015-5-24
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FantomDK
Second Officer

Denmark
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Flying does use a lot of device-battery-power. Remember, your iPhone is hard at work decoding the live videofeed and doing the other things the app does. Might be comparable to playing a heavy 3D game. And since you are out in the sunshine, the screen will be full blast. That can suck up power quite quickly and is something to keep in mind.

iPads (I use and iPad Air) have a larger battery, but you a flight will drain a decent amount of battery as well. I also have an iPhone6 that I sometimes use, and I have not done any measurements, but I would not be surprised if it eats up +20% from a single flight (one battery).

My two cents.
2015-5-24
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kenmasters
lvl.1

Canada
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Perhaps unrelated to your problem, I noticed that if you leave the DJI pilot app on, it will suck the battery life from your device.   It keeps the app running (screen off).  My IPAD was dead in a matter of hours despite not using it.  
2015-5-24
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doublerig
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United States
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DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-25 11:38
I have not heard this problem before. Did anyone with ip6+ have this issue?
If you do not unlock the ...

Hello,
   My iPhone 6+ battery also drops at least 20% per flight, which is quite a bit. I noticed that but thought the app just uses a LOT of power. Should the iPhone be getting a charge from the flight controller? Sometimes it seems to, sometimes not.

Thanks,
David
2015-5-24
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mackie1604
lvl.1

United States
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doublerig@yahoo Posted at 2015-5-25 12:22
Hello,
   My iPhone 6+ battery also drops at least 20% per flight, which is quite a bit. I noticed ...

20% would be fine, if it didn't jump back up after unplugging the device.  I think the drain is not accurate.

I'm going to do some testing tomorrow.
2015-5-24
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aburkefl
First Officer
Flight distance : 78612 ft
United States
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FantomDK Posted at 2015-5-25 12:18
Flying does use a lot of device-battery-power. Remember, your iPhone is hard at work decoding the li ...

I'm using an Android, so I may be "immune" to this power problem, but likely not!

Here's my sequence to start everything up:

Connect S5 to controller.
Take Phantom and controller outside.
Turn on controller
At this point, with the S5 connected, I hear a "power clunk" - the noise it makes when you plug in the power adapter. So, I'm assuming at this point, at least *some* recharge power is going to the S5?
Turn on Phantom
Open Pilot app on S5
Wait for warmup, calibrate compass if necessary, calibrate IMU if required
Once I receive the "ready to fly with GPS" we're ready to fly.

My maximum flight time has been around 15 minutes and I've not noticed any serious power issues with my S5 after a flight of that length.
2015-5-25
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aburkefl
First Officer
Flight distance : 78612 ft
United States
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kenmasters Posted at 2015-5-25 12:21
Perhaps unrelated to your problem, I noticed that if you leave the DJI pilot app on, it will suck th ...

As near as I can tell, the pilot app acts differently than other apps on my phone - at least the apps I'm familiar with.

Most of the other apps will let the screen go blank and continue running in the background. Periodically I have to "clear out" my dad's phone. He'll usually have six or eight apps running and he's totally unaware of it. However....

It appears the pilot app will not blank the screen - it just keeps right on trucking. That has got to be more of a power drainer than normal. On the plus side, I think I'd certainly like to see everything on the pilot app while my phantom is in the air, but, on the negative side, it seems it will suck up far more power than many users are anticipating.

My wife and I love our smart phones. But we're never very far away from power, whether it's a wall plug or a mophie (external power source). If you spend any reasonable time on the web or running a series of apps, your battery will not last a long time.
2015-5-25
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danno1
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Flight distance : 1043150 ft
United States
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I run the app an an iPad mini 2.  I have found that the app does indeed use a ton of power.  In fact I have been an iOS user since the original iPhone came out and I would say this is the most power intensive app I have every used on a regular basis.  As others have commented here though there is A LOT going on so this is not surprising.  

The iOS environment is a very sandboxed world.  There is no way for a non-apple app to mess with the system battery readings.  As far as the quick charging goes Apple devices do charge relatively quickly when the level is below a certain threshold (75% perhaps?) and then becomes more of a trickle charge.  You may also need to calibrate your battery.

How to calibrate an iPhone battery
2015-5-25
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username0099478
Second Officer

United States
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I also use the iPad Mini 2 and it works great for several flights with plenty of battery left. In regards to it jumping back up to 22% in 3 minutes that could be correct, I have a mac book pro and connecting any apple device directly to a computer will actually charge it faster then if you plugged it into the wall.

Are you sure that the Pilot app is the only thing that you have running at the same time??       wifi off??      bluetooth off??
2015-5-25
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magnus
lvl.1

Sweden
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I had this problem earlier to, but i shut Hardware decode off and also iOS auto upload of pictures etc. Since then i have no problem with the battery on my iPhone 6 plus.     
2015-5-25
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jayson
lvl.1

United States
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Turn off video cache in the DJI app.
2015-5-25
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Dataway
lvl.3
Flight distance : 17152 ft
United States
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I have not seen this either, actually when I plugin my iPhone 6 plus it actually shows that it is charging as the icon in the top right corner changes indicating such and after flying a full battery through the P3 I notice only a 1-2% drop in battery but the phone is a bit warm.  I now use an iPad mini 3 and it too is warm and looses about the same percentage after a full flight with the P3P.
2015-5-25
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mackie1604
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United States
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Dataway Posted at 2015-5-25 23:23
I have not seen this either, actually when I plugin my iPhone 6 plus it actually shows that it is ch ...

Thanks all, going to try some of these suggestions.
2015-5-25
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nats
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United States
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jayson Posted at 2015-5-25 22:51
Turn off video cache in the DJI app.

Never understood the video cache thing. do we really need that? Flying my Phantom 3 plus drains my iPhone 6plus big time!!  I will try to turn off video cache and see if that helps? --Im doing some backcountry mt flying next month and concerned with draining IPHONE 6 plus........will try this.....thanks
2015-8-24
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rayrokni
Captain
Flight distance : 8139875 ft
United States
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WOW, so now DJI is responsible for the iphone's battery!!

2015-8-24
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rayrokni
Captain
Flight distance : 8139875 ft
United States
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DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-25 11:38
I have not heard this problem before. Did anyone with ip6+ have this issue?
If you do not unlock the ...

i have 6+ and i t does not have this issue, and if the battery did drain quickly on 6+, why is it DJI problem?
2015-8-24
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w.vanderstraete
New
Flight distance : 33 ft
Belgium
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I have the impression that my iPhone6 is charging the battery of the controller... and not vice versa !!!
2015-10-30
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bahamasboy
Second Officer
Flight distance : 13845 ft
United States
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I fly all the time with an IPhone 6+ and have not had this issue.   After two full flights I'm generally down to 85-90%  Screen on full brightness, auto record to iPhone off, hardware decode on.  Hope you get this worked out.
2015-11-1
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ajinop
lvl.1

United States
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Glad I found this thread I actually had this exact battery issue on my iPhone 6+
Friday I was on a job site with about 48% battery left, while waiting for client I launched the dji app I go to the forum through.
Client arrives I don't close the app. Go inside to do some work and take a few pictures of failed components. Called a tech that had been out previously.
Noticed my phone is now at about 38% battery after about 5 min. Make the call and watch my battery life go 38% -34 -30- 28- 24-20% then phone shuts off. This was less then a two min call.
I was like what's this about... I go put the phone on the charger, phone powers on and says it has 34% but it just died at 20%
I leave the phone on the charger powered off for an hour. Power phone on and now it indicates its at 36% ( 2% charge in a hour???)
Ok so I know something is wrong I set up an appointment with the Apple Store for Saturday.
I kept the phone on the charger most of the day to get to 80% with using the phone time to time.

(SATURDAY)
Arrived for my appointment and the Apple Store tech runs the diagnostics on my phone and shows me the performance and integrity of the battery. ( Battery still is healthy and shows good)
The Apple genius mentioned that there may be an app running that could be consuming large amounts of processing data or power I did realize that I never did shut off my dji app which are used to log into the form.
The tech recommend that I do a clean install and install only the apps I use... I did this but left out the dji app, and so far my phone has run down successfully to 1% and charged back up to 100%.
(Sunday)
So far phone is acting normal I'll install dji app to night and see if anything different happens

I'm not saying that the app is the cause, just interesting that I have had the same problem.

iPhone is on 9.1
RC remote : 1.3.32
Phantom 3P : 1.4.10
App is : 2.4.0

I do have some similar issues like crooked horizon on the cam
The p3p is a lil jittery when it hovers in no wind
It also has the dreaded creep where it moves to the right or left when you fly in a straight line.

I have not updated the bird or remote in fear of having more issues

Not exactly what I expected for $1500 dollars.
I still love it I just hope the bugs get worked out soon .
2015-11-1
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ajinop
lvl.1

United States
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I also noticed some comments about I pads and phones not charging being hooked up
I fly with an iPad Air as well as with the phone.
When you plug in the lightning cable you get the audible prompt like it's charging but if you look at the battery indicator it does not show the charge icon.
Plus after a 15-18 minute flight my iPad Air is hot on the back side...
Maybe the remote does have some parasitic drain on the devices.
2015-11-1
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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I think it is more likely that the Go app is very processor intensive and using up the device battery as a consequence.
2015-11-1
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ajinop
lvl.1

United States
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Geebax Posted at 2015-11-1 16:30
I think it is more likely that the Go app is very processor intensive and using up the device batter ...

That maybe there is a lot of processing going on.
Video
GPSflight time calculations
2015-11-1
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AG0N-Gary
Captain
Flight distance : 700846 ft
United States
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GO is very processor intensive, and has been discussed a lot on the forum.  It is to be expected.  I don't know how the iPhone works, but on Android (Samsung S5), just because you close the program (assuming you do), that does not unload it completely.  You need to go into the task manager (bottom left icon at the bottom of the phone below the active screen) and close all the  apps.  Anything you've had open since the last time, will be there.

GO is a very complex program that does a LOT.  It's no wonder it runs the battery down.  And, regarding keeping the screen going, absolutely.  How would you like to be in the middle of doing something and have it go blank!  No way.  Keep it fired up until the app is closed.
2015-11-1
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lucaviola73
New
Flight distance : 33343 ft
Italy
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I have exactly the same problem with my iphone 6! If I start the flight with full battery on the phone no problem, but if th battery % is below 70% and I connect the phone to the controller and start dji app the battery level goes down so fast that can't be real. Today I started my app with 64% battery on the phone. I switched to no flight mode and there was no other app running. As soon I start flying after calibration and worm up (2min) my phone declared low battery under 10% and after 2 min the phone switched off! So I finished my flight without the phone connected. Than I connected the phone to an external battery ant tourned on and immediatly the battery level was 56%. I detached the external battery and continue to use the phone for the rest of the day: make some calls, surf the web, watched youtube and my battery is 45%. So I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THERE IS SOME ISSUE WITH DJI APP, IPHONE AND PHANTOM 3PRO CONTROLLER: the phone was thinking that the battery was down, but it wasn't. I experienced the same problem even in the training module of the app (and of course the phone was connected to the controller). @DJI: you must investigate and resolve the issue, please. If you want to contact me for fourther details I'll help you.
2016-1-3
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rburke11

United States
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lucaviola73 Posted at 2016-1-3 13:50
I have exactly the same problem with my iphone 6! If I start the flight with full battery on the pho ...

Agree! I posted the other day of this problem. The app and controller is NOT draining the battery but it fools my iPhone into thinking it is drained. I flew this morning with a full charge on my iPhone but after 15 min I was at 10%. I plugged in my charger to my iPhone 6 when I got home and it immediately went to 95%. I disconnected the charger right away and have been using my phone all day without issue.
2016-1-3
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bwaler
First Officer
Flight distance : 3314541 ft
United States
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I have a iPhone 6s Plus and was having the same problem. I attached an external battery to my phone while using the app and haven't had an issue since.
2016-1-3
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chrisivan69
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United States
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rburke11 Posted at 2016-1-3 17:31
Agree! I posted the other day of this problem. The app and controller is NOT draining the battery  ...

Same thing happening on my iPhone 6 , my phone is at 100% then only when go app is up and running my phone shuts and says it needs to charged I plug it in and boom it's at 95% again after just 1 min of being on charged . My phone works flawlessly and never had it do this except with Dji go app . Also getting bad RC signal that drops out after drone is only about 100 ft away . Then once it drops it won't get back to 100% signal until I'm 3 ft away from drone . What is going on ? A virus ? Just so strange to me that all this is happening when my drone has just been sitting on a shelf for a month . No crash no damage just updated firmware and app as it says to and now all these problems . Any one have a fix ? I've spent days trying everything I can read on these forums and have given up . If u got a fix or experiencing same thing please let me know Thanks !
2016-1-3
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lucaviola73
New
Flight distance : 33343 ft
Italy
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bwaler Posted at 2016-1-4 04:21
I have a iPhone 6s Plus and was having the same problem. I attached an external battery to my phone  ...

I would like to do the same, but don't know how to do this because my phone is already connected to the controller via lightning - usb cable. How do you do?
2016-1-4
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The Bat Drone
lvl.3

United Kingdom
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When I fly I just plug in a portable charger, I believe there is a problem with the app but again it eats up your processors as there's a lot to do. Go on Amazon and get a cheap charger, mine was £20 and can charge a iPhone 6, six times and I've not had an issue yet
2016-1-4
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Monopdrone
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Flight distance : 995531 ft
United States
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The Bat Drone Posted at 2016-1-4 20:40
When I fly I just plug in a portable charger, I believe there is a problem with the app but again it ...

I notice the same thing after updating my standard's software on 1/3/16.  I have not had the issue before, but after the upgrade yesterday it ate my phone's battery.  I started with 50% battery and had to land after dropping to near zero in 6-7 minutes.  I thought perhaps I looked at it wrong so I charged my phone battery to 50% and took another flight.  The result was the same.  It must be something in the latest update from 1/3 that is eating the battery.  
2016-1-4
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The Bat Drone
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United Kingdom
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Monopdrone Posted at 2016-1-4 12:57
I notice the same thing after updating my standard's software on 1/3/16.  I have not had the issue ...

I did 4 flights over two days last week and I checked my battery % on the phone and it said DJI GO had used 70% off better power in last 24 hours !! So at this time the app is eating crazy amounts of battery but untill this is fixed or reduced, please get a portable charger that can just sit in your flight bag/case along with a cable and you'll be fine
2016-1-4
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Monopdrone
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Flight distance : 995531 ft
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The Bat Drone Posted at 2016-1-4 07:08
I did 4 flights over two days last week and I checked my battery % on the phone and it said DJI GO ...

I flew for 20 minutes in the last 24 hours and it accounts for 50% of my battery usage.  
2016-1-4
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DrACE
lvl.4

United States
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Its a phone issue, not a DJI issue.
2016-1-4
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Monopdrone
lvl.4
Flight distance : 995531 ft
United States
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DrACE Posted at 2016-1-4 09:34
Its a phone issue, not a DJI issue.

Could very well be.  Needs to be fixed regardless.  
2016-1-4
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The Bat Drone
lvl.3

United Kingdom
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DrACE Posted at 2016-1-4 15:34
Its a phone issue, not a DJI issue.

You can't just blame the phone, it worked perfectly well before the app. The GO app is the one that tells the phone how much power it needs and there needs to be a balance between the programming. The phone also shouldn't  just chuck power at the app either. However as much as I love DJI they are not 'Pefect'

You can't just blame everything else. However if you have some knowledge or evidence to back that please share
2016-1-4
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Monopdrone
lvl.4
Flight distance : 995531 ft
United States
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The Bat Drone Posted at 2016-1-4 10:48
You can't just blame the phone, it worked perfectly well before the app. The GO app is the one tha ...

And it really doesn't matter to me what is causing it - the app or the phone.  Either way my phone battery is draining.  Since DJI makes the app and Apple makes the phone, the two should talk.  Probably 40% of all DJI users interface with an Apple product, so DJI might want to call Apple and discuss the problem.  ie, regardless of whose fault it is, DJI suffers much more than Apple.  
2016-1-4
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The Bat Drone
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United Kingdom
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Monopdrone Posted at 2016-1-4 20:52
And it really doesn't matter to me what is causing it - the app or the phone.  Either way my phone ...

This true, I'm sure it's being looked into but beware of updates just incase it comes with GEOFENCING haha
2016-1-4
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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"The GO app is the one that tells the phone how much power it needs and there needs to be a balance between the programming. The phone also shouldn't  just chuck power at the app either. However as much as I love DJI they are not 'Pefect' "

This demonstrates a complete lack of understanding about the way a computing device works. The app DOES NOT tell the phone anything about how much power it needs and the phone does NOT 'chuck' power at the app. The processes going on in the app are very processor intensive, and they need to be in order to provide you with the features you require. The simple fact is the iPhone is not a very good video processing device, the iPads are much better at this task, and if you want to use an iPhone as your display device, then be prepared to back up its power supply with an external supply. It is NOT DJI's fault, your phone is a wimp.
2016-1-4
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