I saw a video where the guy has a usb connected to his tablet.  Do you they have to be connected like that or is it more like the phantom 2 vision+?

You will need to have the device connected to the controller to use any of the features contained within the app. This is actually a great thing because it increases reliability and gives a more reliable light bridge connection to the drone rather than wifi which can be temperamental. If your OCD like me they sell short Usb and Lightning cables to clean up the back of the controller