This is my first drone and I'm learning a lot from this forum. So far my flights have been mostly low and slow, figuring out the fundamentals of flying, and the Mini has performed quite well. Today I noticed an oddity in the app though. The compass display just wasn't available. I landed, swiped up the app to kill it, restarted it, and took off again. All was well for the rest of the flight. On a later flight, I got a breif compass not available (red symbol with the backslash), but it came back. I looked down a bit later and no compass at all. No red error, just wasn't there. I landed again, killed the app, and it came back.

My question is does the compass just go away from the display if it is not working for a certain amount of time, or is this an app bug? The drone works fine and I can see its orientation in the map view. I know this is just  the phone compass, but I like having it if I lose sight of the drone. I have an  iPhone 11 Pro and am flying in airplane mode. I do have city power lines close by. I have a tiny city lot and it is hard to get too far from them.

Thanks in advance.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-26 16:35
Did you have the map open?  If I recall the orientation display disappears when the map is open.

Thanks. That is correct. It does in map view. I just lose it in camera view. I'm pretty sure it is an app bug, but want to make sure it is not user error.

The compass has never worked at all for me so far.
I saw it in a lot of different videos, that this seems to be very often the case.
I would recommend you to get used to use the Map in the bottom left instead on relying to the compass. I also saw quite a few times that the compass maybe showed something but "hopped" around or showed up a complete wrong direction and stuff like that.
I think the safest way is really the map and the orientation-arrow.

Mizzu Posted at 1-26 20:36
The compass has never worked at all for me so far.
I saw it in a lot of different videos, that this seems to be very often the case.
I would recommend you to get used to use the Map in the bottom left instead on relying to the compass. I also saw quite a few times that the compass maybe showed something but "hopped" around or showed up a complete wrong direction and stuff like that.

Thanks.  I've seen several videos where it is completely off too. Mine has worked up to this point and you  are probably right to rely on the map instead. Just quite strange that it disappears  off my screen until I restart the app. It's a nice indicator,  but not essential. I haven't lost visual on the drone yet, but thought  it would be helpful  to have.

dark13star Posted at 1-26 20:42
Thanks.  I've seen several videos where it is completely off too. Mine has worked up to this point and you  are probably right to rely on the map instead. Just quite strange that it disappears  off my screen until I restart the app. It's a nice indicator,  but not essential. I haven't lost visual on the drone yet, but thought  it would be helpful  to have.

Yes. Maybe they will fix this in an update. When i get my compass working (some day i guess ^^) i will report if i got the same bug like you.

Mizzu Posted at 1-26 20:49
Yes. Maybe they will fix this in an update. When i get my compass working (some day i guess ^^) i will report if i got the same bug like you.

Are you using airplane mode? I find if I accidentally leave it off, I get the red notice. That is different from just losing the visual all together though.

dark13star Posted at 1-26 21:02
Are you using airplane mode? I find if I accidentally leave it off, I get the red notice. That is different from just losing the visual all together though.

Mh, no, I also thought that I accidentally enabled Airplane Mode, but it doesn't work even if I turned on everything. I also recalibrated my Compass, no success. Maybe my Phone isn't perfectly compatible with the App (Xperia XZ1 Compact), since I also got some Graphics Glitches at the right side of my Screen when using the App.

Mizzu Posted at 1-26 22:10
Mh, no, I also thought that I accidentally enabled Airplane Mode, but it doesn't work even if I turned on everything. I also recalibrated my Compass, no success. Maybe my Phone isn't perfectly compatible with the App (Xperia XZ1 Compact), since I also got some Graphics Glitches at the right side of my Screen when using the App.

In iPhone when I switch on airplane mode I get the red icon no connection to compass, but if I switch on only bluetooth in my iPhone and leave the network and wifi off I get back the compass on the bottom of the DJI Fly app.

Since updating to 1.00.0400, I don't get the compass thing on my Samsung Note 8.  No red warning, just no compass indicator gadget at all.

Maybe it's not just me.  But maybe It's a setting.

I normally fly with the phone in airplane mode, but that never made the compass disappear before 1.00.0400.

Ok, looks like I am not the only one seeing this. I hope they fix it.

MB Dronie, I leave bluetooth on too.

Hi. Thank you for reaching out to DJI Forum. With regards to this concern. The Aircraft Orientation icon on the middle bottom part of the screen will turn red if the DJI Fly application is lacking enough GPS information from both the DJI Mavic Mini and the mobile device. It notifies the user that DJI Fly application does not have enough reliable information in order to present the normal indication. Thank you.

DJI Paladin Posted at 1-27 11:37
Hi. Thank you for reaching out to DJI Forum. With regards to this concern. The Aircraft Orientation icon on the middle bottom part of the screen will turn red if the DJI Fly application is lacking enough GPS information from both the DJI Mavic Mini and the mobile device. It notifies the user that DJI Fly application does not have enough reliable information in order to present the normal indication. Thank you.

What I'm getting is NO orientation display at all.  It just isn't there.

Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused. With regards to this concern, kindly please back up your DJI Fly files and uninstall and reinstall the said application. If issue still persists, please try a different compatible mobile device to isolate the issue. After these troubleshooting steps and the issue still persists, kindly please provide a sample photo of the said issue. Please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

I’ve experienced the same problems never has the orientation appeared at all re installed app did nothing

Mizzu Posted at 2020-1-26 20:36
The compass has never worked at all for me so far.
I saw it in a lot of different videos, that this seems to be very often the case.
I would recommend you to get used to use the Map in the bottom left instead on relying to the compass. I also saw quite a few times that the compass maybe showed something but "hopped" around or showed up a complete wrong direction and stuff like that.

The compass is in the phone. If the compass sensor is on the side closest to the controller it can distort compass readings as magnets in the controller (speaker  I think). It's just one of those things. Separate your controller from the phone (one of those mounts) and it could solve the issue. Some fliers have it some don't just depends on your phone and setup. Still annoying though :-(

dark13star Posted at 2020-1-26 19:08
Thanks. That is correct. It does in map view. I just lose it in camera view. I'm pretty sure it is an app bug, but want to make sure it is not user error.

I have exactly the same issue, it used to show on my iPhone 12 but not now

I’ve got the same problem with my Air2. The directional icon worked for first 30-40 flights then disappeared.

I have just bought a Mavic Mini 2 and I'm having the same problem, the orientation display is missing.
I have tried installing and reinstalling the app but still not showing up.

I'm using an iPhone 7.

edit...........

I think it's the "said" version of the dji fly app that is the problem.. I used the original app version to start with my mini and the compass icon worked perfect, as soon as I downloaded the new app version with my mini 2 1.2.1 I think it was the compass was there but would be flopping around like when the drone is straight in front of me the compass was pointing the other direction..
I just downloaded the new version 1.3.0 thinking that must solve the compass problem but this time there was no compass at all.. so new app versions seem to be going backwards on fixing glitches just looking at the compass alone.. although I must say with this new version the drone does not stray away and flies more smooth and quieter, also battery lasted 23 minutes right down to 20 % and before I was getting 19 - 21 minutes max.

PauBass Posted at 2-5 09:07
I have just bought a Mavic Mini 2 and I'm having the same problem, the orientation display is missing.
I have tried installing and reinstalling the app but still not showing up.

The orientation display is no longer supported in new versions of the dji fly app. Though an "upgraded" version of it is in the lower left section of the screen. You press the map icon to swtich between map view or compass/orientation view

djiuser_sscKFYI3NXiD Posted at 4-4 13:43
I think it's the "said" version of the dji fly app that is the problem.. I used the original app version to start with my mini and the compass icon worked perfect, as soon as I downloaded the new app version with my mini 2 1.2.1 I think it was the compass was there but would be flopping around like when the drone is straight in front of me the compass was pointing the other direction..
I just downloaded the new version 1.3.0 thinking that must solve the compass problem but this time there was no compass at all.. so new app versions seem to be going backwards on fixing glitches just looking at the compass alone.. although I must say with this new version the drone does not stray away and flies more smooth and quieter, also battery lasted 23 minutes right down to 20 % and before I was getting 19 - 21 minutes max.

Yeah the drone is now in the same place where the map is. You have to switch between the two.