A couple of weeks ago, my Mavic Mini (or the remote controller?) stopped creating cached video. When I open the Album in the DJI Fly app, the DJI Fly folder is empty. I see the icon that I can tap to download files from the aircraft, but there are no low-resolution videos in the folder. When I tap "Download", I just get the 2.7k videos from the drone.

I had heard that the cached video is also stored on the micro-SD card in the "MISC \ THM" folder. The folder is there, but it is empty. In the DJI Fly app, caching is switched on and the cached size is set to 16GB.

I tried re-formatting the micro-SD card in the aircraft. I also tried deleting all folders on the card and then re-formatting it again. I have also re-installed the Fly app on my phone. I have flown each time after making a change, but with no luck.

It is important to me to have access to the cached video so that I can replay it and retrieve my drone if it goes down somewhere. The video would also let me determine the areas where the transmitted video quality degrades and the signal between the aircraft and remote controller are weaker.

I will be very grateful for any help or suggestions.

My files are in DJI/dji.go.v5/DJI Fly/video on the phone

I don't think the cached video is stored on the SD card because the cached video is actually generated by the iPhone and has the telemetry info overlaid.

Deucalion Posted at 5-23 20:00
I don't think the cached video is stored on the SD card because the cached video is actually generated by the iPhone and has the telemetry info overlaid.

The cached video is generated by the aircraft, it is the exact same video you see on your phone during the flight.

GaryDoug Posted at 5-23 18:35
My files are in DJI/dji.go.v5/DJI Fly/video on the phone

Thank you GaryDoug. I have that exact folder on my phone (a Google Pixel 3a), but the folder is empty. Nothing gets saved there after a flight. Unfortunately, that's the problem I'm having.

Geebax Posted at 5-23 21:00
The cached video is generated by the aircraft, it is the exact same video you see on your phone during the flight.

Yes, I had heard that cached video is stored in both DJI/dji.go.v5/DJI Fly/video on the phone as well as in MISC/THM on the SD card. Sadly, the cached video is not being saved to either location (or not being generated in the first place). I wonder whether there is a compatibility issue with the Google Pixel 3a phone, or whether I should purchase and try a different micro SD card. The card is a Lexar 633x, which is in the list of recommended cards in the Mavic Mini user manual, but I wonder whether a card with a higher data transfer rate would work better.

Geebax Posted at 5-23 21:00
The cached video is generated by the aircraft, it is the exact same video you see on your phone during the flight.

I think you misunderstand, and this is probably the OP's issue as well. CACHED means stored. Of course the video from the drone camera originates on the drone (cause that is where the camera is), but the drone stores the original HIRES version on the drone's SD card, and sends a LORES version to the phone (because the HIRES version would be too much to transmit). The phone takes this LORES version and adds the telemetry overlay data and stores that on the phone.

I would stop calling it CACHED video, and just call it the LORES video stream sent to the phone.

djiuser_Id4HhokCTfrJ Posted at 5-24 05:36
Yes, I had heard that cached video is stored in both DJI/dji.go.v5/DJI Fly/video on the phone as well as in MISC/THM on the SD card. Sadly, the cached video is not being saved to either location (or not being generated in the first place). I wonder whether there is a compatibility issue with the Google Pixel 3a phone, or whether I should purchase and try a different micro SD card. The card is a Lexar 633x, which is in the list of recommended cards in the Mavic Mini user manual, but I wonder whether a card with a higher data transfer rate would work better.

Have you checked the settings in your app on the phone? Also, on an iPhone you have to give the app permission to use the photos folder to store the videos. Maybe there is something similar in Android?

Deucalion Posted at 5-24 05:57
Have you checked the settings in your app on the phone? Also, on an iPhone you have to give the app permission to use the photos folder to store the videos. Maybe there is something similar in Android?

Thank you Deucalion. Yes, Android has similar settings. DJI Fly does have access to the device location and storage.

I thought it would be a good idea to update this post to show the outcome for DJI drone users who may come across the issue in the future. The problem is with my new phone. Previously, I used a Google Pixel 2XL and I replaced it with a Pixel 3a. I figured that, since DJI lists the 2XL and 3XL as being compatible, the 3a must also work since it is just a smaller version in the series. Not so! The low resolution video does not get saved on the 3a! I ended up getting the 2XL repaired and everything works again. Now, my old Pixel 2XL is exclusively used as my "drone phone".

djiuser_Id4HhokCTfrJ Posted at 5-24 05:26
Thank you GaryDoug. I have that exact folder on my phone (a Google Pixel 3a), but the folder is empty. Nothing gets saved there after a flight. Unfortunately, that's the problem I'm having.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the app permissions on your new phone. They might not allow the saving of image/video files as they are set now.

Ooooops. I did not read the posts above. Sorry for the duplication.

Deucalion Posted at 5-24 05:57
Have you checked the settings in your app on the phone? Also, on an iPhone you have to give the app permission to use the photos folder to store the videos. Maybe there is something similar in Android?

Yes, I understood it perfectly. But you said:

Deucalion Posted at 5-23 20:00
I don't think the cached video is stored on the SD card because the cached video is actually generated by the iPhone...

Geebax Posted at 5-24 14:01
Yes, I understood it perfectly. But you said:

Deucalion Posted at 5-23 20:00

Well, i was refering to the act of adding the overlay and caching (storing), which is the phone's doing.

Hello there. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. Have you tried using a different mobile device to check if the issue will still persist? For reference I will post the list of recommended mobile device for the DJI Mavic Mini. Thank you.

Hello DJI Stephen,

I did try using a different device. I had switched to the Pixel 3a after my Pixel 2XL was broken. I decided to get my 2XL repaired and then I tried it with the same settings. It works perfectly.

I think we can conclude that the Google Pixel 3a is not fully compatible with the DJI Fly app.It does seem to work fine except for the saving of cached video. I wonder whether the Pixel 3a will only save to specific folders/locations in internal storage and does not grant permissions for the folders that DJI Fly tries to create and write to.

As a super moderator, do you have any influence with DJI? I wonder whether the problem could be addressed if the Fly app allowed the user to override and set the location/folder in which cached video could be stored. It might be useful if DJI could determine whether the folder location/permissions is the issue with the 3a and modify the app accordingly.

Anyway, it's all okay now. I have a Pixel 3a as my personal phone and a Pixel 2XL as my dedicated drone control device!

Thank you for the follow-up. Much appreciated.

I have the same issue with Mini 2 and iPhone SE 2020  once I click Download  --- it goes directly to full res download ( there is no other options to choose)

Just curious if you are still able to get "Low resolution" videos sent to your phone.. from what I have gathered that after DJI Fly App 1.5.4 it does not work.

This was a very important featured that appears to have been removed.

My last flight was on January 23, 2022. I just had a look and there IS a saved low-res video of the flight. My original problem was with the specific type of phone I was using (Google Pixel 3a). The problem hasn't occurred again since I switched back to my previous phone (Google Pixel 2XL).

Kayak Rob Posted at 3-9 04:00
Just curious if you are still able to get "Low resolution" videos sent to your phone.. from what I have gathered that after DJI Fly App 1.5.4 it does not work.

This was a very important featured that appears to have been removed.

My last flight was on January 23, 2022. I just had a look and there IS a saved low-res video of the flight. My original problem was with the specific type of phone I was using (Google Pixel 3a). The problem hasn't occurred again since I switched back to my previous phone (Google Pixel 2XL).

Had the same issue. Air 2S using Tripltek (Android 10). When I set my cache to "Auto" my device started recording the low res files. Don't know if I understand why, but it IS working now. Happiness and joy reign throughout the land.