Hello everyone I`m new to the forum and not to sure if this has been asked before. can anyone tell me if I need cellular or none celluar ipad to use with my mavic air 2.

was thinking of getting an Ipad mini 5. would be really appreciated if anyone could help.. Thanks

Either will work. The controller connects to the Ipad Mini. The only connection the IPad Mini needs is wifi at some point to check firmware and and updates to the App. Wifi and/or cellular are not required to fly the drone.

fans343d235f Posted at 6-14 03:38
Either will work. The controller connects to the Ipad Mini. The only connection the IPad Mini needs is wifi at some point to check firmware and and updates to the App. Wifi and/or cellular are not required to fly the drone.

hello
could I use my iphone 11 and create an hotspot for the ipad ?.. I was thinking don`t I need the maps for the ipad.. thanks

You don't need cellular when flying the drone and leaving wifi on whilst in flight interferes with the signal. So switch off wifi and bluetooth before take off. You can leave cellular running but the only benefit of that is that you don't need to cache the map before heading out. Many just turn on airplane mode which also switches off cellular. You will only ever need wifi when activating the drone and updating firmware at home.

A J Posted at 6-14 04:55
You don't need cellular when flying the drone and leaving wifi on whilst in flight interferes with the signal. So switch off wifi and bluetooth before take off. You can leave cellular running but the only benefit of that is that you don't need to cache the map before heading head out. Many just turn on airplane mode which also switches off cellular. You will only ever need wifi when activating the drone and updating firmware at home.

That`s really good to know, thanks for info...

But the only wifi version jot have integratore GPS...It Will works?

Hello there Tez4UK. Thank you for reaching out and for choosing DJI. I would recommend you to use a recommended mobile device for compatibility and reliability purposes. I will post a link where in you can check the list of recommended mobile devices for the DJI Mavic Air 2 ( https://www.dji.com/mavic-air-2/downloads ). In addition you, will be needing an internet when updating your DJI Fly application. It is recommended to put your mobile device on airplane mode while flying it would lessen the interference like receiving calls and text messages while on flight. In addition it is not necessary to put your device in airplane mode but please make sure there is no such calls/text message or any notification that will interrupt you when using your device while flying your DJI Drone. Thank you and have a safe flight always.

djiuser_fKJ9YVPQjmDz Posted at 6-14 23:07
But the only wifi version jot have integratore GPS...It Will works?

The aircraft has its own GPS, it does not need the one in your iPad.

Geebax Posted at 6-15 00:55
The aircraft has its own GPS, it does not need the one in your iPad.

But the icon ti see the direction of the drones work?

I find having GPS in the device useful for setting a new home point to the device's current location.  I don't use it that often, so not sure if its really worth the extra money for it, but I use device with GPS for that reason.  You do not need to activate the cellular data though.

A J Posted at 6-14 04:55
You don't need cellular when flying the drone and leaving wifi on whilst in flight interferes with the signal. So switch off wifi and bluetooth before take off. You can leave cellular running but the only benefit of that is that you don't need to cache the map before heading out. Many just turn on airplane mode which also switches off cellular. You will only ever need wifi when activating the drone and updating firmware at home.

A J,

How do cache the map?
DJI Go 4 app supported off-line maps but DJI Fly does not.

Mirek

Mirek L Posted at 6-15 08:08
A J,

How do cache the map?

I leave cellular running so never needed to cache maps.

A J Posted at 6-15 08:10
I leave cellular running so never needed to cache maps.

Yes - me too. I tried to enquire but nobody, so far, was able to give me a good answer.
I don't know if this is possible.

I requested DJI to add off-line maps function to DJI Fly: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=216584

It is very awkward if you are travelling and may not have data coverage or there may be roaming charges.

It is also not right for DJI to suggest turning off cellular access while flying without providing a method to cache off-line maps.

Mirek

Mirek L Posted at 6-15 08:27
Yes - me too. I tried to enquire but nobody, so far, was able to give me a good answer.
I don't know if this is possible.

I agree - I have always left cellular running on every flight I've made with no issues in the signal just to have that satellite detail in the Maps which comes in very handy when flying in unfamiliar areas.

One of the reason for needing the cellular antenna is it allows you to reset your RTH point when your flying.

Lets say you are on a boat and you take off from the boat. The home point will be recorded at that location. Then someone starts to move the boat and now you are no longer at your RTH point. With the cellular antenna you can update your RTH during the flight which you can't do on standard WiFi.

HurleyBird Productions Posted at 6-15 09:11
One of the reason for needing the cellular antenna is it allows you to reset your RTH point when your flying.

Lets say you are on a boat and you take off from the boat. The home point will be recorded at that location. Then someone starts to move the boat and now you are no longer at your RTH point. With the cellular antenna you can update your RTH during the flight which you can't do on standard WiFi.

Updating the home point has nothing to do with cellular versus wifi.  It has to do if the device has GPS or not.  It turns out in Apple Ipads, only the cellular devices have a GPS, so they are sort-of related for ipads only - but that is an Apple design and not how you update the home point.  You don't ever have to activate or use cellular data to update the home point.

JEZ2 Posted at 6-15 10:08
Updating the home point has nothing to do with cellular versus wifi.  It has to do if the device has GPS or not.  It turns out in Apple Ipads, only the cellular devices have a GPS, so they are sort-of related for ipads only - but that is an Apple design and not how you update the home point.  You don't ever have to activate or use cellular data to update the home point.

Yes you don't have to activate the cellular data on the iPad but the iPad needs to have the cellular chip in it. If you had a WiFi only tablet you could not reset the home point mid flight unless you were using your cell phone as a hot spot which is not recommended during flying.

HurleyBird Productions Posted at 6-16 07:32
Yes you don't have to activate the cellular data on the iPad but the iPad needs to have the cellular chip in it. If you had a WiFi only tablet you could not reset the home point mid flight unless you were using your cell phone as a hot spot which is not recommended during flying.

Using another phone as a hot spot will not give a device without GPS a GPS signal and would not help.  The device needs to have a GPS.  As you correctly noted, apple devices without cellular will not have a GPS device.  Android devices without cellular may or may not have one (many do).

Mirek L Posted at 6-15 08:27
Yes - me too. I tried to enquire but nobody, so far, was able to give me a good answer.
I don't know if this is possible.

Offline maps download has been there on Andriod DJI Go4 for a long time.  Apple for some reason won't allow similar features for iOS so you are stuck with the map cache fudge

Andy Uk Posted at 6-16 11:59
Offline maps download has been there on Andriod DJI Go4 for a long time.  Apple for some reason won't allow similar features for iOS so you are stuck with the map cache fudge

If I only knew how to do "map cache fudge" :-)
People are referring to it but nobody seems to know how to cache map for future use :-(.

Mirek

You literally  have to open maps in the app and scroll and zoom around the area you are interested in forcing the map tiles to download to the device. Inlike the andriod function it is not perfect and the cache can be wiped in some scenarios but I have never consistently found out which ones e.g. device power off etc