Word on the street is that the API is out and that there is a Litchi beta (on iOS) - anyone checked it out?

Hi. Thank you for reaching out to DJI Forum. With regards to this matter. The DJI Mavic Mini SDK was recently released. You may want to check this post created by one of our valued DJI co pilots regarding this matter from this link. Thank you.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-4 21:33
True but prepare to be disappointed.   No Waypoint or Orbit support in the Mini SDK.

But there's waypoint and orbit support in Dronelink, which uses the SDK but does all the work in the app.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-5 09:06
Yes, but it isn't the same.  DroneLink is using "Air Sticks".  It's like recording the stick inputs, then playing them back & sending the commands to the drone.  This requires more than simply sending stick inputs.  It also must keep accurate track of where the drone ends up in 3D space in regards to those inputs.   This will change with each flight, depending on winds & weather.  How sophisticated or reliable "Air Sticks" will be in actual use is unknown?

The bottom line is unlike Litchi, which uploads a full flight plan to the aircraft which is then executed completely autonomously, Air Sticks will require constant RC contact to the aircraft.  This means it lacks the versatility of true Waypoint flights & severely limits what is possible.

Bit disappointing about no waypoint and orbit support.  However, I really appreciate the information you provided on "Air Sticks".

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-4 21:33
True but prepare to be disappointed.   No Waypoint or Orbit support in the Mini SDK.

That's too bad, but not entirely unexpected.  

Nice hat btw ;)

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-5 09:06
Yes, but it isn't the same.  DroneLink is using "Air Sticks".  It's like recording the stick inputs, then playing them back & sending the commands to the drone.  This requires more than simply sending stick inputs.  It also must keep accurate track of where the drone ends up in 3D space in response to those inputs.   This will change with each flight, depending on winds & weather.  How sophisticated or reliable "Air Sticks" will be in actual use is unknown?

The bottom line is unlike Litchi, which uploads a full flight plan to the aircraft which is then executed completely autonomously, Air Sticks will require constant RC contact to the aircraft.  This means it lacks the versatility of true Waypoint flights & severely limits what is possible.

Without even going into the legality of flying your drone out of contact, I think the bottom line is that if you want a waypoint/mission capability for your Mini, Dronelink is the only option (and it works, according to many posts on other forums).

vortex19 Posted at 8-6 04:42
Without even going into the legality of flying your drone out of contact, I think the bottom line is that if you want a waypoint/mission capability for your Mini, Dronelink is the only option (and it works, according to many posts on other forums).

Drone link is using Virtual Sticks just like Litchi and others, the difference is Litchi uses the SDK for way-points which are stored on the Drone for Remote flight.

Drone link Requires an Active Connection to the mini in order to use way-points.

Litchi has said it will not be available at release but they should have support for "Virtual Stick" Orbit/Way-points in the future.


You can manually Orbit an object using the Focus mode.

ABeardedItalian Posted at 8-6 04:50
Drone link is using Virtual Sticks just like Litchi and others, the difference is Litchi uses the SDK for way-points which are stored on the Drone for Remote flight.

Drone link Requires an Active Connection to the mini in order to use way-points.

The virtual sticks method is the only way to get the Mini to carry out a waypoint mission. If Litchi subsequently includes a similar waypoint capability for the Mini, it will also need an active connection to the drone because that's how the virtual sticks system works.

Dronelink has the waypoint capability now and it seems to work well from my limited testing. So far, the only thing the Litchi beta appears to offer for the Mini which isn't available with Dronelink is a follow-me capability.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-6 04:51
I'll just use one of my other drones that's capable of true Waypoint flight & relegate the Mini to "Fun Flyer" status.  Maybe rename my Mini to "Gimpy".

You seem to be expecting the Mini to be able to do something that it was never designed for and then blaming it (and DJI) when it can't.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-7 08:28
I don't believe it was an unreasonable expectation that the Mini would support Waypoint flight once the SDK was released.  Just as did the ancient, inferior tech, of the P2 & P3 Standard from years ago.  Just like the Phamtom 4, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, & Mavic 2 all support Waypont mode.  I'll wager Mavic Air 2 owners are expecting Waypoint support to come as well.

I'm not certain if the lack of Waypoint support for the Mini is actually a hardware limitation, or an arbitrary decision by DJI?  Despite its diminutive size, there is no reason to believe the Mini is less capable of Waypoint mode than a P2 or P3 Standard.

There’s equally no reason to believe that the Mini IS capable of waypoint mode. You’re just making an assumption without having any real evidence. There may not be enough on-board memory to store waypoints or there could some legitimate technical reason. Outside of DJI, no one actually knows for sure what the Mini is actually capable of. I’m not a big conspiracy theorist so I can’t help thinking that if waypoints were easy to implement on the Mini, DJI would have done so - it’s easy to think that this is some sort of plot against their customers but I personally don’t think that’s the case. A real waypoint mode would be great but I bought the Mini knowing this was not an advertised feature so I don’t miss it. Dronelink gives me a good (not perfect) alternative for the rare times I would genuinely need that capability.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-13 10:11
True, I don't know the technical details of the Mini's onboard memory, but the tiny chip within a MicroSD card can store a terabyte.   A chip's mass doesn't change whether it stores 256 megabytes or a terabyte, so it's not like they had to skimp on memory to make it under 249 grams.  

It is doubtful DJI gave the Mini just enough memory to store the firmware, NFZ database, & flightlogs.  Surely it has at least as much free available RAM & storage as did a Phantom 2 or Phantom 3 Standard, both of which easily handle waypoints.  Then there's the fact we're all flying around with gigabytes of readily accessible portable storage available on the MicroSD card.

"Surely it has at least as much free available RAM & storage as did a Phantom 2 or Phantom 3 Standard, both of which easily handle waypoints".

Again, we don't know this for a fact. It may be that the Mini has a custom chip with less on-board memory. It's easy to make DJI out to be the villain by deliberately limiting the Mini's features but without the facts it's nothing more than pure speculation.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-14 06:25
And the memory card, with gigabytes of directly accessible  storage, we're all flying around with?

And we know, for a fact, that the required data could be stored on the card? The hardware/firmware is definitely capable of doing this (specifically with waypoint data)? If the answer to either of these questions is not an unequivacol yes, then there’s no point speculating about it.

Dirty Bird Posted at 8-14 07:54
The Mini hardware is unequivocally capable of reading, writing, & direct accessing MicroSD storage on demand.   I'll make an educated guess it is also capable of loading firmware from the card as well, just like it's predecessors.  Honestly there is no need for the card as Waypoint mission files are small & do not consume much memory.  The point is, the card is there so a lack of available storage is not the issue.

No one is disputing that the Mini can access the MicroSD card. The fact remains that you’re still guessing about it having the capability of it loading the relevant data from the card - you don’t actually know for sure. There’s no point arguing about waypoints without having evidence (with real, undisputed facts) that the hardware is capable of doing this.