Pardon me if this has been answered, but after searching with various keywords I was unable to find topics regarding my inquiry:  My Mavic Air 2 flys very well with my iPhone 8S, but I'd like to use the larger screen on my iPad Pro. Can you fly the Mavic Air 2 with an iPad without cellular service and still have GPS and maps? My iPad Pro does not have cellular service, so I am not sure how I would access GPS or maps when away from WiFi service. At home I have access to WiFi, so satellites and maps appear on my iPad Pro. However I expect that once I am away from WiFi I will not have access to GPS or maps. I don't want to make a stupid newby mistake and put my drone (or people) at risk, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many people fly with iPads that lack cellular capability, you lose maps, you lose the ability to self-verify geofencing restricted flight in the field, live streaming, possibly some other stuff. For some folks none of that is a drawback, others use their cellphone as a wifi hotspot when supported as a workaround, or cache maps before arriving at the flight site. Hope this helps.

Ex Machina Posted at 10-11 09:59
Many people fly with iPads that lack cellular capability, you lose maps, you lose the ability to self-verify geofencing restricted flight in the field, live streaming, possibly some other stuff. For some folks none of that is a drawback, others use their cellphone as a wifi hotspot when supported as a workaround, or cache maps before arriving at the flight site. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the prompt and detailed reply! I've seen many videos showing the MA2 with iPads, but none mention what you risk without having cellular capability. As a new flyer, I'm thinking the loss of maps is a big risk.

I'm still not clear if there is any GPS functionality when flying with an iPad that doesn't have cellular capacity. Does the Return To Home feature rely on GPS?

hello
I asked the same question a while ago and got some good feedback try this link. hope it helps.

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=218021

Tez4UK Posted at 10-11 10:16
hello
I asked the same question a while ago and got some good feedback try this link. hope it helps.

Thanks so much for this link. Lots of good (albeit it some conflicting) information. From what I gather, it appears that cellular service benefits are mainly cached maps and being able to update the home point. As long as I have GPS I am probably good to go, so this puts my mind at ease. I will test this carefully next time I am out. Thanks again for the link!!!

davidp158 Posted at 10-11 10:22
Thanks so much for this link. Lots of good (albeit it some conflicting) information. From what I gather, it appears that cellular service benefits are mainly cached maps and being able to update the home point. As long as I have GPS I am probably good to go, so this puts my mind at ease. I will test this carefully next time I am out. Thanks again for the link!!!

You are welcome

FWIW I rarely use the maps feature, preferring the radar view, which takes up less screen space and just seems more useful to me. I assume that the radar view doesn't require device GPS and relies on the homepoint set by the aircraft, but I've never tested that assumption.

Of course my exerience is with DJI Go 4, don't even know if DJI Fly has the toggle to radar view. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ex Machina Posted at 10-11 12:03
FWIW I rarely use the maps feature, preferring the radar view, which takes up less screen space and just seems more useful to me. I assume that the radar view doesn't require device GPS and relies on the homepoint set by the aircraft, but I've never tested that assumption.

Of course my exerience is with DJI Go 4, don't even know if DJI Fly has the toggle to radar view. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hi,

Radar view needs compass data from mobile device, correct postion of the craft icon on that 360 dgrees display depends on a good calibrated device compass.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 10-11 12:21
Hi,

Radar view needs compass data from mobile device, correct postion of the craft icon on that 360 dgrees display depends on a good calibrated device compass.

If your cell phone plan includes tethering / hotspot support, you can have your iPhone create a Wifi network that the iPad connects to. See if there is a “Personal Hotspot” item on the Settings menu of your iPhone.

MisterFrag Posted at 10-11 19:04
If your cell phone plan includes tethering / hotspot support, you can have your iPhone create a Wifi network that the iPad connects to. See if there is a “Personal Hotspot” item on the Settings menu of your iPhone.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely look into this, but I wonder if using my iPhone's WiFi hotspot adds another potential point of failure that could be hard to resolve in an emergency situation.

Thanks to everyone who has posted replies and helping out a new flyer! I appreciate the community support.

JJB* Posted at 10-11 12:21
Hi,

Radar view needs compass data from mobile device, correct postion of the craft icon on that 360 dgrees display depends on a good calibrated device compass.

Pretty sure all iPads have compasses, but does DJI Fly even support the radar view?

Ex Machina Posted at 10-12 08:45
Pretty sure all iPads have compasses, but does DJI Fly even support the radar view?

The FlyApp has only a 180 degree forward radar view.....less screen space, and behind the RC is not that interesting.....

JJB* Posted at 10-12 09:47
The FlyApp has only a 180 degree forward radar view.....less screen space, and behind the RC is not that interesting.....

Thanks, good to know, and good move on DJI's part.

Hello there davidp158. Thank you for reaching out and for the inquiry. 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 Mavic Air 2. Thank you and have a safe flight always.

davidp158 Posted at 10-11 10:04
Thanks for the prompt and detailed reply! I've seen many videos showing the MA2 with iPads, but none mention what you risk without having cellular capability. As a new flyer, I'm thinking the loss of maps is a big risk.

I'm still not clear if there is any GPS functionality when flying with an iPad that doesn't have cellular capacity. Does the Return To Home feature rely on GPS?

As a new flyer, I'm thinking the loss of maps is a big risk.
No risk at all.
I only used the map feature once, several years ago.

I'm still not clear if there is any GPS functionality when flying with an iPad that doesn't have cellular capacity. Does the Return To Home feature rely on GPS?
In their wisdom, Apple only fit a GPS receiver in their cellular-capable iPads.
RTH depends on GPS but the drone uses its own GPS receiver for all flight functions.
It records the location of the home point before you launch (as long as you aren't impatient) so it doesn't need to know where your iPad is.

Labroides Posted at 10-13 00:25
As a new flyer, I'm thinking the loss of maps is a big risk.
No risk at all.
I only used the map feature once, several years ago.

Thanks for your reply. I tested the MA2 with my iPad Pro (no cellular capability) and although it did return to home I do miss the map feature for positioning reference. I may try using my phone as a WiFi hotspot, but wonder if that is adding an additional point of failure to the mix.

You could connect to the iPhone and scroll around the map using the DJI Fly app to load the map data, and disconnect from the hotspot before taking off. That would eliminate the additional failure point you're concerned with.

Having said that, the iPad shouldn't care if the Wifi network it is connected to is one at home, or one created by the iPhone.

MisterFrag Posted at 10-16 14:25
You could connect to the iPhone and scroll around the map using the DJI Fly app to load the map data, and disconnect from the hotspot before taking off. That would eliminate the additional failure point you're concerned with.

Having said that, the iPad shouldn't care if the Wifi network it is connected to is one at home, or one created by the iPhone.

Good suggestion; I will give it a try. Thanks!