My iPhone 12 Pro Max will consistently dim out and starts overheating a couple of mins after connecting to my Mavic Air 2S, through DJI Fly app. It is pretty dangerous since the screen will get darken to a level that is next to pitch black, making it almost impossible to watch and navigate. Needless to say, it is also extremely frustating since I cannot get a smooth flight longer than 3-5 mins, before the screen blacks out and the phone starts to become burning hot.

I had been flying my Air 2S for almost 10 months now, and this issue started to occur in recent couple of months, starting from May, as summer sets in. I noticed that this problem will be more frequent in sunny days, while I fly out in the open, although a hot, cloudy day doesn't guarantee this won't happen.
Edit: While compiling this article, I noticed that iPhone will overheat simply by launching the app itself - No connection to RC needed. I kept my DJI drone in the bag, and launched my DJI Fly app to check my saved videos and past histories, and after couple of minutes it overheatted.

I had been searching for possible solutions, but it seems many people who suffered from this issue has a common conclusion: there are no solution yet, as of summer 2022.

Links:
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=246827  
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=267037

Another forum:
mavicpilots.com/threads/iphone-temperature-causing-dim-screen-with-dji-fly.113524/

As as usual, I checked the list of possible fixes and solutions online:
- Took firmware updates for my drone & controller
- Made sure my phone was not charging off the controller- Remove phone case
- Terminate all background apps
- Turn off bluetooth
- Turn on airplane mode
- Reinstalling app

Some of them seems to extend the period of regular screen time from 3 mins to 10 mins, even 15 mins, but none of them seems to fully elinminate this problem. I still cannot fly my drone for longer than one full flight without overheating the phone.



Oh, not only that, I found this forum's UI design a bit too unfriendly sometimes. I am editting my topic now and cannot find the save button - Until I seached in browser for 'save'. What kind of UX experience is this? Is this a bug of design flaw? I am using Chrome Version 104.0.5112.101 (Official Build) (arm64) On Macbook Pro 2021 v. See screenshots.

That being said, this problem probably started back from the start, when I bought it in Winter 2021; at that time, I only noticed the battery had been draining at an alerting rate when I flew my drone, but there were no screen dimming - probably due to the colder temperature that kept iPhone cool. With summer coming in, this issue started to show a much more severe symptom that got my phone screen blacked out, making it dangerous and uncomfortable to fly.

The Fly app is cpu intense. Start by closing ALL background apps and turning Bluetooth off, if you are not using wifi, turn that off also.

Mobilehomer Posted at 9-3 10:12
The Fly app is cpu intense. Start by closing ALL background apps and turning Bluetooth off, if you are not using wifi, turn that off also.

Although I agree DJI Fly is supposed to be a CPU intense app, I definitely do not consider it is reasonable to make my phone burn like a toaster, and it is even more unreasonable to ask users to close Bluetooth and background apps (btw it didn’t work) every time before flying. Many users on this forum have reported that, this issue is not affecting Android users who use third party apps, such as Litchi. It is apparent that the problem originated from DJI Fly software, likely a poorly optimized algorithm or simply bad code.
Also, my phone overheats no matter I am flying or sitting idle; as long as my phone is connected to the drone through app, it overheats and dims out in a few minutes under summer sun.

Same issue with the 13 pro max,  So I got a smart controller to solve the issue.

DAFlys Posted at 9-3 23:43
Same issue with the 13 pro max,  So I got a smart controller to solve the issue.

Glad you got the problem solved, but I don't have the $1000 spare budget to get a smart controller at this moment.
Also, today I made a new shocking discovery: even I do not connect my drone, DJI Fly app itself will burn up my phone and over heat as long as I launch this app itself - Doesn't matter if a drone is nearby at all. From battery stats, it burns battery 4 times the rate that Google map navigation does. Unbelievable rate it seems...

Considering that many of us are using DJI Fly on iPhone without experiencing that issue and that iPhone have a quite standard hardware configuration, IMHO the issue is caused by some component or configuration you have on your phone. It's quite difficult to solve the issue. Now I'll propose some steps. They take time and the result is uncertain, but you can try. The steps are ordered by they simplicity and impact on your phone. Please be very careful at step 4, take one or more backups. First of all, I'd try to fly with the phone in airplane mode: this stops the network traffic and potential interference to the RC (I always do this).

1) Please clean very carefully the Lighting connector of your phone with a toothpick, after turning off it. You'll discover a lot of dust in this small hole ...
2) Please disable background app. In most case you don't need them active. You can keep enabled in background only the instant messaging and mail apps. But you can run a test disabling all of them.
3) Please reset the configuration and the network settings: after doing that you can test the issue and then you need to manually restore you configs. In some cases the configurations of the iPhone get messed up and cause unwanted behaviour in some app (I was told this at a Genius Bar, where an Apple guy fixed a nasty issue on my iPhone).
4) Please run a full backup of your iPhone on a Mac or a PC and then restore to factory settings, possibly refreshing the system from a Mac or a PC starting in DFU mode. Then you can install the DJI Fly only and run a test. You can restore everything later from the backup.

Maybe you'll find your issue solved at some step. BTW: those steps may be helpful for solving whatever issue on iPhones.

FabioV Posted at 9-5 23:10
Considering that many of us are using DJI Fly on iPhone without experiencing that issue and that iPhone have a quite standard hardware configuration, IMHO the issue is caused by some component or configuration you have on your phone. It's quite difficult to solve the issue. Now I'll propose some steps. They take time and the result is uncertain, but you can try. The steps are ordered by they simplicity and impact on your phone. Please be very careful at step 4, take one or more backups. First of all, I'd try to fly with the phone in airplane mode: this stops the network traffic and potential interference to the RC (I always do this).

1) Please clean very carefully the Lighting connector of your phone with a toothpick, after turning off it. You'll discover a lot of dust in this small hole ...

I appreciate the detailed solutions offered, but it appears this is as good as resetting my iPhone back to factory settings, which is a pretty heavy weight fix that is affecting not only DJI, but every single app on the phone with it - I will try it when a I have a couple of hours spare time and backup iPhone first.
That being said, I have to point out that there are vast number of users reporting this issue, if you go to the links attached in the description - Or google "DJI overheat iPhone". This is not some standalone random problem, unfortunately. This needs DJI's attention and so far it has been ignoring it

I've almost lost my Air 2S many times over the screen going so dark and happened once with my Mavic 3.  It seems that Android phones are not having this issue.  I believe this is not just a FLY APP issue but an issue with the iPhone itself.  Mine will go dark when charging, when using data.  Might be an issue with 5G and data transfers?

A smartphone is a computing device, the same as a PC. It overheats when all the running applications are heavily loading the resources. The DJI Fly App by itself is probably not enough to overload the phone. The reason some iPhone users are experiencing the overheating and may  other are not is that they probably have other CPU consuming tasks active. Setting the airplane mode before flying helps reducing the CPU load and also the interferences. In addition, reducing the number of apps running in background (manually closing them) lowers the CPU load. The most of people I know do not close the applications on the smartphone. Android and iOS system have capabilities for automatically stop the background applications when not running, but their effectiveness depends on how each g is written. The summary is that it’s not so obvious the responsibility of that situation is up to the DJI Fly app and that iPhone users can try to reduce the CPU load closing all the app that are necessary to the flight.
BTW: another good practice is to remove the phone from the case before installing it into the RC

FabioV Posted at 9-7 12:35
A smartphone is a computing device, the same as a PC. It overheats when all the running applications are heavily loading the resources. The DJI Fly App by itself is probably not enough to overload the phone. The reason some iPhone users are experiencing the overheating and may  other are not is that they probably have other CPU consuming tasks active. Setting the airplane mode before flying helps reducing the CPU load and also the interferences. In addition, reducing the number of apps running in background (manually closing them) lowers the CPU load. The most of people I know do not close the applications on the smartphone. Android and iOS system have capabilities for automatically stop the background applications when not running, but their effectiveness depends on how each g is written. The summary is that it’s not so obvious the responsibility of that situation is up to the DJI Fly app and that iPhone users can try to reduce the CPU load closing all the app that are necessary to the flight.
BTW: another good practice is to remove the phone from the case before installing it into the RC

I always have only one app open at a time. The one I’m using. And I do remove it from the case before
Using it in the controller.  So that isn’t my problem.
(I know this sounds like I’m attacking you, but I am not . ).

Funny you should mention this. My 13 Pro max did it so I had to get an Android. Today Apple announced the 14 Pro with 2,000 Nit daylight screen. How are they going to power 2,000 nits in daylight without the overheating issue? It's a shame that this has made Iphone pretty much useless if you fly in hot weather.

BladeZ Posted at 9-7 13:53
I always have only one app open at a time. The one I’m using. And I do remove it from the case before
Using it in the controller.  So that isn’t my problem.
(I know this sounds like I’m attacking you, but I am not . ).

I know you're not attacking me ... What I'm saying is just that the overheating probably does not depend on the DJY Fly app, but on the iPhone and on the condition of usage. We can try to limit the overheating working on iPhone configuration and trying to limit the direct exposure to the sun light. Probably the DJI RC will be a good solution, if DJI will make it compatible with the Air 2s.

Have you tried using the app with your cover removed from the phone?

FabioV Posted at 9-7 12:35
A smartphone is a computing device, the same as a PC. It overheats when all the running applications are heavily loading the resources. The DJI Fly App by itself is probably not enough to overload the phone. The reason some iPhone users are experiencing the overheating and may  other are not is that they probably have other CPU consuming tasks active. Setting the airplane mode before flying helps reducing the CPU load and also the interferences. In addition, reducing the number of apps running in background (manually closing them) lowers the CPU load. The most of people I know do not close the applications on the smartphone. Android and iOS system have capabilities for automatically stop the background applications when not running, but their effectiveness depends on how each g is written. The summary is that it’s not so obvious the responsibility of that situation is up to the DJI Fly app and that iPhone users can try to reduce the CPU load closing all the app that are necessary to the flight.
BTW: another good practice is to remove the phone from the case before installing it into the RC

Yes, I understand iPhone is a computing device that can be pushed to thresholds, but it is another topic when there is a single app that constantly makes it overheat, under reasonable conditions(I didn't put it in a stove or went to Sahara, it overheats even if I sit in a air conditioned room by simply launching this app without connecting to RC), closed other apps, while all other apps including Google Map or Genshin Impact didn't manage to do. And I did it without a case (As you can see from the pictures attached). I remember seeing Android users complain about this as well, but not sure on what scale or frequency.

Have you tried playing any game on your iPhone while out in the sun?  I think you are going to find it happens more often than you realize and it’s not just a DJI app problem….   

Take off phone protector, find a shady spot to stand so you don't have to crank the brightness up to full blast, fly early mornings and evenings when the lighting is better anyways, etc.    I have never had an overheating issue w my iPhone and I do the things I just mentioned.  

If you are having problems using in an air conditioned room then you have a device issue and not an app problem.....

jwp721 Posted at 9-9 08:27
Have you tried playing any game on your iPhone while out in the sun?  I think you are going to find it happens more often than you realize and it’s not just a DJI app problem….   

Take off phone protector, find a shady spot to stand so you don't have to crank the brightness up to full blast, fly early mornings and evenings when the lighting is better anyways, etc.    I have never had an overheating issue w my iPhone and I do the things I just mentioned.  

I admit I don't play games out in the sun, the bright env light makes screen feels dark (relatively).

As of phone case, it was already taken off like I mentioned, as well as in the picture I attached -
Shady places doesn't guarantee this won't happen, based on my experience before, and you can't always find a shady place that you can use while piloting drone - The object that is blocking sunlight will frequently block your signal as well, e.g. buildings, forests, or walls

The phone only overheats when I launch DJI, and it is more severe outdoors - When I say 'overhearts' in this context I meant the phone feels very hot, almost hurts to hold with your palm after 20 min, like a piece of metal under summer sun for hours. When I launch DJI app outdoors, it overheats to the point that screen will dim; while indoors, while I can feel the intense heat from within the phone, it didn't dim the screen (at least not last time when I checked). And I did this without connecting to RC at all.
When I play demanding games like Genshin Impact indoors, the phone does get warm overtime, but without a thermometer, I cannot measure who causes more heat - From personal feeling, Genshin Impact  seems to generate less heat in the same amount of time - I could be wrong though. No other app generates this amount of heat in such short period of time, so my doubt is what is a fly control app doing without connecting to RC that it beats a heavy weight GPU intense game like Genshin?

To sum up, jump through hoops trying to get your apple phone to work or just buy an android device and not have the issue.

This is why despite my entire device and home ecosystem is Apple based, my tablet for Droning is Android.  IOS devices get too hot in Arizona sun and dim in just minutes.  It's not just the app, it's the device keeping it's screen out outside non-stop.

Don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

BrianKushner Posted at 9-9 12:29
To sum up, jump through hoops trying to get your apple phone to work or just buy an android device and not have the issue.

It feels pretty much like both apple and DJI are saying "Not my problem" at this point, with iPhone doesn't suffer this issue for other apps and DJI doesn't have this issue for Android -
1-Get my iPhone 'work', which is easier said than done. Somebody suggested to do factory reset but I've seen people suffering this problem with new iPhone, so no guarantee there.
2-Get an android device. I don't know if this can be offered as a 'solution', since I could as well spend a thousand bucks on the DJI smart RC, but I just don't have that budget to begin with.
So, no real 'solution' here, at summer of 2022.

TonyPHX Posted at 9-9 18:37
This is why despite my entire device and home ecosystem is Apple based, my tablet for Droning is Android.  IOS devices get too hot in Arizona sun and dim in just minutes.  It's not just the app, it's the device keeping it's screen out outside non-stop.

Don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

I borrowed my friend's One Plus Android phone yesterday and tested. It didn't overheat. It has a case on and the temperature after flight wasn't too hot, it felt like human palm - warm, not hot. Then I tested my iPhone, case off, closed all other apps, low power mode, and it overheated after 15 mins. Better than before, but still not as ideal as the Android counterpart. I don't know what exactly is the iOS version of app going on - The question here is, is it Apple's responsibility to guarantee no app can overheat its device, or DJI's responsibility to test their apps before putting them on the shelf? Is it reasonable to ask a normal consumer to 'figure this out' simply because he has an iOS device and a DJI drone?
I myself is a software/web developer, and an educated guess  of mine is, DJI Fly app is doing a lot of things in the background (It can heat up really bad just by launching the app itself, without connecting to RC) and  I don't think this amount of energy consumption can be justified with what it provided. This doesn't add up. Why would an controller app burn the crap out of my phone chip just by sitting still on the desk?
If Android is the only 'solution' out there, and all other attempts are "trying to fit a square peg in a round hole", then DJI shouldn't advertise it is iOS compatible to begin with, right?

You might want to try another iPhone in the future.  The fact that your device overheats just by running the app is not a common occurrence.  Seen some owners having  issues with using in bright sunshine on a hot day, but you are the only I have seen having issues with just using the app. Especially in an air conditioned room.   

  I honestly don’t think this is an app issue as much as it is your specific device having an issue…,

jwp721 Posted at 9-11 08:51
You might want to try another iPhone in the future.  The fact that your device overheats just by running the app is not a common occurrence.  Seen some owners having  issues with using in bright sunshine on a hot day, but you are the only I have seen having issues with just using the app. Especially in an air conditioned room.   

  I honestly don’t think this is an app issue as much as it is your specific device having an issue…,

It could be, maybe instead of Android devices I should borrow someone's iPhone on a sunny day to test this...

Eric, make sure that controller to phone charging is disabled - while this doesn’t prevent the issue all together, it helps prolong flight time before it happens, at least for me. YMMV.

gulfpre Posted at 9-12 04:25
Eric, make sure that controller to phone charging is disabled - while this doesn’t prevent the issue all together, it helps prolong flight time before it happens, at least for me. YMMV.

In addition, I suggest to put the phone in airplane mode. The network traffic in 4G or 5G increases the heating of the device.

At the end of the day, IOS devices do an EXCEPTIONAL job of protecting themselves from overheating.  As the display stays on and the device gets hotter and hotter, the display dims to protect the device.  Great for a phone, bad for a drone controller.

The sooner you stop banging head trying to keep the iPhone or iPad from dimming, the happier you will be.

TonyPHX Posted at 9-12 09:48
At the end of the day, IOS devices do an EXCEPTIONAL job of protecting themselves from overheating.  As the display stays on and the device gets hotter and hotter, the display dims to protect the device.  Great for a phone, bad for a drone controller.

The sooner you stop banging head trying to keep the iPhone or iPad from dimming, the happier you will be.

really really can't disagree with this. While I totally understand the desire to want to use the device we already have, and yes, it's listed to be compatible with iOS devices, it's been shown over & over again that a non-cellular or android device is just the better solution here.
Stop fighting it, pickup a cheap android tablet and live happily ever after.

The Fly app is cpu intense (both iOS and Android). All them get burning on your phone...... but Android no feature auto display dims to protect the device like iOS. This is an issue.

All apps from China is caused high cpu resources.

DJI products is so cool except DJI apps.....

Same problem, I did a factory reset on my iPhone 13 pro max, no case, no charging while connected to the remote, not a really hot weather and no sunlight direct to it, using a shade using the screen bright around the half way, no apps in the background, airplane mode, no wifi, no Bluetooth, DJI fly app with no cache, no histogram, no anything in the screen, no hd transmission, iPhone in battery saver mode, reinstalled completely DJI fly app, and iPhone keeps overheating only when running DJI fly app, and it is causing to dim the screen to the lowest and the app starts to run really laggy, making imposible to fly the drone… I borrowed my gfs iPhone and the same happens with it, same story with my sisters iPhone…

DJI FLY app is the only app causing this kind of overheat, even if I just start the app inside my house for a few minutes without connecting the remote to the phone, it overheats more! Than playing a game like Genshin impact or cod with max settings for more that just a few minutes and without dimming the screen or making the game or anything else laggy…

Did the same tests using an android phone (Xiaomi mi 9t) and with everything running in the background and all the connections active (wifi, but, etc), full screen brightness, and all the features activated in the DJI fly app (histogram, hd transmission, cache, etc), around 33°C outside without standing or using a shade, it DID NOT overheated or dimmed the screen or lagged, after 1 hour of use (I have 3 batteries and use them for around 20min each one) maybe a the phone felt a bit warm but nothing else… then I played the same games in this android phone (Genshin impact and cod for around 30min each using max settings) and they got really hot, not like the iPhone when using the DJI app for 5min even inside my house, but a lot more than my iPhone when running the same games for the same or even more time…


I didn't have this issue with the DJI 4 go app… but i don’t own a mavic pro any more…

I know this post is from a while ago but I found it because I couldn’t figure out what was happening to my iPhone 13 ProMax. This is extremely dangerous when flying a drone, and it is a fairly common issue now. In my case the phone shuts itself to the point that I’m having trouble just to get to re-start. I guess it’s like someone here said, DJI shouldn’t advertise full compatibility with iPhones.

iphones do the same thing whether flying a drone or not.  This is how iPhones protect against overheating.  I was outside taking pictures and the display does the same thing.  

I don't have this problem at all with my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra! Or my RC Pro, which also runs Android.

I've been having this problem for quite some time, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and it's not just when using my drone.  Whenever I stream music, watch videos, or browse the web it will dim to a point to where I can hardly see anything on the screen.  
It was getting bad enough that I hadn't flown my Mavic 3 or Air 2S for fear of losing either one, so I finally splurged and purchased the DJI RC PRO.  Best investment I've made next to purchasing my Mavic 3.  
I'm still not able to upgrade for a few more months and am looking at either an iPhone 14 or a Samsung Galaxy phone, which scares me since I've been an iPhone user since purchasing an iPhone 3G many years ago.  

Exactly.  Asking DJI to fix this is not possible.  This is IOS behavior.  Easily replicated with any other app when using screen outdoors for a while and it's quicker the hotter it is.

I have the same issue with my brand new iPhone 14 Pro / M3 Mini / Fly app  . Had also this issue with 12 Pro / M2 Zoom / DJI GO4 app and my old iPad4 Mini / Mavic Pro / Go4 app .... Seems that iOS devices will always overheat and dim when used with DJI apps....
Only way to solve was switching to Smart Controller / DJI RC
This sucks....