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Can I trust the Go 4 app to control my Spark safely?
819 9 2018-7-24
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graywoulf
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Flight distance : 91033 ft
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So many stories about people losing their Spark drones to ineffective firmware updates and the many issues that arise from said updates. I have a Spark that I am literally afraid to fly now due to all of the stories of fly aways and crashes due to lost signals, compass errors, GPS signals being lost etc.. It took me a long time to save up to buy this drone and the accessories I bought to go with it. So the thought now of putting it in the air to only see it being lost for one reason or another due to circumstances beyond my control literally scares me to death. I really want to enjoy flying it and taking some beautiful pictures and video but if I am going to be nervous as hell when it is flying that I might not get it back then all of the joy and rewards are taken away from the fear. I have been patiently waiting to hear of a stable and reliable version of the Go 4 app for months and just when I think it might have happened... BOOM! More horror stories. When is there going to be such an update to the app or am I just dreaming of something that will likely never happen. I see others that have no issues and I am truly happy for them but I see far more pilots that say "Bye bye Sparky". Very disheartening and disappointing to have a device that is a roll of the dice to operate. Would someone from DJI please tell me what is happening to the app and it's reliability? Please?
2018-7-24
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Blellow
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Flight distance : 1311056 ft
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That's life.  There are no real guarantees in anything, philosophically speaking.  

So go fly your spark!
2018-7-24
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ChrisJG
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I think that for every one person who posts about their fly-aways, there's probably 6/7 or more who have no issues at all. I'd suggest that if you've watched as many tutorials as you can, you find yourself a big wide field away from buildings and people, put your Spark into beginner mode and start with some very simple take off's landings and flying away and then towards you.  You'll build confidence in your own abilities and the hardware / software. My first flight was on April 1st this year, i'm now on my 48th flight with just one flight where I lost signal and the RTH activated and landed my Spark safely...Good luck!
2018-7-24
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SpeedyBirdy
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Flight distance : 968002 ft
United States
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Most of the people on the forums who post about having problems with their drone is only a small percentage of the entire DJI drone population. There are plenty of people who enjoy flying their Spark without any issues like me.  

I’ve had Sparky for 7 months now with over a 100 successful flights and I’ve never had any problems when flying (knock on wood). No problems with the app or functionality of the drone.

I always have the app and firmware to the latest update and everything works fine. I use and iPhone 6s+ with the remote controller and NO OTG cable. Just keep Sparky within VISUAL range (a tiny speck doesn’t count) and you’ll be fine every time you fly.  

2018-7-24
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graywoulf
lvl.4
Flight distance : 91033 ft
United States
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Thanks for your comments. I have flown my Spark enough to get familiar with it but I guess that I am being paranoid after all of the sad stories about people losing their drones. I have watched so many tutorial videos on YouTube that I lost count of them long ago. I even started watching them long before I bought my Spark. I regularly keep up with several forums concerning and about the Spark so yes, I feel informed enough about what the Spark is capable of. But I just can't seem to shake off the feeling of dreading to see it fly off uncontrollably. I guess I need to do as Blellow said and just go fly the thing.
2018-7-24
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DJI Natalia
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Hello there. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us.  @ChrisJG is on point. We still highly recommend our Customer to watch as many as the video tutorial on our YouTube channel so that Pilot can learn more knowledge to fly their drone with more cautions.  Just fly your drone into a field with no magnetic interference. Update everything. Make sure AC and RC are calibrated.  
2018-7-24
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graywoulf
lvl.4
Flight distance : 91033 ft
United States
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DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-7-24 13:50
Hello there. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us.  @ChrisJG is on point. We still highly recommend our Customer to watch as many as the video tutorial on our YouTube channel so that Pilot can learn more knowledge to fly their drone with more cautions.  Just fly your drone into a field with no magnetic interference. Update everything. Make sure AC and RC are calibrated.

Thank you for your input and advice. As far as calibration goes, that in itself is an issue that I am not sure about. I have read so many posts on calibrations and watched many how to videos as well so I am comfortable with the process which I did shortly after buying the drone. Yet there are some who say don't calibrate anything unless prompted to and some who say calibrate at least the compass before every flight. Even DJI had changed their mind on this subject over the years. So, please tell me what DJI's latest take on this subject if you would please.

Another note is that after doing the latest update, I am having intermittent times that my iPad Mini 4 does not see my Spark in the WiFi settings. This happened while I was trying to install the update from the app to the AC and the RC. After letting it all sit while turned off, it finally did connect and finish the update. I of course cannot say that the update had an influence on this issue as I had never had this happen before.

Thanks for your help.
2018-7-24
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graywoulf
lvl.4
Flight distance : 91033 ft
United States
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Oh and another thing that is not related to the Spark issue. When I receive an email notification of a reply to my post, the link to this post does not bring me here. How can I fix this? Thanks!
2018-7-24
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DJI Natalia
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graywoulf Posted at 2018-7-24 14:06
Oh and another thing that is not related to the Spark issue. When I receive an email notification of a reply to my post, the link to this post does not bring me here. How can I fix this? Thanks!

Are you using a PC or phone? May I know what happened when you try to click the link?
2018-7-24
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graywoulf
lvl.4
Flight distance : 91033 ft
United States
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DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-7-24 14:17
Are you using a PC or phone? May I know what happened when you try to click the link?

I am using a PC. When I click on the highlighted link in the email nothing happens. I tried right clicking the link and choosing "Open the LInk in your Browser" and still nothing happened.
**UPDATE  I looked in my personal settings and found that I had turned off email notifications there. I don't remember why, but I did.
2018-7-24
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