Ken,
I understand why your software needs course network location access to track my location and I understand why your software needs fine GPS location access, but why does your software need:

Read phone state and identity access
Allows an application to access the phone features of the device. An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to etc.

because ken is a plant from the NSA

Hmm, if I were a tinfoil hat wearer I'd say someone at DHS had a word in their ear. This is more than a little invasion of privacy IMO. Fortunatly I'm using an old phone with no network acces or simcard installed or I'd be somewhat concerned.

Why on Earth would you care?!  Seriously!

Let's say that Ken is a superspy for the Illuminati and that he cares about all of your phone calls because you're... well... let's face it... you're like... REALLY important.  So he gets all that information about how super-awesome you calls all of your super-amazing buddies.  And then he.........  Oh wait, I forgot... WHO CARES?!!?!

Ya know...  The more I read posts on this site the more I realize there's a nutjob in nearly every thread!  It's really starting to get to me!  There needs to be a new master indictor...  So...  Warning, Discussion, Help, and... yeah....  I like it...  Tinfoil.

hey friffy, why would you care that he cares?  lets see, you dont care SO MUCH that you bother to post in the thread??  i personally think he has every right to simply ask ken the question without being trolled by you.

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-2 23:35
hey friffy, why would you care that he cares?  lets see, you dont care SO MUCH that you bother to po ...

I'd like to cut down on all of the crazy people talk.  I read these forums to help people (with real problems) and learn from those with more experience than I.  But the forums are littered with threads like this!  It makes it difficult to weed through to find legitimate, interesting content.  "Picking the pepper from the salt" as they say.

Friffy1 Posted at 2015-2-2 23:49
I'd like to cut down on all of the crazy people talk.  I read these forums to help people (with re ...

I not going away. You can bitch all you want and call me crazy or any other names you want but I am not going away.

I ask Ken a simple question and I feel it is a valid question. If you don like what I write you damn sure don't have to read it.

My words to you are go fuck youself.

Actually this was going to be my response to him.

Friffy1 Posted at 2015-2-2 23:49
I'd like to cut down on all of the crazy people talk.  I read these forums to help people (with re ...

interesting, i would consider your post calling him a nutjob part of the PEPPER not the SALT.  

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-3 00:09
interesting, i would consider your post calling him a nutjob part of the PEPPER not the SALT.  

...

Yeah...  I agree.  Like I said in that post...  It's really starting to get to me.  Basically, that post was an excited utterance.

then maybe practice what you preach.  his post was a legitimate question (which would fall under your 'help real people with real problems' comment), so when you get the urge to troll, just say no.

And this why the internet or technology in general is not for everyone...

The values are included in the document from DJI; I don't know for sure because it isn't so well documented but I suspect that it is required for DJI to register the SDK on the device.

If it is a concern I can start removing accesses and see if anything in the DSI SDK fails; I was just using what they (DJI) documents as being needed.

thanks for the answer ken, makes sense to me.  might be a good idea to test it because if you can get away with less information usage, that always seems to be the better approach in general.  if you need it, well then you need it.  

Friffy1 Posted at 2015-2-2 23:00
Ya know...  The more I read posts on this site the more I realize there's a nutjob in nearly every t ...

Jesus Christ, if it's "getting to you" after 5! days of beeing registered here then why the hell are you still here and even worse, commenting on threads by posting utter nonsense you don't gave a sh#t about ?? You are not contributing to anybody by doing this. What is your problem? If you can/want to assist others, then do so BUT keep your non-contributing and bitchy thoughts off this board! Thanks.

kenargo Posted at 2015-2-3 00:27
The values are included in the document from DJI; I don't know for sure because it isn't so well doc ...

Ken,
Thanks for answering my question. Please understand I am not accusing you of anything nefarious. I am a person who checks software for it access and permissions. It is amazing for people who don't understand the amount of software that has access to stuff it doesn't really need and software that communicates with the Internet in the background without the users knowledge. That is why I run a firewall. This is also why I was concerned when DJI updated to the IOS software to allow the extender to access the mobile's Internet network. That has not come to the Android devices yets, but at least DJI made the access known but they still haven't confirmed its actual purpose.  It may be to cache maps, but it would still be nice to know.

The reason I ask is my firewall software detected the permissions I mentioned in my first post of this thread. It did not detect or report these permissions with the Vision app for Andriod.

When I fly my Phantom I turn my firewall off as it contributes to the loss of connections I get with my system. I understand the network access and the GPS access but not the phone access.  

I understand it may be part of the SDK and it would be nice if it could be removed without degrading the performance of your app. As a minimum it would be nice if you listed the permissions your software has on your webpage.  That will have to be part of the Playstore for Android anyway, not sure what Apple store requires.

Again thanks for your response and I'm sorry to question about your App was in a thread that had comments by people who don't understand the real world.

No worries, I find you need to have a thick skin to even be on forums these days; I try not to respond to the off-topic comments.

In either case; I'll see what I can do but be aware that even the DJI app includes these permissions so I'm not doing anything they are not.  I'll in any case see if I can remove some of the more offensive ones (I share the concern and watch apps as well for permissions, only doing what is documented in this case).

When published in the store the permissions will be shown there and when you install the app you get a notice as well but I'll look at adding them to the website.  The website will be changing once I get the store release and store beta online and downloads will be on the store only; it's just easier to manage and I get crash reports through the store so it makes investigating random crashes and reporting the information when they are for DJI to fix (which, knock on wood, has been all of them so far).

Hope you are enjoying the app and please feel free to send comments and suggestions!

Ken

Ken, I've been flying with your app instead of DJI's

hey, ken, out of curiosity, if your app is doing the same things as DJI, do you have any ideas on why jato's firewall would detect your permission functionality and not theirs?

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-3 02:43
hey, ken, out of curiosity, if your app is doing the same things as DJI, do you have any ideas on wh ...

The DJI Vision app doesn't use the DJI SDK (as I understand it) so it is possible that the way DJI implemented their app they don't use/need the permission or, and this may be more likely the case, that the documentation is in error and it isn't needed to begin with.

It's easy enough to remove permissions and test since there is only 1 call that needs to complete and I can simulate a new installation easy enough and watch the return.

I (personally) never understood why, even the Vision app needs some of the permissions that is reports as being needed but I kind of just blindly trusted them (they where the only game in town until now).

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-3 02:43
hey, ken, out of curiosity, if your app is doing the same things as DJI, do you have any ideas on wh ...

The DJI Vision app doesn't use the DJI SDK (as I understand it) so it is possible that the way DJI implemented their app they don't use/need the permission or, and this may be more likely the case, that the documentation is in error and it isn't needed to begin with.

It's easy enough to remove permissions and test since there is only 1 call that needs to complete and I can simulate a new installation easy enough and watch the return.

I (personally) never understood why, even the Vision app needs some of the permissions that is reports as being needed but I kind of just blindly trusted them (they where the only game in town until now).

First time hearing about Ken's App. Is it available for IOS?

rdc44444.hotmai Posted at 2015-2-3 04:33
First time hearing about Ken's App. Is it available for IOS?

No it's not, have a look at
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=6635

i cant figure out which to buy first, my rotopixel or a android tablet to use this freaking app.... anyone got suggestions on the best small tablet since i am an apple fanboi

Do you know anyone with a android phone? That way you could try before you buy.

well, cost is not terribly a factor for me, while i have 3 ipads, 2 iphones and several other iDevices, ive been wanting to try out an android device just to get my feet wet.  this seems like the perfect reason for that.  but, no, jato, i dont have any android phone users that are close friends, all my close friends are apple only *facepalm*

You need to diversify your friends...get some that have Blackberrys

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-3 05:14
i cant figure out which to buy first, my rotopixel or a android tablet to use this freaking app....  ...

Check out this tablet

http://www.tigerdirect.com/appli ... 3339&CatId=6957

I bought this tablet and have Ken's app on it and it handles the Android version of the Vision App just fine. Have it hooked up to my controller with the same rig that Gerry is using.

You sacrifice some resolution for the price but if you keep an eye out for it the price fluctuates between $79-$89 on SALE.

You really can't beat it considering it comes with a Bluetooth keyboard, quad 4, Kit Kat, with built in micro sd....just put your card into the slot and watch your video right after your flight.

Hope this helps.

steadystickrick Posted at 2015-2-3 20:53
Check out this tablet

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo= ...

Does this tab have gps?  I'm interested if it will work with Ken's  Ground Station  future upgrade.

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-3 05:14
i cant figure out which to buy first, my rotopixel or a android tablet to use this freaking app....  ...

Samsung is always top notch.  I have several.  You can frequently grab an older 10" from ebay for less than $100.

Reporting back...

The only permission that is in question I think is the one for phone information access; the others are quite uninteresting and obviously needed (Wi-Fi, storage, internet, etc.).  Unfortunately, when I tried to remove the phone access permission the call into the DJI software to authenticate use of the DJI software no longer works and I see exceptions in the trace.  This meads me to believe that the permission is used inside the DJI software to track SDK license uses.

Sorry, I won't be able to remove it.

Ken,
Thanks for looking into this and thanks for providing the info. Looking forward to your Play Store release. I am happy with the enhanced features your app provides over the DJI app. I really like the ability to customize stuff the way I like. I wish you success. Thanks again for creating this.

jdlucas.embarqm Posted at 2015-2-3 22:10
Does this tab have gps?  I'm interested if it will work with Ken's  Ground Station  future upgrade ...

It does not...

Sorry, forgot to loop back to this thread...

The app has been released here: https://play.google.com/store/ap ... .djiultimateflight2

I've also created an open beta group for people that want to have the leading edge releases here: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/dji-ultimate-flight

kenargo Posted at 2015-2-7 01:22
Sorry, forgot to loop back to this thread...

The app has been released here: https://play.google.co ...

Thanks Ken I have purchased your app.

Thanks, let me know what you think!  More importantly, join the Google group as I'll be sending out a poll for future features and if you have ideas feel free to submit them; the website has a submit feature requests page just for this kind of feedback.

I hope you enjoy it!