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DJI GO4 app network activity
2291 16 2017-6-3
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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I have been using some software to analyse a problem with my Android tablet - it captures network packets.

I noticed that the DJI Go 4 app is constantly communicating with DJI and Amazon web services - it sends a few packet every second, even when it's not running.
It seems to be sending keep-alives, my device ID, my user ID, and my location, and some other data which is less easily identifiable.

It also appears to be doing other things too, which I find really odd.  It is communicating continuously in ways that don't really make sense and at the very least won't be doing anything for the battery life - it also appears to be trying to communicate to local addresses and ports it has no business to be talking to.   It does this when it is not running and has been 'killed' from the Android task manager - it's notable that about 95% of the packets captured when my tablet is idle come from the DJI app, at a rate of nearly 200 packets a minute.


I am not going to speculate on what's happening (and I'm definitely not part of the tin foil fraternity) - but I would be very interested in other people's views.

I used the 'Packet Capture' app by 'Grey Shirts' which doesn't require root to run, and can capture SSL sessions.

So for the other techie minded folk out there, I would be interested to hear opinions on what DJI Go 4 is doing on your devices.


EDIT:   It appears that the app is much less chatty when it is actually connected to the P4P.  Very strange.


2017-6-3
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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Actually, this was revealed a couple of years ago, the DJI Go App was flat out chatting to all sorts of sites and generally behaving badly. About this time was when I decided not to update my aircraft or tablet any further and cut off all WiFi and cell connections. At the time it was reported, DJI refused to make any comment about what the app was talking to. You have every right to be concerned.
2017-6-3
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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Yes, it seems to be handing out location data that has nothing whatsoever to do with my Phantom 4 Pro - and I'm not very happy about that..  Also it seems to be trying to connect to some strange ports on a local address.

Odd.

2017-6-3
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HOWICK
lvl.1
Flight distance : 8812 ft
Australia
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I had to uninstall the Go 4 app from my phone (I have a dedicated tablet and don't use the phone for flying anymore)  because every now and then the battery would deplete much faster than expected. The power hog was DJI Go 4 even though I hadn't been using it, so it had to go.
2017-6-3
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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Yes, it's pretty mysterious why it needs to run in the background - Android kills apps that aren't being used specifically to safe power and memory so DJI must be deliberately keeping the app alive even when it's not connected to a quadcopter.  Very strange - and even stranger that it feels the need to report my location when I'm not flying!

2017-6-3
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dronist
Captain
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Ukraine
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Which version of the APP are you using?
2017-6-3
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dancopter
First Officer
Flight distance : 17901030 ft
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United Arab Emirates
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My Youtube on my TV always screeches to a halt if I have been flying recently and have DJI GO 4 open on my iPad. As soon as I close the app, Youtube starts up in 1-2 seconds. Very bizarre.
2017-6-3
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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@dronist - I am using version 4.1.0 (Android)
2017-6-5
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rko
New
Flight distance : 1739 ft
Germany
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I'm seeing the same issue. Battery usage of 3-5% per day although I didn't start the app or even fly. The firewall shows the DJI Go 4 App on Android is constantly creating network traffic on WLAN and mobile data and reaches out to China. Here are some examples:

117.121.49.81:7003 -- a place in Beijing/Peking, China
117.121.49.81:7002 -- a place in Beijing/Peking, China
117.121.49.81:3000 -- a place in Beijing/Peking, China
118.145.3.95:7001 -- a place in Beijing/Peking, China
121.46.20.45.3000 -- a place in Guangdong, China
121.46.25.194:7007 -- a place in Guangdong, China

Using WHOIS on these IPs only shows me the ISP if I understand it correctly.

...and on top of that it is probing the local network too:
192.168.1.1:5678
192.168.1.1:2345
192.168.1.1:19003
192.168.1.1:9005
192.168.1.1:9003
192.168.1.2:53

I've contacted online chat support but they were not getting the problem: "kindly disable firewall..."?! So far no explanation what the app is doing and why.

Best Wishes,

Ralf
2017-8-11
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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@rko  I guess they don't see a problem because it's behaving as designed!   

I would like to know why it's probing the local network - I really can't see any need for it.
2017-8-12
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T-R
Second Officer
Flight distance : 287884 ft
China
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Some nice ressarcn. Thanks for sharing. Is there a known about android app 3.1.10 in this matter ?
I but it runs had the last new version. But it runs strange. So I delete it and cleaned all out what appears after on a search "dji".   That was aboutb4.3 GB on files.  No pictures or video. Fat software.
No surprise to say thatbyhe tablet runs much better after already. I installed a pretty old akp.  Been online with, this screams for update. Because on this Chines tablet version is nothing what is related to googel, I was asked if I want it from the website ore store. I choose website, just to see what's happen. So a software been downloaded and installed. I suspected the last and newest one. But it was.. 3.1.10. Happy, happy.
Is this talking home so much as well?  
The addresses in Guandong, I thing, can be in Shenzhen. That's where is the head office. Beijing sometimes shows as a adress but is China telecom.
I dicconected my tablet in flightmode. And no sim-CARD.  So no talking on that channel. I guess a good firewall with ip tables and chains could stop that background chat completely.  
2017-8-13
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Damacone
lvl.3
Flight distance : 358622 ft
United Kingdom
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Interesting that it's probing router management ports and DNS servers - the other ports seem to be used by certain types of network infrastructure equipment.

Would love to hear an explanation from DJI for this!
2017-8-13
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Nigel_
Captain
Flight distance : 388642 ft
United Kingdom
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"EDIT:   It appears that the app is much less chatty when it is actually connected to the P4P.  Very strange."

That will be because once it is connected to the P4P via USB, it is no longer looking for Sparks etc that use WiFi for their communication.

It would be good if we could tell the DJI Go App to only look for our P4P or whatever aircraft we have so that it doesn't waste our battery power and network resources, maybe DJI could have a look at this and the other (unnecessary ?) network activity for the next firmware?
2017-8-13
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T-R
Second Officer
Flight distance : 287884 ft
China
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When I installed this app, the routine asked me  "do you like to open this application always when this device is plugged in...yes/no"
I thing saying "yes" will start the trouble, because now the app is searching.
2017-8-13
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T-R
Second Officer
Flight distance : 287884 ft
China
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For android.. "No root firewall"  or  "droidwall"(needs root)   and all talking is done
2017-8-13
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rko
New
Flight distance : 1739 ft
Germany
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T-R Posted at 2017-8-13 02:30
For android.. "No root firewall"  or  "droidwall"(needs root)   and all talking is done

it takes care of stopping the traffic - but the app still drains the battery trying to geo-locate and connect. Not an option IMHO.
2017-9-1
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T-R
Second Officer
Flight distance : 287884 ft
China
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Then switch in flight mode. No radio connection. The app will not drain the battery more then normal. It's not possible.
2017-9-1
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