Apple iPads come in either a wifi only version or a wifi + cellular enabled version. Your Phantom has GPS to know where it is and to set the home point for RTH, so you can fly your Phantom with either version. Some
optional features require GPS at your RC (controller) so that your RC location is also known. Wifi only iPads are
NOT GPS enabled and there's no crowd sourced location data accurate enough to allow the use of the optional features. However, phones,
cellular enabled iPads, and most Android tablets
DO have GPS that can be used for those optional features. A data plan is
not required if you go with a cellular enabled iPad.
Take a look at this high level overview of different options
when using a P3P or a P3A and the GO app with an iPad. This info does not always apply to the other models of P3.
Please let me know if I have inadvertently misrepresented or omitted something.
[JAN 13, 2016] A new thing to consider is if you will want internet access in the field so that you can instantly unlock self authorization zones in the GEO system from DJI. Without internet access in the field, you may need to plan ahead and unlock self authorization zones in advance if your country has or is getting GEO and you are impacted by one of the zones. This is similar to how you might plan ahead to cache maps in advance. Keep this in mind when considering which device to buy.
[May 30, 2017] Flight restrictions with new app installs or if logged out of app. A new thing to consider is the recent change implemented by DJI which requires you to login to newer versions of the GO app to complete an "application activation process" or your flights will be drastically limited in altitude and distance. This login is supposed to a one time only thing. You can plan ahead and do this one time login before leaving to fly (similar to caching maps), but if you happen to find yourself in an area without internet access when a login is required, you will not be able to remove the restrictions until you do get access to the internet and login. For example, this can be by moving to a location with internet access, or by tethering to a device that has internet access. Just something to keep this in mind when considering which device to buy.
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Scenarios below assume:
Wifi access is
not available at your field location.
Cellular (data) access
is available at your field location.
Wifi only iPad (no internet access in the field)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* No Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
(this is different than FPV)
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can not manually change home point to RC location.
Wifi only iPad (tethered for internet)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can access new maps in the field if desired
* Can remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* No Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* Can use LIVE STREAMING, but likely not well.
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can not manually change home point to RC location.
Wifi only iPad with an external GPS
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
Wifi only iPad with an external GPS (tethered for internet)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can access new maps in the field if desired
* Can remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* Can use LIVE STREAMING, but likely not well.
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
Cellular iPad with no data plan
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
Cellular iPad (no data plan, tethered for internet)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can access new maps in the field if desired
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* Can use LIVE STREAMING, but likely not well.
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
Cellular iPad (with data plan)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can access new maps in the field if desired
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* Can use LIVE STREAMING
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
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Scenarios below assume:
Wifi access is
not available at your field location.
Cellular (data) access is
not available at your field location.
** There is no access to the internet at all **
Wifi only iPad (no internet or data access in the field)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* No Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
(this is different than FPV)
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can not manually change home point to RC location.
Wifi only iPad with an external GPS (no internet or data access in the field)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
Cellular iPad (no internet or data access in the field)
* Can fly your Phantom with FPV
* Can remove flight restrictions if required, but must be done
in advance
* Can use maps if desired, but maps must be cached
in advance
* No access to new maps in the field
* No ability to remove flight restrictions in the field if required
* Can use Follow Me
* Can use Waypoints
* No LIVE STREAMING
* Dynamic Home Point
> Can manually change home point to Phantom location.
> Can manually change home point to RC location.
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*Notes:
Third party apps
If you are interested in trying something other than the GO app you should check if what you want is available for iOS, Android, or both.
Tethering
Tethering your phone to a wifi only iPad does
not share the phone's GPS. Some have noted that it may be possible to share GPS data if you jailbreak and use certain software, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of how to do that or how well it works. [
Tethering is connecting one device to another. In the context of mobile phones and tablets, tethering allows sharing the internet connection of a phone or tablet with other devices that may not be able to access the Internet directly.]
MAPS
Maps are not required to fly, but many find them useful.
GPS alone does not transmit map/terrain data for you to download to your device.
If you do not have internet access where you plan to fly and you
want to use the maps, they
must be downloaded (cached/stored) in advance via the internet.
External GPS
If you have a wifi only iPad already and don't want to jailbreak or buy a new tablet, you might consider an external (
bluetooth) GPS device if you
want to use the features that require GPS at the RC. There are many threads on the topic. It seems that the most talked about here on the forum are Bad Elf, Dual and the Garmin GLO. Just search and you will see
plenty to read for research if you want to look into that option.
A few notes to consider regarding an external GPS with a wifi only iPad:
* A wifi only iPad + an external GPS usually cost roughly the
same as a cellular iPad.
* If you have an external GPS, you will
not need to spend extra for the cellular version each time you upgrade your iPad.
* Having an external GPS is one more thing to charge and carry.
* It may be easier to use the emerging GEO system noted above if your mobile device has internet access in the field. A wifi iPad + external GPS does not give you internet access.
If this option interests you, one thing to watch for is that iOS 8.3 broke the ability for an external GPS to transfer data. It was fixed with iOS 8.4 and later, and still works in iOS 8.2 and earlier. It is only iOS 8.3 with the issue, but any new iOS might accidentally break it again.
As noted earlier, Android tablets almost always have built in GPS so they are a great option to consider.
'
Dynamic Home Point'
This term is used here since that is a common way to refer to the functionality that allows changing an established home point to the current location of either the RC or the Phantom itself. Remember that the home point does not actually dynamically change. You must
manually change the
static home point to a new
static home point.
'
LIVE STREAMING'
The feature that allows for posting your FPV to the internet in real time.
RTH
As noted above, RTH works with both wifi only and cellular enabled tablets and phones.