DJI Go 4 and iPhone 17

[shoey67]

Hi everyone!!

Long time Phantom 4 Advanced owner, but I just joined this forum. I haven't flown my Phantom in a couple of years, but I just moved and have a great place to fly near the house and I wanted to take her out for a spin. I downloaded the DJI 4 Go software on my iPhone 17 and fired her up. No go - the app showed "Disconnected" in the upper left hand corner now matter what I tried. I tried multiple cables, adding a USBA to USBC adapter, but nothing worked. I then pivoted to my iPad mini 7 and the same thing happened. I figured there was some firmware incompatibility, so I downloaded DJI Assistant 2 for Phantom to my PC and connected the drone to the computer. The software recognized the drone and confirmed that the firmware was up to date.

Desperate to get the connection going, I pulled my old iPhone 16 out of a drawer and lo, and behold, the DJI Go 4 app on the old iPhone recognized the drone right away and showed "Connected" in the upper left corner. While this is great, I don't have a cellular connection for the old phone, and I'd hate to pay $40 a month just so I can have a cellular network connection while I am flying my drone.

Is there a known incompatibility between newer iOS devices and the DJI Go 4 software, or am I doing something wrong? Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[captainmilehigh]

Be sure you are running iOS 10.0 or above.........and the latest DjiGo4 app version 4.3.68.

You may need to delete the Djigo4 app and reinstall the latest version 4.3.68

 

[RodPad]

Welcome to the forum!
@captainmilehigh , knows a lot.!

I'm adding a link to @msinger Phantom Help

DJI Phantom 4 Advanced Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom 4 Advanced drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

You might find some intel there also.

Rod ..

 

[DoomMeister]

My question is why do you want a cellular link on the phone you are using to control the drone? An incoming call could only interfere with flight operations.

If you need internet functionality pre or post flight just use the iPhone 17 as a hotspot.

 

[CR125Honda]

iPhones 16 and 17 both use USBC. Your controller, GL300c (or e, not sure what the adv uses) uses USBA. You mentioned the 16 was working. Were you using the same cable in to the 17? The cable should be USBA to USBC, NO adapters. Same versions of IOS and DJIGO4 in both phones? My guess is your 16 has old GO4 and is compatible with the firmware in the drone. DJI did an update (before stopping Phantom support) that removed mandatory geo sync permission. I’d try updating the drone firmware, or second choice, use the 16 with 17 hotspot.

 

[cneedelman]

In my experience, 4 years ago the P4 controller would not work with my tablet, that used USB-C. I had to return my new iPad Mini 6 because it used a USB-C cable and would not work with my P4p controller. If I remember correctly, I tried a USB A to USB C adaptor and it didn't work. Not sure why your 16 works, but I would hold onto it and use it. No need for internet to fly your drone, unless you're near a No Fly Zone and DJI wants you to take responsibility for flying in that area. I'm not sure if that is still a possibility since DJI pulled down the GEO fencing, but I have seen the warning on the controller for my Air 3s and had to check the box, taking responsibility.

 

[shoey67]

iPhones 16 and 17 both use USBC. Your controller, GL300c (or e, not sure what the adv uses) uses USBA. You mentioned the 16 was working. Were you using the same cable in to the 17? The cable should be USBA to USBC, NO adapters. Same versions of IOS and DJIGO4 in both phones? My guess is your 16 has old GO4 and is compatible with the firmware in the drone. DJI did an update (before stopping Phantom support) that removed mandatory geo sync permission. I’d try updating the drone firmware, or second choice, use the 16 with 17 hotspot.

Thank you CR125Honda. I appreciate your feedback.

That's the crazy thing. I used the exact same cable on both the 16 and the 17. The software was exactly the same on both phones as well. In fact, the iPhone 16 was on mothballs, so I started with a fresh iOS install and then downloaded DJI Go 4 from the App store on the same day that I downloaded the software for the iPhone 17, so the versions are identical. I also made sure that the drone firmware is up to date using the DJI Assistant 2 for Phantom on my PC. Still no dice.

 

[shoey67]

Welcome to the forum!
@captainmilehigh , knows a lot.!

I'm adding a link to @msinger Phantom Help

DJI Phantom 4 Advanced Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom 4 Advanced drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

You might find some intel there also.

Rod ..

Thank you Rod. I will review that thread to see if I can figure out what the heck is going on. I appreciate the link!

 

[shoey67]

My question is why do you want a cellular link on the phone you are using to control the drone? An incoming call could only interfere with flight operations.

If you need internet functionality pre or post flight just use the iPhone 17 as a hotspot.

Hi Doom,

I will only fly the drone using the controller, so I don't necessarily need the cellular connection. I figured that I needed the cellular to be able to download the maps for the iPhone display. If a wifi hotspot between the 16 and the 17 will work, then I should be able to simply use the 16 connected to my controller.

 

[shoey67]

In my experience, 4 years ago the P4 controller would not work with my tablet, that used USB-C. I had to return my new iPad Mini 6 because it used a USB-C cable and would not work with my P4p controller. If I remember correctly, I tried a USB A to USB C adaptor and it didn't work. Not sure why your 16 works, but I would hold onto it and use it. No need for internet to fly your drone, unless you're near a No Fly Zone and DJI wants you to take responsibility for flying in that area. I'm not sure if that is still a possibility since DJI pulled down the GEO fencing, but I have seen the warning on the controller for my Air 3s and had to check the box, taking responsibility.

Thanks cneedelman. Yes. It's really weird I can't figure out why the 16 works but the 17 doesn't. I did some more digging around the DJI website and I did find the following compatibility list: the iPhone 17 is not on the list. I can't for the life of me think of a reason that the software will work on the 16, but not on the 17, but the proof is in the pudding.

DJI GO 4​

Applicable Products​

Mavic Pro Series, Mavic Air, Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom, Spark Series, Phantom 4 Series(Except RTK), Inspire 2, Matrice 200, Matrice 210, Matrice 210 RTK.

Supported Mobile Devices​

Requires iOS 10.0 or above.

Compatible with:

iPhone 16: iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16.

iPhone 15: iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15.

iPhone 14: iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14.

iPhone 13: iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini.

iPhone 12: iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini.

iPhone 11: iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11.

iPhone SE: iPhone SE 3, iPhone SE 2, iPhone SE.

iPhone X: iPhone X.

iPhone 8: iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8.

iPhone 7: iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7.

iPhone 6: iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6.

iPad: iPad Pro, iPad, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4.

 

[DoomMeister]

You may want to start a support session with Apple as to why there is this difference between the 16 and 17 with the DJI Go 4 app. There may be issues with the port handling between the two phones that could be addressed in a future iOS update.