Operating a Drone with Android Phone

[DeeJay]

I just bought a -relatively- swish camera drone with GPS & now find that my Samsung is a version 4.4 Android & the drone program needs a minimum of version 5 !!
My obvious option is to upgrade my phone, but being on a relatively tight budget, I cant justify spending as much again on a newer phone.
I see that there are some relatively cheap Optus phones with a $30 starter pack.
My question is, do you need to be connected to operate a drone? Its such an obvious ( dumb?) question that no answers are found on google.
I was hoping I can buy a cheap phone & load up the program & not extend the connection time.
David

[LRJim]

I just bought a -relatively- swish camera drone with GPS & now find that my Samsung is a version 4.4 Android & the drone program needs a minimum of version 5 !!
My obvious option is to upgrade my phone, but being on a relatively tight budget, I cant justify spending as much again on a newer phone.
I see that there are some relatively cheap Optus phones with a $30 starter pack.
My question is, do you need to be connected to operate a drone? Its such an obvious ( dumb?) question that no answers are found on google.
I was hoping I can buy a cheap phone & load up the program & not extend the connection time.
DavidCan you update your phone software?
What sort of phone do you have? The phone has to be able to handle the program also.
Cheers Jim

[DeeJay]

Thanks, yes, the phone is a Samsung Galaxy 3 & can be "flashed" to a newer version but ( according to the internet) there is a possibility that you could lose your data. It says to back everything up first but that is getting beyond my ability.[bigsad]

[trout1105]

What drone did you get?
I bought a Mavic Air and i need to use my phone to fly that one.

[loanrangie]

Thanks, yes, the phone is a Samsung Galaxy 3 & can be "flashed" to a newer version but ( according to the internet) there is a possibility that you could lose your data. It says to back everything up first but that is getting beyond my ability.[bigsad]You can update to a custom ROM but it will wipe the phone clean, some of the advantages are a newer android version plus a lighter os without the built in apps that you won't use.
If you back up the data you can minimize the loss.

[DeeJay]

What drone did you get?
I bought a Mavic Air and i need to use my phone to fly that one.

I bought a le idea 9 ( from a local shop & paid more than online but he stocks parts etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfpdfHR2oWI

Not in the Mavic league but a reasonable unit. Also, I found ( by using the words CELL coverage on Google) that I do not need to be connected - Hooray...

[Grappler]

You should be able to fly your Mavic and record vision with just the remote. You will not have any avionic information, realtime vision from the camera or position on a map.

DJI GO should work on Android ver 4.4, but according to DJI site you may have to debug the USB in developer mode, which sounds not for the feint hearted


Ive stopped using DJI GO app and replaced it with Litchi app for my Phantom Pro and it will work for Mavic. So much better and has many features, especially pre planning flights via waypoints and POIs. At USD36, is cheaper than a new android.

Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark (https://flylitchi.com/)

EDIT Ignore above, I misread post and thought the OP had a Mavic