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The Drone’s Manufacturer App
The most crucial app is probably the one from your drone manufacturer. I have used so far only DJI drones and used their respective apps to control the drone. The app especially helps to set up your drone and configure out, even when you use a different app later on. The app can also help you with firmware updates for your controller and drones in some cases. Consult the manufacturer of your drone for download links to the respective app.
I also have a tutorial on how to update and install DJI’s apps for older drone models which are not available anymore on Google Play Store.
PlanIt Pro
PlanIt is one of the best apps to plan your photo shoots. It’s geared towards landscape photographers to get up to date information about so many factors like sun and moon position. It also helps with astrophotography. Besides all that, it has a drone feature. First you have to select your drone or focal length. You can enter your Azimuth, Tilt for your photo. Then select with the square what you want to frame, and the app tells you how high you have to fly; you can also go the other way around and set your flying height and the app shows you what your camera will frame. Either way, you should have PlanIt installed on your phone or tablet, no matter what. That’s why it is also on my list of best photography apps.
Air Aware by Aloft
Air Aware is a great app for pre-planning of your flights. It is aimed towards recreational fliers, rather than professionals and drone businesses. The app is completely free. It shows you NOTAMS and other flight restrictions. You can see the airspaces around you and what restrictions are set in place.
The problem is nowadays that counties, cities and places have their own drone regulations which are not listed in this app. This makes it so hard to figure out where you can legally fly a drone. Besides the app, there is also a web interface for Air Aware.
Air Control by Aloft
Air Control offers everything what Air Aware offers plus it is a full-fledged drone management system. It includes a logbook function, customizable checklists and everything you need to run a drone business. If you use Air Control, you don’t need to install Air Aware. It also has the most comprehensive map with flight restrictions. It shows more than just the air spaces, it shows a lot of state and national parks and installations as well, which are designated as a no fly zone. Makes research a bit easier. However, it doesn’t list all areas, so always plan accordingly. In the last few month the app and service also had some issues and is not as good anymore as it used to be.
Weather Apps
Dronecast
Great app for weather conditions and forecast. It gives you all the required information you need to fly your drone. The free version of the app has limited functionality. For example, you only get the current forecast and not for any future dates. If you want to use the app to plan future flights, you need to upgrade to Dronecast Pro. The wind breakdown is only available for ground level. For higher altitudes you need a subscription. It is still a good app in the free version and if you fly a lot, it might be worth the cost. One of the great things about this app is, that you can enter your drone, and it will match it to the information in a database to set the limits for your drone like windspeed. Even my old Inspire 1 Pro is in the list. The app also has a great airspace map to help you with planning your flights.
UAV Forecast
This is another weather app for your drone operations. It is available in a free and paid version. The free version gives you up to a 3-hour forecast. This is better than the free version of Dronecast. UAV Forecast also lets you select your Drone in the settings to help setting up the app. I like this app better as it has all the important information on a dashboard and if there are any weather conditions, the tile will show up in red. For example, if you have entered the max windspeed for your drone and the windspeed at the current location is higher, the tile will show up in red. A map will assist you in deciding where to fly and if you can fly in your planned area.
There is also the option to use a browser-based version. It’s not as beautiful as the app but it gives you all the important information as well.
Besides checking the airspaces in the area, I also google the drone laws for the location I am trying to fly. As mentioned, counties, cities, municipalities all have now their own rules where you can fly drones. I wish there was a central place to look up all this information, at least for the “ground-based” laws by counties, cities and municipalities.
Logbook Apps
As a professional a logbook is mandatory. It also doesn’t hurt to log your flights if you just fly recreational. You can get an idea of what your flight time is and other metrics. A good flight log app is Air Control by Aloft.
Another good one is AirHub. Lot’s of great features and most of them are even available in the free version of the app. Unfortunately, you can only display logbook entries up to 90 days in the free version of the app. You can even import the old logs of your drone. Unfortunately, as of right now there is no LAANC support.
Remote ID Scanners
By law drones are required to have Remote ID compatibility. This can be built-in by the drone manufacturer or and add-on module. You have to register your Remote ID with the FAA. The apps below allow you to see other drones in your area if they are broadcasting Remote ID. Unfortunately, iOS is more restrictive in what they can pick up because of the limitations of the operating system.
OpenDroneID
Drone Scanner
Conclusion
This is just a small list of available apps and depending on your needs there might be better apps. If you are a business with multiple drones and/or pilots there are apps and services out there specifically for that as well. If you know of any good ones let me know please in the comments and I will update the post.
Peter is an award-winning photographer who travels all over the world to capture the beauty of our planet as well as the achievements of humanity. Follow Peter on his travel blog Gate to Adventures for more amazing places to go and explore.
