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Apple app vs DJI. Anyone seen this?

Thanks for that information. There is nothing about this Apple app download that indicates when this will be available. It was available, correct?

I just don't understand...I contacted DJI 2 days ago, asked them specifically if my I Pad Air would work with their system. They said it will be fine...a direct quote...nothing about software issues.

Had I known about this, I would have purchased an android device. I bought this friggin I Pad Air specifically to use with the Inspire.

If anyone knows anything about when this app for apple products might be available, please let me know.

Again, this app was available, correct? I read that people had downloaded it and were using it on their apple devices successfully.

Thanks
 
YES. it was available. My Inspire arrived Tuesday. I saw the qr code and scanned it on my iPhone 6. My fellow employee scanned it and installed it on his iPhone 6. I then saw that an iPad was the best viewer so I scanned it from the iPad and installed it on our iPad 3 Retina. Then (like an idiot) I realized the iPad 3 would not fit in the clamp. I never saw anywhere that a "mini" was emphasized. So I went and bought an iPad Air mini and !@#$%^&* - app link doesn't work. When I installed it on my iPhone 6 it hit me "that wasn't through the app store" and I know that a developer can lose their developer license by doing that - Apple frowns on it a LOT. So it is no surprise to me that someone complained, stopped or whatever....but I am EXTREMELY disappointed that DJI would ship the Inspire, promote Apple devices then KNOWING people had the Inspire, yank the IOS app.

My other worry is my app (now using it on my iPhone 6) said a mandatory firmware update was required. I ignored it. Now it says I have 1 day. I'm worried if I do the firmware update, that it won't work with my existing Apple iOS app I downloaded earlier on my iPhone 6. Anyone think that?

Also, I thought if I plugged my iPad 3 into itunes then synced it, that the app file would copy locally then I could plug my iPad mini in and install it - but iTunes didn't even show it as an app on my device (because it is probably considered an "illegal" app)

This is crazy.....and no, I'm not buying an Android device.
 
Copied this from another board..

Last edited by jwight In 2015-1-14 15:25 Editor
(Background: I'm an iPhone app developer and have been making iOS apps since the iOS AppStore opened. I don't have my Inspire-1 yet - should be here Thursday.)
(Copy of this post here as a backup: https://gist.github.com/schwa/1122ddbe351535be419c)
tl;dr DJI is distributing the DJI Pilot app using a mechanism that Apple does not authorise and they risk Apple "kill switching" the software.
Over the last few days I've been checking the iOS AppStore to see if the DJI Pilot app was available on it so I can install and try it out before I get my quadcopter. I found nothing, despite seeing YouTube videos from Inspire-1 owners who were definitely running the app on their iPad. This made me wonder why - when I realised the app receives video directly from the controller via the USB/Lightning cable. This is _not_ an iOS feature currently available to developers who want to release on the AppStore. (with the conspicuous exception of the “Duet Display” app - more on that later)
This made me realise that DJI must be distributing the app under an Enterprise certificate and not with an AppStore certificate that we developers normally use to distribute apps on the AppStore. I noticed a link to the app in the Inspire manual and after a little bit of cheating (it required that I enter my Inspire S/N which I dont have yet) I managed to download the app and inspect it to confirm that it indeed was signed using an Enterprise profile: (see screenshot herehttps://www.dropbox.com/s/6n55dpj0vm7ccc1/Screenshot%202015-01-13%2021.37.45.png?dl=0 )
Quick background: individuals and companies who want to sell (or give away) apps on the AppStore sign up for the iOS Developer program and are able to build and distribute apps using AppStore certicates. As part of this program they submit apps for review to Apple, who make sure the app is following all the rules (and not say, receiving video via USB). One of the limitations is that AppStore developers cannot just distribute the app to whoever they like (with the exception of a small number of beta testers) - everyone must go via the AppStore to install the app.
Enterprise program members, on the other hand are not limited by the same rules. They can make apps that anyone can install on their devices without going through the AppStore. And also - because they bypass the AppStore - these apps can do things that Apple would not normally allow. This is how the DJI Pilot app is able to receive video directly over the USB/Lightning cable. The catch, and this is the dealbreaker - is that these Enterprise apps can ONLY be distributed to members of the enterprise in question.
In fact this is spelt out quite clearly on the main Apple Enterprise Program page (https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/): "Get tools and resources for developing proprietary, in-house iOS apps that you can distribute to your employees". The DJI Pilot app is NOT in-house and is NOT being distributed to just DJI employees. (This, of course, described legally and very verbosely in the actual Enterprise program terms and conditions).
So all this would really be none of our business if not for the fact that Apple can decide at will to revoke DJI’s Enterprise certificate and stop everyone (you, me and all Inspire users) from using the app. They can, in effect, pull a remote “kill switch” that will disable the App. Because DJI is breaking their Enterprise agreement with Apple, Apple is more than within their rights to do this. In fact Apple has in the past done exactly this to other enterprises that have pulled the same trick (see for example: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/19/gba4ios-game-boy-emulator/)
Will Apple do this? Personally I doubt it - DJI isn’t doing anything malicious, and to be quite honest the iPad controlled Inspire looks great for Apple too. Can Apple do this? Definitely. Is Apple within their rights to do this? Again, definitely. Will this mean your $3000 drone will suddenly have a large part of its functionality rendered useless? Yes.
So if Apple was to do this what could DJI do? They’d have to remove functionality that was unavailable to them if they were to release it on the AppStore (e.g. video over USB/Lightning).
But I bet a lot of Inspire users would go out and buy a Nexus ? immediately though.
You may be wondering why DJI is breaking their agreement with Apple and releasing the App like this? Again it comes down to video over USB/Lightning. As mentioned this is not something that AppStore apps can usually do. And I believe DJI either tried to get DJI Pilot on the AppStore and failed (perhaps asking Apple for an exception for this feature) or decided to bypass the issue completely and went straight for the Enterprise release.
In the last couple of weeks an app receiving video via USB/Lightning has appeared on the AppStore: “Duet Display” (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duet-display/id935754064?mt=8) allows you to use an iPad as a second monitor for your Mac - and it transmits video from the Mac via USB/Lightning. As all developers up to now thought that technique was off-limits this naturally caused a lot of controversy: https://medium.com/@mronge/apple-is-usb-allowed-now-8da959394e82
Now that this precedent has been set it MIGHT be possible for DJI to go with the AppStore route. And I really hope that DJI are trying as hard as they can to get the DJI Pilot app released this way.
If they’re not - then I hope bringing this issue into the open will help pressure them into at least trying this route.
If attempts to get DJI Pilot onto the AppStore fail then I think it’s useful for all Inspire-1 and iOS users are aware of this situation and know that DJI is playing rather “fast and loose” with their customer’s purchases.


you guys can thank this post for the imediate termination of the app right now. yes DJI should of sorted it out but it was given a blind eye from apple but because this was brought to light in such a public and detailed way they had no choice. Yes I know what I'm talking about. I can't disclose My information other then this post and possibly this person is the reason. at this point it looks really bad for not only the app but DJI as well. this will not be a quick fix.
 
receives video directly from the controller via the USB/Lightning cable. This is _not_ an iOS feature currently available to developers who want to release on the AppStore

Dear QhadGrandad,
thank you so much for your information!
However, I wonder, how can a device like eyetv mobile (from elgato) show the tv stream on the ipad when connected to the lightning port?
Anyway, I hope, this gets sorted out soon ... :)
kind regards, Chris
 
you guys can thank this post for the imediate termination of the app right now. yes DJI should of sorted it out but it was given a blind eye from apple but because this was brought to light in such a public and detailed way they had no choice. Yes I know what I'm talking about. I can't disclose My information other then this post and possibly this person is the reason. at this point it looks really bad for not only the app but DJI as well. this will not be a quick fix.

Oh, please! What are the ethics of making a public accusation of culpability in this matter without substantiation? How would we on this forum give credit to your assertion that you know what you are talking about? It may be true, but how are we to judge? It strains credulity to imagine that one post on some forum not widely read led to Apple's discovery and subsequent actions. You know a guy, who knows somebody that told another guy that they heard that.......Shiiiisshh! :rolleyes:
 
Oh, please! What are the ethics of making a public accusation of culpability in this matter without substantiation? How would we on this forum give credit to your assertion that you know what you are talking about? It may be true, but how are we to judge? It strains credulity to imagine that one post on some forum not widely read led to Apple's discovery and subsequent actions. You know a guy, who knows somebody that told another guy that they heard that.......:rolleyes:
IM not asking for your approval I'm just giving you facts believe it or not I don't really care. this was not put on some forum this was put on several forums with 100s of thousands of views a day. Anyways again believe what you want just like you believed the app was going to be released weeks ago. you guys will not see this app in the app store anytime soon. If its happens its going to take a great deal of effort.
 
IM not asking for your approval I'm just giving you facts believe it or not I don't really care. this was not put on some forum this was put on several forums with 100s of thousands of views a day. Anyways again believe what you want just like you believed the app was going to be released weeks ago. you guys will not see this app in the app store anytime soon. If its happens its going to take a great deal of effort.

You missed my point. Statements without evidence are not "Facts" but unsupported opinions or rumors, just like my opinion (wrong, it turns out) about when Apple would finally release an official version. I never described that as anything but my opinion. My beef with your assertion of inside knowledge is that we would have to take your word for it without more facts to back it up. You made a specific accusation about a single poster, when there were, as you admitted, posts on several forums with "100s of thousands of views a day" talking about the same issue. That's not fair to the individual you pointed to, and in my opinion deserves an apology to him.
 
I have to say, I'm with Ultra310x. I don't think we will see the app on the App Store any time in the near future. I really hope I'm wrong though.
 
You missed my point. Statements without evidence are not "Facts" but unsupported opinions or rumors, just like my opinion (wrong, it turns out) about when Apple would finally release an official version. I never described that as anything but my opinion. My beef with your assertion of inside knowledge is that we would have to take your word for it without more facts to back it up. You made a specific accusation about a single poster, when there were, as you admitted, posts on several forums with "100s of thousands of views a day" talking about the same issue. That's not fair to the individual you pointed to, and in my opinion deserves an apology to him.
Thanks for your suggestion not going to happen. Ask yourself why he's not been back since making his post on all the forums he posted on ? ask yourself how less then 24hrs later the **** hit the fan. This is the last time I'm going to comment on this as well.
 
Just want to make sure, since the recent tone of the posts are a bit concerning.... Lol. I didn't make the claims. I actually copied it from Facebook. Thought it was important, since by that time, ( last Wednesday) all kinds of concerns were being expressed about the rollout of the Inspire.

From posts on this forum, DJI is supposed to have this straightened out soon. ( I've seen 7 days, 10 days, etc.). I guess you have to ask DJI directly, and the decide on your own whether they're being straightforward. Apple is losing $ while this gets sorted out too. I doubt DJI wants thousands of returns, in addition to the negative press and perceptions being formed.

I'll wait for awhile longer. Complaining takes energy and doesn't change the reality.
 
The IOS guys are in an unenviable situation; Apple's famous inflexibility on one side and DJI's rough and ready practices on the other. Hope both parties can agree a way forward soon.
 
1/16/2015 7:24pm / DJI told me via their Facebook page

"....just wait a couple of days as we are updating the app"

So i assume it will be back up soon...?
 
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The statement of video over USB not being allowed doesn't seem to be entirely correct. 'Duet Display' seems to do this. It's close to the only reason that I have hope this will be resolved soon.
 
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AFAIK DJI were using en enterprise license to distribute this software, which was how they got around the USB video issue. They have pulled the software, I expect to change the distribution through iTunes correctly. They'll need approval from Apple and then it should go live, if they aren't doing anything that contravenes Apple's publishing guidelines. It should be back up within 7-10 days (usually).
If they perceived to be contravening Apple's guidelines then they need to figure out how to do it differently - not easy! I don't think Apple will look too favourably on DJI publishing video via "wire" because of what that would mean with having to refuse any other potential apps that allowed you to stream video via USB (think piracy).

I bought an iPad Air 2 before I knew any of this, but with all the other problems the I1 is having - I'll not be flying it until they're confirmed as resolved anyway.
 
Maybe Apple has killed the app due to DJI's violation of the agreement of Enterprise terms. DJI just removed the iOS app from their downloads section. Not good. Let's hope for the best, and that you did not purchase an iPad just for your Inspire.
I purchased 2 of them
 

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