No map detail

[Leon N Gauthier]

the crappy reliability of the offline map capability with my DJI drones

Yup, that is just what I got through the EVO Explorer on the CrystalSky. I was unable to zoom in close enough to see any roads and it took me 30 min. to get that close. smh

Would be interested to know how you make out

I am sorry to report that the Google Offline maps did not pop up as they had in the past. They seemed to work fine at home when I fired up the controller, drone and tablet with the wifi off. However, when I went a few miles away from home, the maps did not appear as they did in the past. Now, I am really bummed as well. I had made my peace with losing maps on the CS in exchange for a screen which I could actually view in the daylight but now it seemed that there are no maps to be had at all.

ie: going into Explorer while connected to wifi and navigating to where you plan to fly, then going offline.

Do you mean to say here that "caching" involves leaving the Explorer app running while you travel to the flight site??? That would be crazy!!!

 

[LeafPeeper]

Bummer - sorry to hear....but glad it's not just me then. As to your last question, no. It means going into Explorer, expanding the map so it's easier to see, then sliding around until it loads the map of where you want to fly (zooming in if necessary to get the appropriate level of detail), then exiting. That said, that is how it is SUPPOSED to work. I haven't tested this extensively as I've been so focused on trying to get the 'offline map' method to work. FWIW, I tried it with my iPhone 6s, and it works the same way, EXCEPT since it uses Apple maps, it seems to load a low detail version map of the US (very high level, no road detail) - which would make this less of an issue for me. I don't necessarily need to see roads. The only reason I need the map is to check the compass functionality before takeoff. I like to make sure the compass shows the bird pointing in the right direction. If it points in the wrong direction, it's a pretty obvious indicator that there is compass interference that the app hasn't reported....which could lead to a flyaway.

LP

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

That said, that is how it is SUPPOSED to work.

OK, I'm a dummy... I thought I was seeing Google "offline maps" but, actually, I was seeing maps which had been cached by the Explorer. By closely examining the limits of the map which comes up after starting Explorer without wifi connection, it was clear that the extents of that map were much less than the extents of the offline Google map which I had previously saved. That is the bad news!!! For me, the good news is that I might be able to cache maps on the CS with Explorer. As I said earlier, it took a lot of swiping just to get from China to southern California and each time I tried to zoom in, the screen just went blank. I will have to play with this some more . . . . . maybe I need to login or something.

I don't necessarily need to see roads.

You make a good point there but you still need more detail than what I am getting on the CS so far if you wanted to use way points for a pre-planned flight.

 

[Tufargon]

You make a good point there but you still need more detail than what I am getting on the CS so far if you wanted to use way points for a pre-planned flight.

I do believe when you cache maps, if you want more detail you need to zoom in so they are all cached in more detail as well. They will only get details up to as far as you zoom so if you don't zoom at all you'll see what you are seeing i'm thinking.

 

[LeafPeeper]

You make a good point there but you still need more detail than what I am getting on the CS so far if you wanted to use way points for a pre-planned flight.

Agreed - for waypoint planning we'll need more, but I don't do that too often. I can always turn on my cell hotspot if I need to. The idea for me is to avoid needing a connection MOST of the time....

LP

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

They will only get details up to as far as you zoom

As I mentioned, so far I have only been able to "zoom in" to Southern California . . . the coast line and the mountains are pretty but useless!!!

I scroll over to the western hemisphere:

Then I begin to zoom into the San Joaquin Valley

Before i can get any closer than this, the screen goes blank white.

 

[Ansia]

Ok. So I got my Evo back and I tried it. I opened the app and loaded the maps I wanted to use from 15 miles away. I closed the app, but left it running in the background. Got to my destination and had my map there. Details and everything. This phone does not have sim card and all radios were off. Only used 1% battery.

Phone iPhone 6S+
iOS 12.3.1
App 1.0.87

I don't have either Apple or Google maps installed in this phone. Hope it helps. Can't test Android, because I can't turn LTE off. I need my phone working.

 

[LeafPeeper]

Well thanks for the report....but it still sucks. I still hate the fact that you have to navigate there in the app first in order to cache it. Takes away the spontaneity of stopping and flying a new area while on a trip. With Google Maps, you can download LARGE areas before you go.

LP

 

[Ansia]

Well thanks for the report....but it still sucks. I still hate the fact that you have to navigate there in the app first in order to cache it. Takes away the spontaneity of stopping and flying a new area while on a trip. With Google Maps, you can download LARGE areas before you go.

LP

I have a question. When flying randomly around, why do you require maps being loaded? I understand if you plan on using waypoints, but other than that, I can't find much of a benefit. Just out of curiosity. With the new beta app, I need the maps to make the missions successfull in order to draw the grids.

 

[LeafPeeper]

I have a question. When flying randomly around, why do you require maps being loaded? I understand if you plan on using waypoints, but other than that, I can't find much of a benefit. Just out of curiosity. With the new beta app, I need the maps to make the missions successfull in order to draw the grids.

See my post above: "I don't necessarily need to see roads. The only reason I need the map is to check the compass functionality before takeoff. I like to make sure the compass shows the bird pointing in the right direction. If it points in the wrong direction, it's a pretty obvious indicator that there is compass interference that the app hasn't reported....which could lead to a flyaway."

Hope that helps clarify...
LP

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

I closed the app, but left it running in the background.

Won't the map still pop back even if you've closed the app???
Also, a more detailed map might be handy if your bird were to go down

 

[Ansia]

Won't the map still pop back even if you've closed the app???
Also, a more detailed map might be handy if your bird were to go down

I loaded a small detailed area where I did the new mission option. It did pop back up after I reopened the app. I usually fly with lte. Just tested this to see my options.

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

It did pop back up after I reopened the app.

Addendum:

FYI, in landscape mode on my ASUS TF701T with 10"display, Explorer will initially download a map covering approximately 3,000' wide by 6,000' tall using 2.8 MB of cache memory. The map area can be expanded by scrolling left, right, up and down and I have not yet found the limit of how large the map can be. Naturally, there is a progressive loss of detail as the map gets larger. I even zoomed out to reach beyond the west coast, nearly to the extent which was the limit I could zoom in on the CS as shown above.

More importantly, this map data is saved in the app's cache memory even when the Explorer app is closed and will also survive powering the device completely off!!!

Here, after starting Explorer and clicking on the small inset map to fill the screen, I shut off the wifi.

With the wifi off, I zoomed out to see the map extents.

It seems odd that the map covers about 6,000' in northings and about 3.000' in eastings. The map may be extended in any direction as long as we can get the data over wifi or cellular,

 

[Ansia]

Addendum:

FYI, in landscape mode on my ASUS TF701T with 10"display, Explorer will initially download a map covering approximately 3,000' wide by 6,000' tall using 2.8 MB of cache memory. The map area can be expanded by scrolling left, right, up and down and I have not yet found the limit of how large the map can be. Naturally, there is a progressive loss of detail as the map gets larger. I even zoomed out to reach beyond the west coast, nearly to the extent which was the limit I could zoom in on the CS as shown above.

More importantly, this map data is saved in the app's cache memory even when the Explorer app is closed and will also survive powering the device completely off!!!

Here, after starting Explorer and clicking on the small inset map to fill the screen, I shut off the wifi.
View attachment 4598
With the wifi off, I zoomed out to see the map extents.
View attachment 4599
It seems odd that the map covers about 6,000' in northings and about 3.000' in eastings. The map may be extended in any direction as long as we can get the data over wifi or cellular,
View attachment 4597

Is that map detailed, or just a general area map?

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

Is that map detailed, or just a general area map?

In the example above, I zoomed out just to see what total area was covered by a single map download. Obviously, being zoomed out enough to see the entire 6,000' x 3,000' area resulted in a great loss of detail but the detail is still there once you return to the original zoom factor. As downloaded, the initial full screen map covers approximately 1,400' x 815'.

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

It is frustrating to be so near to having maps and yet not having them. On the CS, I can download maps for anywhere on the globe via the DJI GO 4.0 app and they display in the device (drone) display window even when the device is not actually connected.

Here is the old version of the DJI map showing the airport restricted zones:

Here are the new, more elaborate, restricted zones:

This is as close as I can zoom in with the EVO and still have "terrain":

Zoom in just a bit more and I am left with this . . .

 

[LeafPeeper]

I agree. Given that Autel uses Google Maps, I don't understand why it can't be made to use the downloaded offline maps you can pull down with the Maps app.

LP

 

[Leon N Gauthier]

I don't understand why it can't be made to use the downloaded offline maps you can pull down with the Maps app

Personally, I believe that DJI has intentionally blocked access to Google Maps on the CS within their custom Android OS. At one point, I even side-loaded Google Maps along with two other apps which were required and I was unable to log into my Google account. Also, I do not believe that the EVO actually accesses offline maps . . . What is accessed is a cached map that was viewed in the Explorer app when the EVO had wifi or cellular data access.

 

[LeafPeeper]

Also, I do not believe that the EVO actually accesses offline maps . . . What is accessed is a cached map that was viewed in the Explorer app when the EVO had wifi or cellular data access.

Yes. We know this, which is why we are complaining. Since Autel does use Google maps as their supplier, there's no reason they shouldn't allow us to use the offline maps downloaded through Google Maps versus this caching nonsense. It's a real pain in the *** to be spontaneous when you have no cell access.

LP

 

[Tman1265]

Just throwing something out here... I fly with a dedicated device either a wifi only tablet or a prepaid cell phone that's not activated. Would one be able to just turn on the hotspot on my regular cell phone to provide some brief "wifi" to my devices when you get to your location to bring up your maps? Provided you have cell coverage that is?