I hope someone can answer my question. I’ve been looking at the X8 SE 2020 with interest, but have a problem. Firstly I don’t have (or want!) a smart phone. But I do have a small tablet, an Asus Memopad 7 which will fit in the excellent controller of the X8. It uses Android 5.0.1 and won’t upgrade to a higher version. The Fimi Navi 2020 app is supposed to run in Android 5 and up. I installed it, but of course don’t have the drone, and when I tap on the ‘Enter Device’ bar, the app crashes with the message ‘Sorry, the app is abnormal and will exit’. So I don’t know if this is the usual behaviour of the app, or if my tablet is unsuitable, despite supposedly having a compatible Android version,.
So is there anybody out there with an X8 who could help - maybe open the app without being connected to the controller and see if it does the same. Or if anyone with that drone lives near me (Hexham, Northumberland) could we meet?
I do have a Fimi A3 at the moment with it’s built in controller screen (now fitted with a sun shade and modified to brighten it) but always looking ahead, particularly as the X8 SE 2020 is now available from Amazon UK.
I have a fimi, the app should open without been connected. I tried it on my phone and on a tablet. Both worked they are running android 9 and 10.
What I did was buy a cheap smartphone, and use it just for the fimi without putting a sim card in. That way I can easy transfer the photos to other devices and also do the firmware updates for the fimi. I had 2 yesterday.
And on a side note android 9 seams to work better with the fimi app then on the newest android 10.
Reading through the comments on the GP store many folk have recently been having issues, though I see the APP was updated yesterday.
As for compatibility this will over time change. When the Parrot Anafi’s FreeFlight6 APP was originally released it too ran on Android 5. However this is not the case anymore and minimum Android version needed now is 7.1 and newer.
Thanks for the replies. Just to be absolutely certain. I CAN open the app to the first screen where it shows the ‘Enter device’ bar. It’s when I tap on that bar that it won’t proceed further and I get the error message. Any further comments?
I’m leaning to the notion that it’s not truly comparable with Android 5.
As another example. I have a drone known as a Ceewa Follower, it’s also gone by the Halo Pro Drone. The App for this is still available on the Google APP store but will not work on any current Android Device. It will load up to the welcome screen, even go to the map view (though no map loads, but when you try to connect the APP to the drone it just crashes. I have a few ideas as to why, the APP was written for a 32bit device and all my devices are 64bit, or, the OS is too new (Android 7 and up) and will not function.
I myself really hate it when a device is fully serviceable but the OS relegates it to the electronic graveyard.
Thanks again. Just to confirm, when I first install the app (I now have the latest updated version) it goes through the registration process, password etc. then goes to the ‘Enter’ page. Next time I run it , it goes straight to the ‘Enter’ page. Screen displays:
It’s when I then tap on ‘Enter Device’ that I get the error message ‘Sorry, the app is abnormal and will exit’. On examining the app, it has set up a cache and various storage items, so appears to be running correctly up to ‘Enter Device’. That’s the point where presumably the app needs the drone connected, but I don’t have the drone, so don’t know if there is any other problem with the app. Obviously I don’t want to buy a drone unless I know the app will work in my tablet. Catch 22
So I need someone to do exactly what I have done - open the app then tap on ‘Enter Device’ without a controller and drone connected.
Help!!
Incidentally, I find it absolutely infuriating that people are often forced to buy new equipment to run something they have owned for some time and run successfully on existing stuff. I ended up having to buy a new scanner when I moved up from Windows XP to W7 - the original driver was then no use, being 16 bit. Same thing with my Canon 350D camera. Also several legacy programs were useless. I ended up with XP in ‘Virtual Box’ to run them.
It seems a similar situation exists regarding phones for drones. The powers that be not only assume that everyone owns a ‘smart’ phone (I don’t), but that they have the latest models. At the moment iphone are advertising their new model on UK TV, costing £1099. HOW MUCH??!! Ludicrous, yet people buy them ‘just gotta have the latest model’.
I wish more manufacturers would supply controllers with fully functional screens. One reason why I have a Fimi A3. And a Hubsan 501S was my first drone. Maybe DJI will eventually bring their smart controller price down to a sensible level.
Hi Peter @Astropetev I just installed the app on my Samsung S10 and it opens up to the main flight screen when I click on ‘Enter Device’ with no errors. I don’t think your tablet is compatible I’m afraid mate
Aah, thank you very much Sir G. That confirms my suspicions. So no X8 SE 2020 for me in the near future. Probably just as well - I doubt if ‘she indoors’ would be happy about me buying another drone AND a smart phone! Although I suspect with the well designed controller a more up to date small tablet would be a better choice - bigger screen etc, and no worries about missed phone calls.
Having said that, I see that some 7 inch tablets are much cheaper than many smart phones, so maybe I need to do some browsing
That’s a shame. As mentioned earlier, I’d look at getting a secondhand smartphone. I picked up a Huawei P20, with a small crack on the screen, for just £35. Hopefully your better half could live with that
Thanks, guys. I have a friend who has a spare phone which he offered me a while ago when I was considering getting a Mavic Mini. But I ended up with my Fimi A3 - it’s pretty windy where I live, and I wasn’t happy about the Mini performance in wind. Now apparently much better with the new DJI Mini2. Similar price of course to the X8, and a lot more portable. But my eyesight isn’t of the best - glaucoma in one eye, slight cataract and astigmatism, so the much larger X8 would be easier to see.
I daresay at some point we have all flown out of sight without exceeding 500 metres, but I like to keep the drone in sight as much as possible to avoid breaking the ‘line of sight’ rule. With my eyesight the larger screen of a tablet would also be an advantage provided it was bright enough, and I’m surprised to see there are a number of 7" models with a price well under £100, such as here on Amazon.
I suppose I should be content with my A3 for now - early days. It flies well, does most of what I want and is quite powerful. The camera’s not bad, but the idea of a better camera and much longer flight time is very tempting Maybe next Summer when lock down hopefully is a distant memory.
