DJI Fly app
Also known as: DJI Fly, Fly app
DJI's app for its consumer drones, used on a phone or a screen controller to fly, change camera settings, review footage and download files.
Updated
What it means
DJI Fly replaced DJI GO 4 for the newer consumer drones: the Mini series, the Air series, recent Mavic models, Avata and the small Neo and Flip. With a controller that has no screen it runs on your phone; screen controllers such as the DJI RC have it built in. Older Phantom and Mavic 2 aircraft still use DJI GO 4.
For anyone filming with a drone, the app is the camera interface. Resolution, frame rate, color profile, exposure mode and QuickShots all live there, and the live view you watch is a compressed preview of what the card records.
How it works in practice
Set the camera before takeoff rather than in a hurry once airborne. Pro mode exposes shutter, ISO and white balance, and the Histogram helps judge bright scenes such as snow under flat light. The album shows what is on the drone's card next to what the phone has cached.
To get files onto the phone, DJI Fly downloads originals from the drone over the controller link or, on supported models, through QuickTransfer over direct Wi-Fi. The app also saves a flight log, useful when a flight went wrong or an insurer asks questions.
What to watch out for
Cached clips in the app's album are low-resolution copies of the live feed, not the real recording. People who share those, or import them into an editor, end up with soft footage and wonder why their 4K drone looks worse than a phone.
Updates are the other friction point. The app, the drone and the controller often need updating together before flight, an unwelcome surprise in a field with weak signal. On Android the app has at times been distributed from DJI's own website rather than the Play Store, so install and update it at home.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip needs the original files, not the app's cached previews. Copy the full-resolution MP4 or MOV files from the drone's card, or download originals through DJI Fly, and upload them as they are. RawClip leaves color and stabilization to the drone, so set the profile in the app before you fly.