There are many apps on the internet. Some are useful, some are not some are free, while others are paid. I’m going to tell you about 8 useful drone apps every beginner drone users should know. These apps will help you at various points, from flight planning to editing. These essential apps will enhance your drone flying experience.
Table of Contents
1. Drone Assist
If you fly your drone in the UK, the app I highly recommend for finding information related to flight restrictions and safety zones is called Drone Assist. This app has a very user-friendly interface. In the bottom right corner, you can go to the search bar, enter any location name, and hit search.
If your searched location has restrictions, the app changes to red and indicates ‘high risk’. By tapping on the restriction, you can see detailed information at the bottom of the app. Tapping on each individual restriction provides more information about what they are.
2. AirMap
Now Air Map is great because it provides easy-to-understand and up-to-date information about the areas you intend to fly. This ensures your flights are safe and legal. There are locations that might seem open, empty, and perfectly safe for flying. However, these areas could actually fall within restricted airspace. This app allows you to check that, to make sure you are allowed to fly in those areas.
You can search any location using the search bar on the right of the screen. Move the map around to look at areas where you intend to fly. If a restriction is shown on the map, you can tap on it to get more details. You can see exactly where the restrictions are on the map, so you can ensure you’re not flying within them.
3. Google Maps
When it comes to planning a drone project, one of the absolutely invaluable apps during the planning stages is Google Maps. You can use Google Maps to search and find good locations to visit with your drone for recording beautiful videos and images. Additionally, you can examine an area you plan to record and find the best place to launch your drone, saving valuable time when you arrive.
Simply look up the location on Google Maps to find a good spot for taking off that is close to your subject. This way, when you get to the location, you know exactly where to go to launch your drone. You can also use the app to get directions to these locations, whether they are remote or places you haven’t visited before.
Google Maps provides driving directions and can also help you find walking routes at a location. This ensures that you’ll be able to reach the area you want to record and know exactly which paths to take to get there.
4. Met Office
One of the most important things you should check before heading out is the weather. The last thing you want is to look out the window and think it looks like a nice, dry day, only to travel all the way to your location and have it start raining just as you’re getting your drone ready to fly. The rain might then stay on all day, preventing you from flying your drone.
Generally a very reliable app for checking the weather is the Met Office app. One of the nice features of this app, especially if you are in the UK, is the rain radar. This helps you see exactly where the rainfall is, allowing you to more accurately determine what the weather will be like at your planned location and time. This means you can make a more informed decision about whether or not it’s worth heading to that location to fly your drone
5. UAV Forecast
Another app I highly recommend for any drone pilot is UAV Forecast. This app provides everything a drone pilot could ever need to know about the weather, including temperature, wind, cloud cover, visibility, and more. You simply set the maximum capabilities of your drone, such as the maximum wind speed it can handle, and the app will tell you whether or not it’s safe to fly at a specific location.
If the location is not safe, the box will turn red and the app will indicate that it’s not good to fly. For example, if the wind speed at a location exceeds the limit you set, it will warn you. You can also use the forecast slider at the bottom of the app to check this information hour by hour.
6. Windygo
Windygo is a fantastic wind checker that I recommend if you find yourself in need of one. Easy-to-use and user-friendly, this app is specifically tailored to track wind speed, direction, and bearing with the overlay of a wind compass. This function enables you to access wind conditions in full-screen mode, which makes it easy to track how fast the wind is moving and in which direction. Windygo has a clear and clean interface that is very simple to use.
For now, Windygo is available on iOS only. The app also gives you quite accurate real-time weather conditions, so it is an excellent tool for anyone carrying out outdoor activities, Especially activities that involve wind, like flying a drone. Whether you are a rookie or a pro pilot, Windygo lets you fly freely without worries about wind conditions.
Windygo’s highlights include a simplified daily forecast. You can search for any location, add it for future use, and you can also change the temperature and unit settings to meet your requirements. The app’s compass design is especially helpful for monitoring the wind patterns in real time.
If you need extra capabilities, Windygo has a Pro version available that grants access to several exclusive features. Ad removal, a widget for one tap access, unlimited saved locations, a 10-day forecast, and all future updates. Whether you’re a Casual user or need advanced features, Windygo covers every aspect of wind tracking you may need.
7. Wind Compass
An app that can help you when flying your drone in varying wind conditions is called Wind Compass. Sometimes, when you’re standing in a sheltered location, it can be hard to know which way the wind is blowing because you can’t feel it. This means you might not realize whether you’re flying in a tailwind or headwind.
When you take your drone to higher altitudes where the wind is stronger or out of the sheltered area, you could end up in a scenario where you fly your drone with a tailwind but struggle to bring it back against a strong headwind. Knowing which way the wind is blowing is absolutely invaluable.
The Wind Compass app will show you the direction of the wind as you turn your phone, so you know exactly which way the wind is blowing. This helps you make informed decisions about where and how far away you fly your drone in the wind.
8. SkyCandy
Another app that predicts upcoming sunrises or sunsets is called SkyCandy. You can select a location and then press the ‘Get Forecast Now’ button, and after a few seconds, you will receive a prediction of the upcoming sunrise or sunset. SkyCandy does a pretty good job of predicting how colorful a sunrise or sunset will be. However, it’s important to remember that these predictions are not perfect and can sometimes be wrong.
These are the 8 most useful drone apps that I think every beginner drone user should know. At some point, these apps will be very useful, saving you time and making your work easier. I hope this article helped you on your drone Flying journey.
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