New app: TelloFPV for Android

[volate!lo]

It must be aliens.

Or maybe just a glitch in the bluetooth stack of your phone. Every vendor does his own stuff in there, and obviously certification test cases are weak in the BT area.
My guess is that it does not kill existing connections to BLE devices.

Not much you can do.

 

[xcrost]

Or maybe just a glitch in the bluetooth stack of your phone. Every vendor does his own stuff in there, and obviously certification test cases are weak in the BT area.
My guess is that it does not kill existing connections to BLE devices.

Not much you can do.

I would have preferred aliens. Thanks for the info!

 

[volate!lo]

OK. Aliens have hacked the BT stack of your phone to drive you nuts.

 

[xcrost]

OK. Aliens have hacked the BT stack of your phone to drive you nuts.

I guess my concern is I thought if I turned BT off it would no longer interfere with Tello. But If the phone BT is still active there is nothing I can do which sux.

 

[volate!lo]

I have to confess I was a bad boy.

I added licensing to TelloFpv.

Licensing had to be a bit smarter than normal to prevent legitimate users from being hit by a "License expired" message when out in the field without internet access.
TelloFpv has already been using the Google license verification process for some time in the background, and has cached valid licenses locally on each phone so most users will already have a license in their cache.

For a grace period of a couple of days this will continue to work in the background.

After that grace period has expired a valid license will be required for using the app.
In case your phone does not have one, it will say so and will require that you connect to the internet once for validating the license. Once TelloFpv has validated the license it will not bug you again, except after a delete & re-install.

You can ensure that you have a valid license by just starting the app once while connected to the internet. You won't see anything, but in the background it will ask google play to validate the license and cache a positive result.
Anyone who has purchased through google play has a valid license. everyone else who "found" the app on the internet will be kicked out.

That should keep the software pirates at bay. Especially smart kids that download every single version of the app, just to cancel the purchase five minutes later and get an automated refund from Google. In some countries this amounted to 20% of all downloads.

I hope this doesn't cause any headache for legitimate users like you!

 

[xcrost]

Remove controller batteries.

LOL Im not cracking open my T1d ha! But controller aside, If the phone BT is always active searching for something to connect too regardless of BT on or off this would cause some interference right? I do not have any BT devices paired including the T1D. It must be a glitch in the phone. Thanks AT&T.

 

[mcsound]

I added licensing to TelloFpv.
You can ensure that you have a valid license by just starting the app once while connected to the internet. You won't see anything, but in the background it will ask google play to validate the license and cache a positive result.
Anyone who has purchased through google play has a valid license. everyone else who "found" the app on the internet will be kicked out.

I sincerely hope this will work for you, even in presence of LuckyPatcher, cracked Google Play, etc. which could block your app access to internet and feed it with fake license on a rooted devices...
At least they won't bother you with unpaid service requests.

 

[volate!lo]

I did not know you could do that!

You can get an automated refund on any App purchase by cancelling within 2 hours of purchase. The developer has nothing to say in this process, its fully automated and you can do this 20 times in a row for each app you like.

I sincerely hope this will work for you, even in presence of LuckyPatcher, cracked Google Play, etc. which could block your app access to internet and feed it with fake license on a rooted devices...
At least they won't bother you with unpaid service requests.

I know these tools. These are not my primary concern. Its the masses of kids just downloading, extracting the APK and getting a refund.

Also I have ensured that these tools don't work. All these tools do is fake "license granted" responses, but I know license verification in TelloFpv has to fail under certain conditions. If it does not fail at the right spot, the app knows it has been cracked and will refuse to start next time. I could even consider displaying a funny message inflight and either crash Tello or let it fly away. Not nice...

They can still use TelloFpv, but have to delete & reinstall on every flight.
Or they have to really de-compile, study the obfuscated garbage manually, and hack the code. Far too much hassle to be worth it.
We will see. My main concern is to keep the legitimate users happy and block the kids looking for a free ride. Not going to mess with the real hackers.

 

[volate!lo]

LOL Im not cracking open my T1d ha! But controller aside, If the phone BT is always active searching for something to connect too regardless of BT on or off this would cause some interference right? I do not have any BT devices paired including the T1D. It must be a glitch in the phone. Thanks AT&T.

I doubt the BT developers are nuts and search for BT devices with BT off. I guess they just kept the existing BLE connections / subscriptions open.
SO if you turn of BT before opening the app you should be safe.

 

[xcrost]

Not AT&T. Blame the phone's manufacturer.

I did not know the Gamsirs had rechargeable batteries enclosed inside. I figured it was similar to my Stratus, with a comparment for AA batteries.

I doubt the BT developers are nuts and search for BT devices with BT off. I guess they just kept the existing BLE connections / subscriptions open.
SO if you turn of BT before opening the app you should be safe.

Nope. I even re-started the phone and the T1d connected to the app immediately when switched on. BT was OFF. Very puzzleing

 

[xcrost]

Easiest way to fix this is with a hammer.

To my head or the phone?

 

[briest]

You can ensure that you have a valid license by just starting the app once while connected to the internet. You won't see anything, but in the background it will ask google play to validate the license and cache a positive result.

That will probably mean no more TelloFPV for me... although I've paid for it. The reason is my only GooglePlay-infested device has no OTG capability and no GPS, so it spends its time in drawer and is used only to purchase apps. Then they get transferred to the one device they'd be actually used on. Putting GApps on other devices is not an option.

Pity, but no hard feelings here - I know my case is somewhat uncommon and I'm still glad that my purchase supported development. Just to let you know there are some corner cases.

 

[tello_ar]

No of course not. Can you send me the interesting part of the recording via some sharing? WeTransfer or something like this?

Using Galaxy J7 (2016) running Oreo on beta channel (TelloFPV 0.98) I did a test flight with Tello. The low battery limit was set to 20%. Drone was responsive. The battery reached 20% and the numbers turn into red, a beep sound was heard, the Battery low warning was displayed – everything as expected. I entered main settings, lowered the Low Battery percentage to 15 percent. The battery percentage numbers turn back into white (it was now at 17%), but suddenly the drone becomes unresponsive to commands. I mean I was pressing the screen but the app behaves as if I was not touching it. The video was continuing to run but the controls were blocked. I switched off the app, switch back to it but meanwhile the drone auto landed. I checked the controls and they were working again.
All this I have recorder using DU Recorder so I have evidences.

Is this an expected behavior on low battery?

I've got a somewhat similar situation going on, but now more often than at the beginning, --almost regularly. But not battery level related or anything else I could figure out so far, including video on or off.

I fly the Tello in Video Mode with TelloFPV (0.98), T1s, Android 8.0.0 (LG G6, airplane mode, only Wifi active, Xiaomi Mi Wifi extender, Gamesir T1s, OTG cable "Cable Creation", securely connected). After a couple minutes the app freezes and the T1s is off (or the other way around, I wasn't able yet to establish the exact sequence of events).

Now the really bad part is, that the Tello continues to fly with whatever the last command it had received.

So, yesterday, I had gone up to ~30m (a bit nervously, to take some video of our East Coast snow here) in an urban area and (luckily!!) just had her lined up to slowly descent between phone lines, trees, roofs, etc., to land on a small snow-free paved area in the back yard when this happened again. I had the Tello in a very distinctive flight pattern, i.e. in a slow downward spiral when the app stopped to any type of input, and the T1s had disconnected (no screen input, no controller input, nothing). The Tello come down all the way in this distinctive flight pattern and only stopped doing this once it was at it's minimum flight height of about ~40cm/16in above ground. It hovered there safely and I was able to do my usual routine of reconnecting/restarting the app&controller mid flight. Video at this point is lost too...

Every time this happens it takes an agonizing 5(?) seconds to to restart the T1s via the 'home button' and wait for the TelloFPV app to reconnect and resume operations (which it reliably does). At this point I am admittedly apprehensive to continue flights outside (ordering one of those tiny 433MHz trackers now, --just in case.)

Anyone else experiencing this? At first I thought it was some sort of fluke, but now I get this about every 4 to 5 flights... It might just be my particular setup, who knows... --thoughts? Anyone?

 

[Derek stev]

tengo
problemas
con la compra en google play
hay alguna otra opcion de compra?

 

[raulvolador]

I have to confess I was a bad boy.

I added licensing to TelloFpv.

Licensing had to be a bit smarter than normal to prevent legitimate users from being hit by a "License expired" message when out in the field without internet access.
TelloFpv has already been using the Google license verification process for some time in the background, and has cached valid licenses locally on each phone so most users will already have a license in their cache.

For a grace period of a couple of days this will continue to work in the background.

After that grace period has expired a valid license will be required for using the app.
In case your phone does not have one, it will say so and will require that you connect to the internet once for validating the license. Once TelloFpv has validated the license it will not bug you again, except after a delete & re-install.

You can ensure that you have a valid license by just starting the app once while connected to the internet. You won't see anything, but in the background it will ask google play to validate the license and cache a positive result.
Anyone who has purchased through google play has a valid license. everyone else who "found" the app on the internet will be kicked out.

That should keep the software pirates at bay. Especially smart kids that download every single version of the app, just to cancel the purchase five minutes later and get an automated refund from Google. In some countries this amounted to 20% of all downloads.

I hope this doesn't cause any headache for legitimate users like you!

@volate!lo,

I can understand you. Your fight against pirates is fair. You have to protect your excellent work.

I only ask you to be extremely carefull with us, legitimate users. Take into account we usually set our phone into airplane mode previous to flight, that means no internet access. Please perform a safe license verification process. I would not like your app freezes in mid-flight due Google license verification denied.

All the best.

Raul
-----

 

[raulvolador]

I've got a somewhat similar situation going on, but now more often than at the beginning, --almost regularly. But not battery level related or anything else I could figure out so far, including video on or off.

I fly the Tello in Video Mode with TelloFPV (0.98), T1s, Android 8.0.0 (LG G6, airplane mode, only Wifi active, Xiaomi Mi Wifi extender, Gamesir T1s, OTG cable "Cable Creation", securely connected). After a couple minutes the app freezes and the T1s is off (or the other way around, I wasn't able yet to establish the exact sequence of events).

Now the really bad part is, that the Tello continues to fly with whatever the last command it had received.

So, yesterday, I had gone up to ~30m (a bit nervously, to take some video of our East Coast snow here) in an urban area and (luckily!!) just had her lined up to slowly descent between phone lines, trees, roofs, etc., to land on a small snow-free paved area in the back yard when this happened again. I had the Tello in a very distinctive flight pattern, i.e. in a slow downward spiral when the app stopped to any type of input, and the T1s had disconnected (no screen input, no controller input, nothing). The Tello come down all the way in this distinctive flight pattern and only stopped doing this once it was at it's minimum flight height of about ~40cm/16in above ground. It hovered there safely and I was able to do my usual routine of reconnecting/restarting the app&controller mid flight. Video at this point is lost too...

Every time this happens it takes an agonizing 5(?) seconds to to restart the T1s via the 'home button' and wait for the TelloFPV app to reconnect and resume operations (which it reliably does). At this point I am admittedly apprehensive to continue flights outside (ordering one of those tiny 433MHz trackers now, --just in case.)

Anyone else experiencing this? At first I thought it was some sort of fluke, but now I get this about every 4 to 5 flights... It might just be my particular setup, who knows... --thoughts? Anyone?

I suggest you testing your gamesir T1s controller outside TelloFPV app (not TelloFPV not Tello at all). I recommend you free Gamepad Tester app:



Something similar happend to me some time ago. My Usb OTG wired Gamesir T1 switched off randomnly. I solved it this way:

Gamesir T1 controller sleep mode (SOLVED)

I hope it helps

raul.

 

[vazmuten]

I've got a somewhat similar situation going on, but now more often than at the beginning, --almost regularly. But not battery level related or anything else I could figure out so far, including video on or off.
...
Anyone else experiencing this? At first I thought it was some sort of fluke, but now I get this about every 4 to 5 flights... It might just be my particular setup, who knows... --thoughts? Anyone?

May be if you make video records on your phone during this incidents the developer could investigate better what really is happening behind the scenes.

In my case when I carefully re-checked the recorded video the onscreen directional pads were displaying movement on the screen but the drone does was not responding to them. So the app was not stuck and the video stream coming from the drone was still continuing to play. I also tried many onscreen buttons including to hand land, to stop the video recording, and they were not working at all.

volate!lo said that he has an idea what is causing this and was surprised that no one else complained.

 

[volate!lo]

Nope. I even re-started the phone and the T1d connected to the app immediately when switched on. BT was OFF. Very puzzleing

OK, the developers of your phone's ROM are nuts.

@volate!lo,

I can understand you. Your fight against pirates is fair. You have to protect your excellent work.

I only ask you to be extremely carefull with us, legitimate users. Take into account we usually set our phone into airplane mode previous to flight, that means no internet access. Please perform a safe license verification process. I would not like your app freezes in mid-flight due Google license verification denied.

All the best.

Raul
-----

License enforcement only happens at startup.

If you open TelloFpv after installing / updating (with internet still on) like most people do, you will most likely never see anything from licensing.

That will probably mean no more TelloFPV for me... although I've paid for it. The reason is my only GooglePlay-infested device has no OTG capability and no GPS, so it spends its time in drawer and is used only to purchase apps. Then they get transferred to the one device they'd be actually used on. Putting GApps on other devices is not an option.

Pity, but no hard feelings here - I know my case is somewhat uncommon and I'm still glad that my purchase supported development. Just to let you know there are some corner cases.

I understand your point. Give me a few days and I will add an input field to the about dialog, so you can send me the device ID displayed there and I will send you a code, which stores a permanent license on your devices.

tengo
problemas
con la compra en google play
hay alguna otra opcion de compra?

no, sorry

 

[volate!lo]

I've got a somewhat similar situation going on, but now more often than at the beginning, --almost regularly. But not battery level related or anything else I could figure out so far, including video on or off.

I fly the Tello in Video Mode with TelloFPV (0.98), T1s, Android 8.0.0 (LG G6, airplane mode, only Wifi active, Xiaomi Mi Wifi extender, Gamesir T1s, OTG cable "Cable Creation", securely connected). After a couple minutes the app freezes and the T1s is off (or the other way around, I wasn't able yet to establish the exact sequence of events).

Now the really bad part is, that the Tello continues to fly with whatever the last command it had received.

So, yesterday, I had gone up to ~30m (a bit nervously, to take some video of our East Coast snow here) in an urban area and (luckily!!) just had her lined up to slowly descent between phone lines, trees, roofs, etc., to land on a small snow-free paved area in the back yard when this happened again. I had the Tello in a very distinctive flight pattern, i.e. in a slow downward spiral when the app stopped to any type of input, and the T1s had disconnected (no screen input, no controller input, nothing). The Tello come down all the way in this distinctive flight pattern and only stopped doing this once it was at it's minimum flight height of about ~40cm/16in above ground. It hovered there safely and I was able to do my usual routine of reconnecting/restarting the app&controller mid flight. Video at this point is lost too...

Every time this happens it takes an agonizing 5(?) seconds to to restart the T1s via the 'home button' and wait for the TelloFPV app to reconnect and resume operations (which it reliably does). At this point I am admittedly apprehensive to continue flights outside (ordering one of those tiny 433MHz trackers now, --just in case.)

Anyone else experiencing this? At first I thought it was some sort of fluke, but now I get this about every 4 to 5 flights... It might just be my particular setup, who knows... --thoughts? Anyone?

What happens with the onscreen joysticks / if the controller switches off? Can you use them? You should set external controller to "student" so onscreen can override your controller anytime. If you autohide them no problem, they will show up anytime when you touch them.


I agree its very bad that Tello continues on its path, but I have no way of knowing that T1s has turned off / disconnected until Android announces that the InputDevice XY is gone (which happens with a long delay, I haven't checked with T1s but I would expect 30s).
I could add a timer based check to see if the sticks have been moved over the last 5seconds, and if not just hover. But that would interfere with normal operations for all users going a straight line.
To verify this: Can you do as Raul suggested and test a few times with the gamepad tester app? If there is only one disconnect from that service it's a clear indicator that the T1s triggers this and that there is nothing I can do about it.

May be if you make video records on your phone during this incidents the developer could investigate better what really is happening behind the scenes.

In my case when I carefully re-checked the recorded video the onscreen directional pads were displaying movement on the screen but the drone does was not responding to them. So the app was not stuck and the video stream coming from the drone was still continuing to play. I also tried many onscreen buttons including to hand land, to stop the video recording, and they were not working at all.

volate!lo said that he has an idea what is causing this and was surprised that no one else complained.

Right now I on't think that these issues are related, due to the way onscreen and external controller are handled. You had a "disconnect" of the onscreen joysticks, which are handled differently.
I am looking into this today.

 

[mcsound]

I know these tools. These are not my primary concern. Its the masses of kids just downloading, extracting the APK and getting a refund.

Okay, I hope to see the app in Ukrainian Play Store then, so I can make purchase (without cancelling it).
And regarding online license checks, I'll most probably sometimes arrive to the places where the cell phone coverage doesn't exist at all, so I'm also potentially interested in workaround.