Hello Tello Pilot!
Join our DJI Tello community & remove this banner.
Sign up

New App: TelloMe for iOS

volate!lo

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2018
Messages
3,095
Reaction score
2,685
Location
Germany
Yeah! After weeks of discussions with the Apple review team my app "TelloMe" for iOS has finally been released on the Apple store.

Its an app for just one thing:

Make Tello follow a face / person (or a small group of people).

Tello can follow from behind, or stay at a position relative to the person (profile mode: that is Tello can record a walking person from the side, or from ahead).
Tello can keep a constant distance, and keep the person in frame by adjusting to altitude changes.
Maximum speed is slow running and calm weather is required (computer vision requires image stabilization so it's slow video mode only).
Roadmap:
Make Tello fly circles & helix around a (walking) person or group.
Be able to identify and track one person even if other persons are closer & more prominent.

Link:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tellome/id1494624791?l=en&ls=1



And a bit more info:
No, this functionality will never become part of TelloFpv Android. This needs way more power than the average phone that TelloFpv users have. If I added this I'd have to lock out half of the user base. I know folks with powerful phones don't care but this just isn't a smart move for a small niche app like TelloFpv. That would simply be the end of TelloFpv.

Yes, I am working on a similar dedicated app for Android, but it will need at least the power of an S8 or maybe even S10 (not sure yet).

Yes, I am looking into TelloFpv IOS but it will be a full re-development and will start small with a reduced feature set.

Priorities between these two depend on the market perception of TelloMe.
Bear with me as this is a one-man show :)
 
An android follow me app : I'm ready to spend a few $$$ for another app that can
Make Tello fly circles & helix around a (walking) person or group.
Be able to identify and track one person even if other persons are closer & more prominent.
as I'm really bad in controlling manually my drone ?
 
understood. I am flying OK, but realistically in good conditions the Autopilots do a better job than I do
 
Does it include controller compatibility? I would buy it if it has. I had Tellofpv on my old android phone and really wanted to use something similar for iphone. I am willing to pay extra.
 
this is an app only for FollowMe and nothing else.


No controller support, no photos, no sport mode, no RTH, no telemetry, no autopilot, ...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thisbeaux
Amazing work volate!lo! I bought yesterday and the tello just go up to another level.
Could be possible in the future to use follow and profile at the same time ?

And thanks for your work in this and InTelloFPV.
Can't see how Follow & Profile could work at the same time conceptually. To keep an object in frame the app can either move tello sideways as the object moves, or rotate Tello. If you do both at the same time you win nothing, just unpredictable behavior


What could be possible is a "smart profile" mode:
Currently with profile mode Tello stays at a position relative to the subject (say in front of you). As you walk forward Tello stays ahead of you. If you turn left, Tello will keep the same position relative to you (it used to be in front of you, but since you turned left its now on your right side and follows you). If you turn left agin Tello is now behind you.

In Smart Profile mode TelloMe would analyze your head movement, and keep a constant position relative to your head position and direction. Initially Tello would be ahead of you , and know that you are looking straight towards Tello. if you walk forward tello would fly backward. You turn left, and Tello recognizes your face is now looking 90deg left, so it will move around to get into the same position it was before (looking straight into your the face)


That is just an idea. I haven't tried that yet so details need to be ironed out (obviously you don't want Tello to violently shoot left just because you turned your head after a beautiful girl).
Also its a lot of effort to make this work, and currently not my priority.
 
  • Like
Reactions: elJona
Yes, that was the idea about that.
And thanks for the fast answer.
 
My tello attacked me. It was pretty cool. Wasn’t so much an attack. More of a threatening gesture. Lmao. So much fun!!! I feel like a kid again. But I’ve only played indoors with it. It wants more space. And light. I realized tello was coming at my face when I looked down at phone. It was following my eye balls!! Haha. This TelloMe app is amazing!!!! The stock tello app cannot come close to this brilliance. A masterpiece app by volate!lo. I feel like the app is worth more than the price.... I don’t see why DJI and/or Ryze doesn’t just hire you volate!lo?.?!
Side note.
I do need to check my iPhone settings and see why the app wants to go to sleep after 30 seconds or whatever. Trying to get it where app stays on while open. So many settings nowadays. Setting for this and that and the other.
Cheers!!! I was trying to talk Cupid into buying me a spark or Mavic mini. Mmmmmm. Yeahhhhh. Not that any new drone would interfere with the relationship I have with my tello. I had a busy night at work. Need some tello time. lol. Happy Valentines!
 
yes, but IMO the results aren't good enough. One beta tester used it to follow some slow RC car. Fun but well, not really useful.
I haven't tried this but I think another tello is far too small to track it successfully.

Object follow is one of the experimental features that will be part of the next release, but I doubt it will ever become a full feature.
 
Just to know
As i have and fly with your current app with android phone
When ever will be released this version
Will it be possible do "Add " this option to the current app
Will b great!!
 
The next release is waiting at apple's doors again :-(

It will bring two experimental features:
Track object (actually its not tracking an object but a visual pattern you select by drawing a box on the screen)
Orbit person (that one is cool !)


Just to know
As i have and fly with your current app with android phone
When ever will be released this version
Will it be possible do "Add " this option to the current app
Will b great!!
I won't add this to TelloFpv (see first post) . The implications would kill the app.
Making it a separate app has of course also business reasons (I want to monetize my work just like anyone else). But if that was the only reason I could just do a TelloFpv In-App purchase.
More important for me are vastly different hardware requirements and the fact that some TelloFpv functions like taking photos or sport mode will cause trouble with FollowMe.
Ultimately the user experience would suffer, and we'd read questions like these twice a day: Why can't my 2015 budget phone do FollowMe? Why does FolowMe not work after I take a photo? Why doesn't FollowMe work in sport mode?
Bottom line: I am not going to risk TelloFpv's excellent rating and reputation for a feature that only works for people with expensive phones and only in certain conditions.
So this will become a separate app.

No promises on release schedule. Still making up my mind which one to do first: "TelloFpv iOS" or "TelloMe Android".

It would be nice if eventually you could do this with the mini.
I am not sure I want to get into the Mavic Mini App business.
Tello is a toy and if it crashes nothing happens typically. if Tello crashes into a face one needs bad luck to receive even small bruises. The associated risks are minimal.
If a mini crashes people will be upset, because one crash and that gimbal is typically toast. If the mini crashes into a face one can easily loose an eye or half of the nose.
Overall the risks are much greater.
And personally I just enjoy my Tellos much more than my Mini. Yes, its a superior device but just not that much fun.

But: It was confirmed by DJI that the mini will get SDK support, and just shortly after Litchi should support the Mini. I guess they will include features like active track / FollowMe. So there is hope.
 
It will bring two experimental features:
Track object (actually its not tracking an object but a visual pattern you select by drawing a box on the screen)
Orbit person (that one is cool !)

Great.

Question:
Does some certain color easy for image processing? (yellow, orange or man in black)

Suggestion:
Stop tracking is mostly used in this App for security reason. If I am not looking at phone, it will take me 500ms to find "stop" and touch it correctly. Is it possible to add following option to your later release:
Shake iphone => stop tracking.
Shake iphone for 1s => cut power
 
  • Like
Reactions: CallmeDash
Clearly distinguishable colors help.

The YT videos of Gadget Inspector included the worst possible combinations:
Dark skin, black clothing, black baseball cap, tracked on a background of black tar... Still it worked OK for the most part.
Same for person dressed in dark colors against sun & snow, which reduces the image to the outline without any details

Shake detection should be possible, I will check if / how well this works.
Right now you can simply double tap anywhere on the screen (except buttons) to stop tracking.

I am not a fan of cutting power on shake. Someone does a short run, and tello falls out of the sky.
 
Great job on this app. Had been getting bored of my Tello and this app has just added some great features. I often go hiking on trails in the forest (places I’d never fly my Spark or Phantom 3 Standard) and this new app should be great for tracking me or the family.

Any chance future versions will record a DAT file like the stock app so that flights can be logged?

Chris
 
upcoming version has "shake to stop" in addition to "double tap to stop". I also considered "falldown on shake" but I don't like it. If someone is caught in conditions where an emergency shutdown may be required he should not have used TelloMe in the first place. TelloMe is for totally calm conditions only.

I never looked into the DAT file format as I don't consider it really useful for the average user.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chrislaf

New Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
5,690
Messages
39,934
Members
17,023
Latest member
Repiv

New Posts