16 Best Drone Apps in 2024: Download Before Your 1st Fly

Top 16 Drone Apps

Drone apps are the easiest way to enhance drone flying as almost all drones depend on using a smartphone as the flight or camera systems. Yes, you receive a drone camera app from your drone manufacturer but if it’s not enough, try one of these drone apps for controlling flight and photo/video recording.

1. AirMap

Best drone cam app in 2024

At first sight, this drone camera app looks like other quadcopter apps showing where you can fly. Actually, it is the truth. However, the majority of other drone applications take info from AirMap, while this one offers useful features as the Digital Notice and Awareness System.

In short, it is a system that enables you to notify the closest airport to the place where you’re flying a drone. To do this, you have only to push a button. Although it is allowed to fly a drone within 5 miles of the airport, you should necessarily notify the airport because they may see it on the radar.

Together with the Federal Aviation Administration, the developers of AirMap created this online app. This year, it is connected with over 500 airports. Moreover, AirMap monitors the local air traffic and, it immediately warns you in case it detects an airplane somewhere nearby.

2. DJI Go

Best drone video app for DJI

Today, it is one of the most popular drones on the market and more and more users choose DJI. Consequently, DJI Go app is also a frequent choice.

Speaking about its basic functions, this drone controller app can fly your best camera drone controlling the camera. However, it offers many other options that improve the capabilities of DJI drones.

Using this drone video app, you have the opportunity to edit and share pics and videos right from it. Moreover, it has smart flight modes, live HD view, flight data tracking and logging.

I may continue the list of alternative options, but I recommend trying DJI Go app at first.

• View more aerial photography drones.

3. Litchi

Best drone app for planning

Even if you’re a happy owner of the DJI Go app and completely satisfied with its performance, it’s better to try some other quadcopter apps to compare. For example, Litchi. Being a serious DJI alternative, it offers really remarkable features.

To begin with, you may use its autonomous tracking options which can help while recording video.

It has various video modes (Panorama, Orbit me, Follow me, Ground station, Waypoints, VR Mode, Focus). This app is perfect for beautiful watersport aerial photography.

Personally, I am impressed with its Mission Hub. It allows you to plan flights in advance from the computer. So, when you arrive at the location, the drone flies according to the previously created route.

Speaking about the price, this drone cam app is one of the most expensive ones and costs $23. However, it is worth buying since it offers very useful features.

• Check out what are the best drones for photography.

4. Hover

High-quality camera drone app

It is one of those drone camera apps that use the info from AirMap. In general, Hover is a decent application that “tells” you where you can fly your drone. It is very helpful if you plan to have long shooting.

Moreover, this drone flying app warns you not only about the air traffic but also informs about the weather conditions and the wind in your shooting area.

It also has flight-logging features. You may save them and send to your device.

There is nothing special about this feature but you don’t have to bother and install one more tool to log your flights. Being one of the best drone apps for Android, it is also supported by iOS.

• Improve your skills with birds eye view photography tips.

5. Google Maps

Best drone map for creating map plans

If you want everything to be planned in advance, Google Maps is definitely your option.

Apart from basic functions, this drone flying app will easily find the best places to launch the drone. Moreover, it can also recommend good aerial photography locations and instruct how to get to them. Besides, Google Maps can measure distance.

If I want to find some interesting areas to launch the drone, I usually resort to Google Maps. This drone cam app offers wonderful places, which are impossible to notice from the ground. If I open Google Maps, I may spend hours searching for perfect locations.

If you want to see the contours of the landscape, use the Terrain Mode.

6. Kittyhawk

Best drone cam app for beginners

If you are looking for the drone app with a broad range of features, pay attention to this app. Using Kittyhawk, you have accurate and up-to-date weather and air traffic info. It also performs pre-flight checks and post-flight analysis.

This drone video app is constantly upgraded; therefore, you can test new useful features. However, such updates require a subscription. So, download this application and check its capabilities.

7. PhotoPills

Best drone cam app for experts

If I had to choose only one drone cam app, I would choose this one. PhotoPills is an application with different features and this review is not enough to describe all of them. The majority of the options are very useful.

Planner and Sun Modes help you see direction, movement and angels of the sun. Thus, you get info on how much light you have and may plan sunrise or sunset shooting.

There is also the Drone View mode, which plans the composition according to the altitude. Actually, this drone controller app exceeded all my expectations.

• Learn more landscape photography tips while drone flights.

8. Autopilot

Best autopilot drone app

Most high-quality drones, like DJI Phantom, Mavic Air, Spark, or Mavic Pro, have their own drone camera apps. However, if you want to get a professional result and more control over the device, I advise you to pay attention to Autopilot which is among the best drone apps.

When using it, you can control the smoothness of movements better and get cinematic quality frames. Besides, Autopilot can record more information than other similar quadcopter apps, operating on the principle of an airplane black box.

It will simplify the process of troubleshooting. The application stores the data from your drone on an online server. You can use it later at any convenient time.

• Use this drone application when doing real estate aerial photography.

9. DJI Store App

Best drone app for searching hotspots

DJI Store drone cam app was initially created to sell the stuff. However, this application has one more useful feature – you can easily find flying hotspots with its help.

You will see them on the map. There is also information about people flying drones nearby. You can also create a profile and share interesting aerial photos with other users.

• View the best drones for real estate photography.

10. GoPro Passenger

Best drone app for GoPro cameras

With GoPro Passenger, you can view live video from your quadcopter on multiple devices at once. In addition, this drone cam app allows you to get more control over the drone and the camera.

You can work with your friend. While you are controlling the drone, he/she is managing the camera and the image quality. This feature helps you achieve a really impressive result.

• Check out efficient GoPro alternatives for your drone.

11. UAV Forecast

Best drone app for weather forecasts

UAV Forecast is an absolutely free official drone flying app that can help you choose the right time for your flights. All you need to do is enter information about your quadrocopter, time and location where you are going to work.

The application will analyze all the data and provide you with a fairly accurate forecast. You will find out whether it is safe to fly the drone in such weather conditions. UAV Forecast will show you information about air temperature, wind direction and speed, cloud cover, and visibility. This data is incredibly important for drone control.

12. B4UFly

Best data search drone app

Drone users who live and work in the United States must follow the rules established by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).

B4UFly is the official FAA drone flying app, featuring a map with detailed information about different areas and whether you are permitted to fly your drone in that area or not. The application contains information about all airports, as well as the 5-mile zone around each of them.

13. Tesla Field Recorder

Best drone app for identifying magnetic fields

This application differs a lot from other drone apps for Android and iOS devices. It can detect magnetic fields. You may wonder whether this is really important, but the fact is that electromagnetic fields can interfere with the correct operation of your drone.

I encountered such difficulties earlier, so Tesla Field Recorder has become a real salvation for me. Now I study the information on magnetic fields first and only then decide where I should use a drone. By the way, you can share data from this application with your friends.

14. Sky Viper Simulator

Best drone simulator app

The main advantage of Sky Viper Simulator, if compared to other drone apps for iPhone, is flight simulation. You do not have to buy a quadrocopter in order to have some practice.

This easy-to-use application will allow you to try your hand at drone controlling, photo and video shooting. You can learn how to work with both the simplest drones and the most powerful ones using Sky Viper Simulator.

15. Pix4D Capture

Best 3D modeling drone app

Photogrammetry is the process of converting 2-D images shot with a drone into 3-D models. Pix4D Capture is one of the best drone apps for DJI, Parrot, and 3DR devices that can cope with such a task. It can create a flight path and then upload the flight data to Pix4D servers.

Use these servers or your personal computer to process data and get 3D models of objects captured by your drone's camera. Unfortunately, the subscription is quite expensive. An annual subscription costs almost $500. However, you can use a 15-day trial version to understand whether you need to invest in the application.

16. Sun Surveyor

Best drone app for planning sunrise/sunset shooting

Do you want to shoot impressive photos and videos of sunset or sunrise using your drone, but don’t know how to define the ideal time for shooting? I recommend you try Sun Surveyor. This is one of the best drone apps to learn the exact time of sunset and sunrise.

It shows you the current position of the sun and the full path of the sun and moon during the whole year. Use the camera of your smartphone to select locations with perfect natural lighting. The full version of this drone video app costs about $8.

This is a fairly affordable price, given the wide range of services and useful information about various celestial bodies this application provides.

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