UPDATED: Latest DJI Fly Android app only available from DJI’s website, not the Play Store

The DJI Fly app on Android hasn’t been updated since November, with DJI asking users to download it from its website instead. This is resulting in users not getting the latest updates and features, but why is it happening?

UPDATE: There is a chance that the DJI Fly app isn’t updated on the Play Store. Google announced a while back that app developers will have to ensure their apps are packaged as bundles (AAB) rather than the standard APK. According to a DroneDJ reader, DJI’s SDK has a bug that prevents it from compiling in this new AAB standard.

Looking at the version live on the Play Store, it is currently 1.2.1, while the latest version available to the public via DJI’s website is 1.2.4. This brings up the question of why the app isn’t receiving updates through the store?

As this issue has been around ever since the November update, we first thought that it was stuck at the approval phase from Google during the holiday period. But now that it has been a little longer, it seems that something else might be going on.

While looking around for an answer to this question, I stumbled upon the DJI Fly page on the company’s website. Previously you would be able to find the download for the App Store, the Play Store, and an option to download the Android version from DJI’s servers directly.

The Play Store option no longer exists. Leaving the App Store and the direct download option left. DJI has likely done this to remove confusion and the possibility of someone downloading the app’s wrong version.

So, why?

We aren’t entirely sure why the app hasn’t received updates through the Play Store for some time now. There’s a possibility that Google has denied the newer version of the app because of something added into the app as the older version of the app is still on the Play Store.

The other, less likely option is that DJI isn’t uploading a newer version of the app to the Play Store for an unknown reason. We sent DJI a note to ask what the reasoning is behind the new version of the app not being on the Play Store.

For now, though, it appears that DJI wants people to download the app directly from its website to get the latest fixes and features. You can head over to this link to download the app. Please ensure you download it from DJI’s website, as other websites can add malware to the app.

Photo: Josh Spires, DJI, and Google