Anyone know the REAL reasons why Tower isn't on iOS? I'm not interested in theories, only facts. If there is some part of Apple's rules that it violates, I want to know which part exactly. If it's a matter of there being nobody to do the port, I'd like to know that too.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Replies
Well, one fact I know of is that Tower was originally DroidPlanner, and the most common method of connecting the tablet to a drone was through a USB connection to the 3DR telemetry radio. There isn't a version of the cable that fits the Apple connector (that I know of), so there is little point in building an iOS app if the connection is USB. The same connection method is still used for every copter aside from Solo, and the Solo app is meant to be the one used with Solo (although it's clearly ok to use Tower with it if you're running an Android tablet).
There might be some additional limitation Apple imposes on apps like Tower. I think there's some sort of "made for iPod" program you have to join and pay a fee so you can use the connector. I'm not sure.
Weeeeell, AFAIK the Android version doesn't need a radio modem to work. You can connect via a UDP connection. Lots of ground control software has UDP support.
It can't be that Apple doesn't want autonomous mission planning software on iOS because DJI has one.
Could be. I guess I should have mentioned the UDP connection, but to my knowledge, the only 3DR drone that doesn't use the USB-type radios is the Solo, and there's already an app for the Solo. It could be they just haven't gotten around to building the iOS version yet.