# Drone Start — Advanced Drone Flight Checks > Advanced drone flight check and planning tool for safe and efficient drone operations. (iPhone/iPad app by Neil Faulkner.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drone-start/id1214900467 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Neil Faulkner](https://appshunter.io/developer/527056831) - Category: Utilities, Weather - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.10/5 from 47 App Store ratings · 29 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 120 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2017-08-03 - Data updated: 2026-07-05 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drone-start/id1214900467/reviews.md ## What is Drone Start? Drone Start is an advanced flight check & planning tool for drones. Drone Start is packed full of features that will help you plan a safe drone flight every time! You simply turn on your drone, plug your device into the drone controller, open the app & tap Start! Drone Start will then do a comprehensive set of advanced checks to see if its safe to fly in your current area & it will even check your drones battery and sensors in real time to check your drone is in perfect condition to take off! When your not out flying you can use Drone Start to create comprehensive flight plans, just type in where you want to fly and Drone Start will get Weather, GPS, Light Levels, Terrain Elevation, No Fly Zones and more! You can also plan your flight route and find out the elevation change & how much battery you'll have left! You can view the area map and see No Fly Zones, Terrain Elevations, Sunrise/Sunset Times & Positions plus you can also see an animated Wind Map, showing the wind direction with colour coded arrows so you can immediately see if its too windy to fly or not. Drone Starts calculation are also based on your drone model*, so things such as winds speeds and battery range are calculated using your actual drone! Drone Start also has some great advanced features too such as: Daily FlyCast Daily FlyCast is a daily notification sent at sunrise every morning outlining the days flying conditions. You'll also have access to the FlyCast Widget, so you can always quickly check if its good to fly without even opening the app! Solar Storm Warnings Solar Storm Warnings are notifications informing you incoming solar storms which can cause high levels of magnetic interference which can affect GPS signals and impact the accuracy of your RTH point. Intelligent RTH If enabled Drone Start will automatically calculate and set your Return To Home Height based on surround terrain elevation and building heights, making sure your doesn't fly into a mountain side or building when it returns to you! Fly Zone Alert When enabled you will receive a notification informing you have entered a No Fly Zone, we will also let you know when you leave one too! Battery Manager Drone Start records battery data before each flight so you easily check battery health, including deviations. It also recommends battery rotation order if you have multiple batteries. You can also perform a battery test to check it's heath & efficiency, plus create pdf reports from the results. Intelligent VPS If there are large bodies of water in the area, Drone Start will automatically disable your VPS for you and automatically enable it next time you fly in an area with low amounts of water. Active Drone Alerts Get notified when theres a another drone flying near your location. Drone Start Features Include**: Start Checks - Weather, GPS, KP Index, Terrain Elevation & Airspace Checks - Light Checks - Aircraft Checks - Aircraft Warming - Building Height Check - Drone Battery Health Check - Drone Sensor Health Check - Wind Altitude Checks - RTH Height Check - Wind Map - No Fly Zone Map - Terrain Elevation Map - Ephemeris - Dedicated Drone Model Checks - Golden Hour Times - Water Area Check - Active Drone Check - RTH Reminder Flight Plans - 7 Day Weather Forecast - 7 Day GPS Forecast - 7 Day KP Index Forecast - No Fly Zone Check - Terrain Elevation Check - Weather Check - Wind Map - 3D Building Map - No Fly Zone Map - Terrain Elevation Map - Ephemeris - Best Time To Fly - Flight Route Planner - Dedicated Drone Model Checks - Weekly Summary - Light Check - Golden Hour Times *DJI Drone Models are only currently supported. **Some Feature May Require An Active Monthly or Yearly Auto Renewing Subscription. See our Terms of Use here: www.faulknerlabs.io/drone-start-terms ## Key features - Comprehensive pre-flight safety checks - Detailed flight route planning - Real-time drone battery and sensor monitoring - Weather, GPS, and airspace analysis - No-fly zone and wind map visualization - Daily FlyCast notifications - Intelligent Return To Home height calculation ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **Subscriptions** | Subscription | Price | Period | | --- | --- | --- | | Professional Monthly | $1.49 | per month | | Professional Yearly | $9.99 | per year | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 29) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drone-start/id1214900467/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Free trial lasted all of 20 minutes. What a waste of time. *2024-09-07, version 2.0.5* The winds are out of the south, not the north. I don’t really understand how you can charge money for this? Sunset is at 1945, not zero 0845 Maybe I don’t understand what the purpose of the app is supposed to be. either way all this information is available at your fingertips on your smart controller, smart phone or free websites. I suppose the interface seems nice but I don’t get what I’m supposed to do with it. Anyway, I think there’s potential for something here, maybe. But right now it’s junk. Free trial lasted all of about 20 minutes. ### 1/5 — No more support *2024-03-20, version 2.0.5* I bought this app recently for a DJI mini Pro drone. App won’t connect to the drone and the developer support site is gone. Seems to be an abandoned app. ### 5/5 — Amazon is the best with drones *2024-01-06, version 2.0.5* Where did you guys make this every time I son trip every time he wakes up he says where’s my jewel where’s my drone and he loves it it’s it’s always in good condition. The battery takes a little too long for 8 to 10 minutes. The graphics are amazing. Flight time is not that good but but my son still loves it. ### 1/5 — Appears completely non-functional *2023-05-05, version 2.0.5* Surely one of the major features of the app is to plan a flight but this seems to be completely bugged. It doesn’t matter I do this just seems to crash the app. I can choose a location for a flight path but after that there seems to be no way to actually create a flight path. Any interaction with the map just crashes the app. I thought that perhaps subscribing would solve the problems but adding that seems to have made no difference to the app whatsoever, including adding additional features. ### 1/5 — Basic hard to use *2022-11-05, version 2.0.5* Basic and worthless Really confusing on how to use and terrible UI ### 5/5 — Great companion app *2022-07-03, version 2.0.5* For a novice or expert, this app is wonderful. It has a ton of useful features . ### 2/5 — Blank tiles BUG please fix *2022-03-21, version 2.0.4* The three tiles on the drone start page are blank and flip around and do and show nothing. Sometime a random hill height appears on the bottoms left one. ### 5/5 — I wanted a simple app., that covered all aspects while setting a method to the madness. 👍👍 *2021-10-28, version 2.0.3* I wanted an app that is the checklist I usually go through in my head, but in a straight forward app. This checks off seemingly everything I basically do but in a simple, well organized, visual, way. It has a “right to the point” practical list and a clean interface, which never hurts. I’ll be using it because it refreshes me to do a standard comprehensive checklist. PM primary Maintence has saved lots of money in many industries. Worth using it. Signed up. Thanks. ### 5/5 — Answer me this *2021-04-25, version 2.0.2* Why is it DJI FPV not Inc. ### 3/5 — Not working *2021-01-25, version 2.0.2* Doesn’t show mavic air 2 support and app doesn’t seem to work. Be careful buying subscription. Seems like app is no longer running. ## Frequently asked questions about Drone Start ### What does Drone Start do? Drone Start is an advanced tool designed for drone pilots to plan safe flights and perform comprehensive pre-flight checks. It analyzes various factors like weather, GPS, battery health, and local airspace to ensure your drone is ready for takeoff and to help you plan optimal flight routes. ### What are the key features of Drone Start? Key features include comprehensive pre-flight safety checks for weather, GPS, and airspace, real-time monitoring of drone battery and sensors, detailed flight route planning with elevation and wind data, daily FlyCast notifications for flying conditions, and intelligent Return To Home height calculations based on terrain. ### How much does Drone Start cost? The application is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases for advanced features and functionalities. Specific pricing for these in-app purchases can be found within the app itself. ### What kind of drones is Drone Start compatible with? The app's calculations, such as wind speeds and battery range, are based on your specific drone model. While the description mentions this customization, it does not list specific compatible drone models. Users should check within the app for detailed compatibility information. ### What are some common use cases for Drone Start? Common use cases include planning safe drone flights by checking weather and airspace restrictions, creating detailed flight routes with elevation and battery estimates, monitoring drone battery health over time, and receiving alerts for no-fly zones or solar storms that could affect GPS. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.0.5 — 2022-03-23 - Bug Fixes ### 2.0.4 — 2021-11-04 - Bug Fixes ### 2.0.3 — 2021-05-26 - Bug Fixes - New Drones Added ### 2.0.2 — 2020-08-14 Version 2.0.2: - Various Bug Fixes Version 2.0.1: - Various Bug Fixes Version 2.0.0: Drone Start has been completely redesigned and now is packed with even more features. We've also made big changes under the hood so the app is faster and more reliable! New features include: - 3D Maps - Heights of buildings in the area and these are taken into account for RTH suggestions. - Location dashboard and information about the area you'll be flying in. - Aircraft in the area and level of severity. - Dedicated pilot rules for the type of licence you have. - Dark Mode ### 2.0.1 — 2020-08-09 Version 2.0.1: - Various Bug Fixes Version 2.0.0: Drone Start has been completely redesigned and now is packed with even more features. We've also made big changes under the hood so the app is faster and more reliable! New features include: - 3D Maps - Heights of buildings in the area and these are taken into account for RTH suggestions. - Location dashboard and information about the area you'll be flying in. - Aircraft in the area and level of severity. - Dedicated pilot rules for the type of licence you have. - Dark Mode ## Apps similar to Drone Start | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Drone Buddy: Fly Drone Safely](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drone-buddy-fly-drone-safely/id992303145) | 4.7 (8,422) | Free | Utilities | | [OpenSky - App for Drone Flyers](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/opensky-app-for-drone-flyers/id1460758466) | 4.8 (673) | Free | Utilities | | [Bwine Drone](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bwine-drone/id1566691900) | 2.6 (40) | Free | Utilities | | [RUKO DRONE](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ruko-drone/id1528821629) | 2.8 (104) | Free | Utilities | | [Mergin Maps: QGIS in pocket](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mergin-maps-qgis-in-pocket/id1478603559) | 3.7 (18) | Free | Utilities | | [Drone Scanner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drone-scanner/id1644548782) | 1.8 (145) | Free | Utilities | ## More apps by Neil Faulkner - [DSLR Bible](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dslr-bible/id931187244) - [Money Shot](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/money-shot/id1552731777) - [Lancelot - VPN Remote](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lancelot-vpn-remote/id1578167752) All apps by Neil Faulkner: https://appshunter.io/developer/527056831 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-05.*