DJI Removed Geofencing – A Good Move For Drone Operators?

So I’m a little behind on this topic as I went skiing last week, but in case you haven’t heard, DJI has removed all geofencing on all of their drones here in the United States, which has kind of been a controversial topic since the beginning. For those that might not know what I’m talking about, DJI’s FlySafe system was put into place to help anyone who purchased one of their drones understand where they could and couldn’t fly. You can find this information on the FlySafe section of their website, and it’s built directly into the Fly app, so you can check it before you fly.

Understanding the Controversy

Here’s the controversy though: DJI would actually take the authority of limiting your drone through software if it deemed that you were in an area where you needed more approval to fly. So they could limit the height that you could fly your drone to, or they could completely ground your drone if you’re in one of their restricted zones.

On one hand, this is great for someone who is brand new to flying drones. If you just picked up your first drone from Best Buy and try to fly it near an airport or a place that you shouldn’t, then it will immediately stop you from doing so.

Some out there might think this is a pain, but it really is good for the drone industry. So there aren’t drones flying close to airports, around important government buildings, and other critical infrastructure areas. Doing so could make drones such a nuisance that more rules and restrictions are put on their use.

On the other hand, for commercial drone operators out there who are keen on airspace rules, it proved to be a real pain because getting approval to fly became a two-step process. First, you’d have to go to the FAA and get approval, and then submit that to DJI for them to unlock their geofencing directly on your drone.

Real-World Experience

That may have seemed simple enough to do, but it was such a headache to deal with. I’ve done some work down at the stadium complex for the sports teams in Philadelphia, and this whole area conveniently fits in a zero grid because of its proximity to the Philly International Airport. Once I received the approval waiver from the FAA, who was really the only entity that I should be needing to speak to, I’d then have to go through the whole unlock process with DJI, which would take up time spent on site; I’d have to import the unlock to my remote and pray that it works.

I remember being sick to my stomach showing up at jobs where I knew I’d have to fly within one of DJI’s restricted zones, just hoping everything would go off without a hitch and I didn’t have to spend hours trying to unlock my drone, inevitably making me look bad in front of the person that I’m trying to do work for. Now, even though I would do my due diligence, I would contact the FAA and get my approvals. I would submit that paperwork to DJI for the unlock. There were so many issues that could go wrong at the time of trying to unlock the drone, whether there’s a poor internet connection and I can’t import my license, or if there was just a miscommunication between DJI and me. It always caused so many issues, and for that reason, I am so happy that these geo zones are completely gone.

How to Update Your Drone

Now, if you want these changes to take effect, you’ll have to update the Fly Safe database on your drone. This can be done right within the Fly app by going to the profile section from the main home screen, then select settings and then select check for Fly Safe database updates.

The drone you install is now completely unlocked from all geofencing zones. Moving forward, to give you a quick comparison of what these zones look like before and after the update, I went down to the Philadelphia Airport, which is in a red zone, meaning I would need to submit an unlock request with proper approvals to DJI to take off. Right on the main flight screen, it says “Restricted Zone” in the top left corner, and when I try to prime the motors, it immediately tells me that I’m in a geozone and would need further authorization to get my drone off the ground.

After doing the FlySafe update, and restarting my drone, things look way different in this same spot. The “Restricted Zone” prompt has now been replaced with language that says “Takeoff Permitted.” Upon looking at the map, there’s now no difference in color for different zones with flight restrictions or altitude limits. Everything is in orange to showcase where controlled airspace might be. This means that now, when I spin up the propellers, a quick prompt displays on the screen to warn me that a geozone might be nearby. However, the propellers on my drone spin up immediately, and if I wasn’t in my car, I’d be able to ignore this popup and take off.

To give you a quick side-by-side comparison before and after the most recent fly safe update: We used to have a bunch of different colors on the map right within the fly app so that we could see areas that are restricted, areas that have limits in altitude. We could see warning zones, enhanced warning zones, a bunch of different areas so that we could know what we were up against when flying our drone. And now, within the app, we just see enhanced warning zones. Everywhere that is the only color we see is a bunch of orange.

Mixed Feelings

I have no idea where I stand on this because, on one hand, I think that it’s not up to DJI to police people on where they should and shouldn’t fly. They’re just the manufacturer of their drone; they should leave it to, say, the FAA here in the United States to police people, educate people, and help them understand where they should and shouldn’t fly their drone. They also said in a blog post, DJI said that it was up to remote ID to kind of take over from here. They said that with remote ID now in place, this is the way that we should be enforcing the airspace, and I believe them.

ID has kind of had a lackluster rollout; it’s not the best technology. The best way to help people understand where they shouldn’t fly is with DJI’s Fly Safe system built right into the drone so that you don’t have to download another app and try to use something to detect a drone. No, DJI had it right from the beginning with their Fly Safe system, and I think that it did a really good job at mitigating drone incidents in areas where there shouldn’t be drone incidents. I mean, look at how many times we see people flying drones around NFL stadiums. There are people that do a lot of stupid things with their drones, and now that everything is completely unlocked, it leaves me a little bit worried.

Final Thoughts

So I think that for the drone industry as a whole, that is my description right there: I’m worried. I’m worried about what’s going to happen. I’m worried to read a headline that a drone was flying above an international airport and there was some sort of collision because now with DJI having such a large market share, all of their drones are completely unlocked and it could be a huge issue. But selfishly, for myself, man, I am so happy these are gone, and now it takes one huge hurdle, one big step out of my workflow. So if I’m flying in an area where I need approval, I can go to the FAA, I can get my approval and not have to worry about going to DJI and then getting their approval. That was just such a cumbersome and useless step.

But when you look at it, and as I say, it was useless, it really was great to have implemented for people that are brand new to drones to help them understand where they shouldn’t fly. So where am I? I’m up in the air. I think that while DJI again shouldn’t be policing people, I think that it also helped the industry out as a whole. I think that only time will tell.

So let me know your thoughts on this whole situation down in the comments below. Thank you for watching this video and as always, I’ll talk to you later.

Peace.

Last update on 2026-01-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API