The DJI Neo 2 ships with three preset tracking distances in follow mode, and most pilots never go beyond them. A new tutorial from Stewart Caroll of Drone Film Guide shows there is a way to override those limits using nothing but a phone — no controller required — by combining Spotlight mode with the DJI Fly app’s manual control virtual joysticks.

The technique works on the Neo 2 in phone-only operation, the configuration most casual pilots use. It does not require firmware changes, hidden menus, or a remote controller. It is a pairing of two features that are both fully documented by DJI — just not together, in that order, for that purpose.

Spotlight Mode Is Not a Downgrade From Follow

In Spotlight mode, the Neo 2 locks its camera onto a subject and keeps them in frame no matter where the drone moves. The aircraft does not follow the subject’s position the way follow mode does — instead, it holds itself in space while the gimbal tracks continuously, freeing the pilot to fly the drone independently.

Stewart argues this makes Spotlight one of the best intelligent flight modes DJI has ever shipped. While follow mode automates both drone position and camera angle together, Spotlight separates them. The camera handles the subject. The pilot handles the drone. That separation is what makes the technique work.

DroneXL has covered Spotlight’s value on larger DJI platforms before — the 15 pro Spotlight moves guide covers the same principle applied to the Mavic 3 and Air 3 series with a physical controller. Stewart’s contribution is showing that the Neo 2 delivers comparable creative flexibility using only a phone.

How the Manual Control Override Works

With the Neo 2 in Spotlight mode via the DJI Fly app, a small manual control icon sits in the bottom-left corner of the camera view. Tapping it activates virtual joysticks. From that point, the pilot can push, pull, ascend, or descend while Spotlight holds the camera on target — and the preset distance limits no longer apply.

Stewart demonstrates pulling back on the right joystick while walking. The drone retreats well beyond what any gesture command or preset distance would allow, while the subject stays centered in frame the entire time. The result is a wide, sweeping pull-back with simultaneous subject movement and drone movement — three elements changing at once inside a single continuous shot.

The same icon works in follow mode too. In standard follow, the drone moves with the subject at a fixed distance. Activate manual controls and that distance becomes a live variable. Hold the descent button while the drone is tracking and the camera tilts upward automatically as altitude drops, creating a jib-down reveal without any programmed QuickShot involved.

Off-Center Framing Is the Second Technique

Stewart’s second tip is simpler but easy to miss. In Spotlight with manual controls active, the subject does not have to stay centered. A small lateral input knocks them to one side of the frame, creating natural looking space in the direction of travel. It applies the rule of thirds in real time, without any post-production crop.

Standard follow mode keeps the subject centered by design. Spotlight with manual input breaks that constraint. The subject moves through the frame rather than sitting in it, and that difference shows up immediately in the final footage.

What the Phone Can Actually Do

The DJI Neo 2 connects to the DJI Fly app via Wi-Fi for phone-only operation. According to DJI’s beginner guide, covered by DroneXL in December 2025, the virtual joysticks in manual control mode replicate traditional stick inputs — altitude, direction, rotation — with practical range up to around 75 to 100 meters before the feed degrades. Within that envelope, the manual override in Spotlight or follow mode operates the same way a physical controller would for directional inputs, while the intelligent mode handles gimbal tracking.

For pilots who fly the Neo 2 without any controller and find the preset tracking moves too repetitive, this combination extends the creative range of the drone they already own. No additional hardware needed.

DroneXL’s Take

The Neo 2 has generated more practical tutorial content than any DJI consumer drone in recent memory, precisely because so many pilots use it without a controller and keep hitting the ceiling of what preset modes can do. Stewart’s tutorial does what the best ones always do: it shows that the ceiling was lower than it needed to be, and that the tools to raise it were already in the app.

The manual control icon in the DJI Fly app is easy to miss. It sits in the corner of the live view during an intelligent flight mode, and nothing in the standard onboarding flow points to it. Most pilots in phone-only setups never tap it. Once they do, the Neo 2 stops behaving like a selfie drone with a few preprogrammed tricks and starts behaving like a drone with a camera operator on it.

DJI will likely fold some version of this workflow into a future feature walkthrough or firmware-adjacent tutorial push. By year’s end, expect the Neo 2’s Spotlight plus manual controls combination to appear in DJI’s own content as a promoted technique rather than a community discovery.

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.