Why do I have to update the stupid software

[Smudla]

I was a real fan of Parrot products until I found out that I have to frequently go through the cumbersome and time consuming process of updating the software. What's wrong with these idiotic programmers. Maybe they have all the time in the world to do ``upgrades'' that do essentially nothing, but I'm not one of those people who take any sort of pleasure in sitting in front of a computer for hours. I just want to fly the thing. It worked before. It flew. What are they giving me that I actually need. Plus its not at all easy to find how to go about the upgrade and it takes a huge amount of time to do it over bluetooth. All and all a serious negative for me about this whole product.

 

[jefmob_1]

It's the same thing with other valuable brands ...
it's like that.

 

[jmbsmt63]

I was a real fan of Parrot products until I found out that I have to frequently go through the cumbersome and time consuming process of updating the software. What's wrong with these idiotic programmers. Maybe they have all the time in the world to do ``upgrades'' that do essentially nothing, but I'm not one of those people who take any sort of pleasure in sitting in front of a computer for hours. I just want to fly the thing. It worked before. It flew. What are they giving me that I actually need. Plus its not at all easy to find how to go about the upgrade and it takes a huge amount of time to do it over bluetooth. All and all a serious negative for me about this whole product.

Your post is nonsense...

You say you are/were a big fan of Parrot but you just joined this forum today?

Updating is part of all of the drones and occasionally, sometimes at the fault of the developers but usually not, the procedure may not go as smooth as it should. Are any of the other makers different?
There are MANY different combinations of phones, etc and the systems/software running on each as well as who knows what apps/programs each user has on their phone which all has to be taken into account when updating
I have had 2 major updates to the Anafi in the month I've had it ( the first one 2X because the first Anafi had a problem so I exchanged it and then had to update that) and each one was no problem and was done in less than 5 minutes
"Update over Bluetooth"? WTH are you rambling about? it takes 5-10 min MAX over any WIFI...never heard of updating over Bluetooth
"Sitting in front of a computer for hours" If you are sitting in front of a computer for hours to do an update you might wanna let somebody else do it for you.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

What product are you talking about?
Frequency of updates:
Anafi: a larger update every 2 months (< 1 min each)
Mambo: about 3 updates in the last 2 years (Wifi: < 1 min each)

Lot of time left for doing what you like.

 

[jefmob_1]

I remember that with the Bebop, people from the Parrot forum had asked to be able to change the waiting time before an automatic RTH ...
they did it-> update.
We had also asked to destabilize the camera ... done.
And again to have different fly settings as needed which gave the film / sport mode.
And by the way, they take advantage of correcting errors found by users.

 

[Landbo]

I remember that with the Bebop, people from the Parrot forum had asked to be able to change the waiting time before an automatic RTH ...
they did it-> update.
We had also asked to destabilize the camera ... done.
And again to have different fly settings as needed which gave the film / sport mode.
And by the way, they take advantage of correcting errors found by users.

Don't forget that Anafi has improved its camera and fly features and stability through updates.

Updating on a Anafi can be done in less than 5 minutes.

If thread holders do not want to update, he just have to set his phone up so that the application on his phone is not automatically updated.

No, I feel that thread holders are shouting for a small problem about an update that is unsuccessful and are afraid to ask what might have gone wrong and get help. Up with the mood and tell what it is that teases you.

Regards, Leif.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

I gather that the original poster must not have a computer (definitely not a windows one), a mobile phone or smart TV, or any other electronic items that require hours & hours of updates to be installed either, from their hysterical reaction to a simple & quick task, which is documented on Parrot's site & in the operating instructions, just in case they weren't sure how to actually do it.

I fear this has been posted by yet another shill that does this as a living for companies like Samsung, Microsoft & DJI. It really is quite unscrupulous how brazen the attempts are to discredit other companies these days. Yeah, there might be some minor issues along the way, but nothing of the sort of magnitude that these people would have you believe is making their lives unliveable!

 

[jmbsmt63]

I gather that the original poster must not have a computer (definitely not a windows one), a mobile phone or smart TV, or any other electronic items that require hours & hours of updates to be installed either, from their hysterical reaction to a simple & quick task, which is documented on Parrot's site & in the operating instructions, just in case they weren't sure how to actually do it.

I fear this has been posted by yet another shill that does this as a living for companies like Samsung, Microsoft & DJI. It really is quite unscrupulous how brazen the attempts are to discredit other companies these days. Yeah, there might be some minor issues along the way, but nothing of the sort of magnitude that these people would have you believe is making their lives unliveable!

Now that you mention it...You might be on to something in the idea that these kinds of comments are posted by a person being compensated by a DJI for example.
They just drop a hard-edged comment and never have any follow up or details!
Anybody scanning these types of forums/groups looking for insight for a purchase decision will see that "highlight" and just make a decision based on that.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

Now that you mention it...You might be on to something in the idea that these kinds of comments are posted by a person being compensated by a DJI for example.
They just drop a hard-edged comment and never have any follow up or details!
Anybody scanning these types of forums/groups looking for insight for a purchase decision will see that "highlight" and just make a decision based on that.

I get suspicious because I know of two foreign university students here in Australia for their university studies that are both doing this for a fee. Deliberately trolling on various well known brands social media feeds & forums focused upon their products. Both have mentioned that they are not employed directly by any particular companies, but they are both employed by the same PR firm. They are told & paid to actively promote those products based on particular details they are given in advance. One of them got a free Samsung S9 mobile phone, so they would be familiar with its operation, the other lucked out in that regard, getting a manual of points to cover as better on the Samsung product as compared to anything else.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

What is obvious for me:
After the last update 6.4.0/1.4.0 there were several unobjectiv posts or comments here in this forum. Some of them quoted only once like the senseless post with "low bitrates" in the update thread itself.
So the number of posts, that differ in style from the normal situation here has increased since the update.
Even if I'm not paranoid (I'll ask my doc!), I think there is an intentional influencing by [?] ...

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Looking at the members info I really have no reason to act on this post. We will get people here that are just unhappy and want to spread it anyway they can. If for any reason you see a post that needs reporting please do. I try to read all the posts but sometimes when a new update comes out it is hard to keep up. The little box below the post that says report, click it and give a reason for the report and I or one of the other Admins will get a notice to look into it. So far he has not broken any rules that I can tell.

 

[vekthor]

Hi all
Updates are suposed to improve products, and... that´s what Parrot has been doing with the Anafi and all other products. Otherwise the product would have been ´frozen´ in time with no updates, discontinued... and forgotten.
I "speak" as a previous DJI customer and all i can say is, "Parrot, nice job".

I loved my Phantoms and Spark but the way they simply stopped support, improvements and criple functionality on purpose ((for comercial reason obviously) on the spark (a very capable drone), etc, made me choose Parrot, and so far, i am glad i did. All the funcnionality i had onn the Spark, i have on the Anafi.

No i am not being paid by Parrot or any other company ??

 

[pmh1nic]

Regarding the "have to" to do an update mentioned in the OP. If an update comes out are you forced to do the update (drone won't operate until you do) or can you ignore the update if your particular drone and phone/controller set-up is flying well with no problems?

 

[Kilrah]

You can ignore updates.

But they take literally 2 clicks and 5 minutes every couple of months, so I really don't understand what the OP is so frustrated about.

 

[Thanev]

Yes,you can ignore updates.A lot of us do until the problems are sorted out.More than a few people follow the "broke not fix not" mentality.Too many times problems surface with an update that hasn't been properly tested.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Yes,you can ignore updates.A lot of us do until the problems are sorted out.More than a few people follow the "broke not fix not" mentality.Too many times problems surface with an update that hasn't been properly tested.

Yes, maybe a lot of people do.

But the question is: what is the better way?

1. Older FW/software combinations always also had their own risk/bugs/problems. So it's hard to say what is the greater risk: stay on the last or second last update or update as soon as the updates mostly with bug fixes are offered.
2. Not early updating may be an additional risk, if the combination of FW/software versions you stay on is not correct like they were published: if FW drone, FW battery, FF6 software, FW controller versions don't match, this could be an additional risk.
3. If ALL people would not make actual updates, then problems related to smartphone types, user interface problems, … would not be found so soon. This would lead to a much slower bug fixing and software improving cycle.

 

[Thanev]

I appreciate those that Beta test new software for the rest of us.
What really scares me the most about Parrot updates is if it causes a crash,in a system which was previously stable,I now own an expensive piece of trash.

Canadian warranty(lack of).

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

I appreciate those that Beta test new software for the rest of us.
What really scares me the most about Parrot updates is if it causes a crash,in a system which was previously stable,I now own an expensive piece of trash.

Canadian warranty(lack of).

Thanks for the flowers to be your beta tester… I never had a harm from updating early and I did all from Anafi FW 1.0.1 to 1.4.0.

Crashes may happen with older FW/software versions and with the actual. During the last months I didn't read anything about a certain version, that is confirmed by the most users to be more stable than those before or after.
So it is and was never true, that older versions (or one of them) are stable and actual updates cause crashes. That's too simple to be true.

 

[Thanev]

I agree that the updates,with glitches,have been mostly positive.
I think of Window updates that were terrible,and that makes me super cautious. Nothing more,nothing less.