Web
December 2021
Broader support for DJI drone flight logs
Skyward users can now import encrypted and unencrypted flight logs from a wider variety of DJI aircraft and flight apps. For apps that support Skyward Sync, this will happen automatically in the background. And most other DJI generated flight logs can be manually imported to the Skyward platform.
Flight logs for the following DJI drones* are now compatible with the Skyward platform:
- Mavic 2 Pro
- Mavic 2 Enterprise
- Matrice 210
- Matrice 300
- Phantom 4 Pro V2.0
- Inspire 2
- Watts MFD-500
- And more, including many older models
*The DJI flight log encryption is based on the DJI firmware version used to generate the flight logs (not the aircraft model) and the associated flight log version. DJI began encrypting flight logs in versions 14 and up. This means that if any DJI aircraft (whether a M300 or Mavic Air) has flight logs v14 or greater (i.e. encrypted), they can now be imported to Skyward.
November 2021
Point-to-point elevation profiles for easy height measurements
This enables customers to immediately see the elevation profile of any linear selection on their orthomosaic map, providing a side view of vertical changes across a set distance. It’s a simple, quick way to see the height of each point along a line, making it easier to understand elevation changes across a map.
Document management
We made a small but highly-requested tweak to the way documents are managed in Skyward’s web platform. Now, in addition to uploading and accessing documents from your company’s dashboard, we’ve included central document management right where you’d expect it: in the Manage tab.
In the top navigation, click Manage, then select Documents from the dropdown menu. You will be able to view, download, and delete your organization’s documents from a single page.
October 2021
LAANC Update: Night drone authorizations and refined airspace grids
Now, in addition to requesting automated and near real-time access to controlled airspace through LAANC for daytime flights, Skyward customers can do the same for operations at night. Additionally, refined LAANC airspace grids now allow greater flexibility in how altitude limits are defined for a given area. This means that drone pilots can likely request higher altitude LAANC authorizations in many portions of controlled airspace.
July 2021
Skyward Mapping & Modeling Update: Ground Control Points (GCPs)
Now you can improve the absolute accuracy of your 2D and 3D digital representations relative to their location in the real world. This promotes detailed planning and quality assurance for your data deliverables. And with the power of Pix4D integrated within Skyward, you can add GCP information to your dataset without leaving the Skyward platform.
June 2021
Skyward Mapping & Modeling Update: Volume Measurements
Skyward Mapping & Modeling first launched with tools to calculate length, elevation, and area. Now, we’re adding volume measurements to rapidly assess cut and fill quantities for stockpiles and other topographical features.
May 2021
Introducing Skyward Mapping & Modeling powered by Pix4D
Skyward Mapping & Modeling, powered by Pix4D, enables customers to create, view, measure, and export 2D orthomosaic maps and 3D photogrammetric models right from Skyward’s web app. With the processing power of Pix4D, the market leader in photogrammetry software technology, Skyward customers can get business-ready data sets through a seamless plan, fly, process workflow.
April 2021
API for custom fields is now publicly available
This is only available for customers with an Enterprise subscription
March 2021
Try Skyward Free for 30 days
Get access to Skyward’s Business+ subscription, including our drone airspace map, LAANC access to controlled airspace, Skyward’s InFlight mobile app and GCS — and Skyward Mapping & Modeling, powered by Pix4D.
January 2021
Capturing customer feedback
This release helps us hear more from all of our users about what improvements they'd like to see and to allow us to ask targeted questions about new and existing features. To submit feedback, click 'Feedback' in the very top nav bar. Users are able to submit general feedback or select a specific item on the page to submit feedback about.
Mobile
December 2021
Android: Redesigned GCS and checklist access
Last month, we redesigned the Android mobile flight experience. Now, customers flying DJI drones with Skyward InFlight for Android will find that the ground control station (GCS) interface has been updated for ease of use, including access to checklists within Flight mode.
November 2021
iOS and Android: Bug fixes and live flight tracking now available
Throughout the month, we’ve squashed a few bugs and cleaned up some loose ends for an even more seamless experience. Plus, live flight tracking is now available on Skyward InFlight for both iOS and Android. Be sure to download the latest update!
October 2021
iOS and Android: New navigation
Skyward InFlight now revolves around a redesigned bottom navigation bar. This bar contains three tabs: Home, Map, and Flight. Users can seamlessly switch between these tabs, creating a simple and streamlined app experience.
iOS and Android: New preflight status bar
The new preflight status bar is designed to help pilots evaluate potential concerns before taking flight. The preflight status bar uses a color coded “stoplight” system to warn about serious, moderate, or low-level concerns the pilot should be aware of. There are four categories: Airspace, LAANC, Risk Assessment, and Checklists.
iOS and Android: Latest updates to LAANC
Request access to controlled airspace for drone flights at night.
April 2021
iOS Improvements
- Crew and Pilot lists were updated to not limit the number of users displayed to 50 as previously done. Lists are now alphabetical and display as many users as there are in the organization.
- Changes were made to modernize the API call handling, guarding against duplicate flight logs and offline flight log syncing.
March 2021
Android: LAANC
Customers cannot request access to controlled airspace using Skyward InFlight on their Android devices. There were also updates to improve responsiveness to the operations list, minor UX/UI improvements.
February 2021
iOS Improvements
This release includes improvements to allow for selecting aircraft from a list greater than 100. This release also updates the Risk Assessment to display the custom order to match the web.