Multiple flight kmz export for Android

When you generated the KMZ files there can be multiple of them in the output folder. They should be numbered in order. Check that folder for other KMZ files. 

I see only the original kmz file, which gets overwritten on export. There are no additional kmz files (unlike the iOS version). Perhaps this is a problem with the 318b UI, which only lets me export kmz files after selecting a "waypoints" folder containing the GUID mission folders and filenames. Unfortunately, this version isn't giving me the option of specifying an export filename, which perhaps is related to why multiple kmz files aren't being exported.

The operations are pretty different between Android and iOS. Then with Android the versions before Android 11 get direct file access to make the copying part easier BUT it doesn't support multiple KMZ missions. 

From the link:

Pre Android 11 - Select the DJI Fly app folder and select the wayline_mission folder in Map Pilot Pro to overwrite the most recently modified mission.

If you want to copy the files around and rename them you could enable the "Simple KMZ Export" in the Advances section of the Settings which will let you export them all to the Downloads folder. 

We will add a note to future releases that states that it is limited by the Android version. One is easy but more are impossible so to do more you need to treat it like you are on the higher versions of Android which require copying files around and renaming them appropriately. 

OK, so if I understand: (1) the multiple flight kmz export feature doesn't work at all on Android pre-11, and (2) enabling "Simple kmz export" lets you specify a base kmz filename, which is then written to a "Downloads" folder (somewhere). I enabled "simple kmz export" setting, as suggested, but still no luck.

There's a "Download" folder in root, but no "Downloads", so I added one. Then I tried to export a kmz and indeed got the filename popup. However, when I entered a basename and clicked the export button, the app just croaked (at least the Mission Plans page). Also, no kmz file was written to either "/Download" or "/Downloads", and I didn't see any kmz in \Android\data\com.dronesmadeeasy.mappilotproandroidapk or other obvious folders. 

Seems like I'm missing how one specifies the export folder or what its full path is.

Not being able to export more than 200 waypoints in some fashion is a showstopper for my workflow. Does the Android 11+ version do multiple kmz file exports, or does only the iOS version do that?

That is how it SHOULD work. It is possible that feature isn't working on Android 10 or less. We will give that a look. That Simple KMZ Export setting was added to accommodate RC2 use specifically, not necessarily older Android variants. 

On Android 11+ it just writes all the files to where you tell it to. It is harder to deal with because you have to copy the files around and rename them but it spits out as many flights as is needed to cover the full Mission. iOS is by far the easiest to use with the KMZ export stuff if you have access to that. 

The kmz export would be more intuitive if the system picker just let me select: (1) the shared storage location, and (2) the file basename. MPP can't be installed on the RC2 (afaik), so relying on the canned waypoints or wayline_mission folders just adds unneeded steps. For RC2, it's easy to move the kmz files around between Android devices. It also would be easy to use multiple kmz files if MPP would just export them. It seems like this could work on Android 9+. Hope it can be added (or fixed).

It also would be useful if there was a control to set the max number of waypoints per kmz file.

Yes, we added the Simple KMZ Export option solely for people to be able to output the files to somewhere they could be gotten to so they can manually load it on the RC2. We likely just didn't add that possibility for Pre 11 Android since they use a whole different system. We not sure if we are going to bother adding it for those old devices. It makes up an incredibly small chunk of the usership at this point. The RC2 and a lot of lower end devices are incapable of loading more than 200 waypoints which is why the limit is the way it is. 

There are lots of reasons things are the way they are. A lot of it has to do with the different versions of Android granting permissions differently. Some are read only. Some have a database. We were trying to make it as easy as possible for the versions that would allow it. 

The whole KMZ export thing is one giant hack that could be shut down at any time so we don't plan on putting a lot of additional work into it. All it takes is one update from DJI and it will all go away. There are already rumors of this happening because they are getting sick of hearing about it. It would be great if they would just add some more official way so be sure to let them know that it is important to you as a user. 

There are important use cases for consumer drones, which are cheap, light weight, and ubiquitous. For example, quick basemaps of 5-10 ac. sites that you have to hike to for conducting geology, forestry, or other studies. For these, one may not need RTK precision, MSS, LiDAR, mechanical shutters, etc., so enterprise rigs are overkill. Sure, the kmz export is somewhat of a kludge, but no software is future-proof, so if it works right now, that may be good enough for many of us. In any case, if software doesn't support a use case, usership for that case won't grow (chicken vs. eqq).

In any case, I really appreciate your taking time to explain things. I'm evaluating several mission planners and processing tools this week, and except for the multi-kmz export, MPP seems to work great. If you think the multi-kmz export works on Android 11+, I'll try it on a newer device.

The Simple KMZ Export should actually be working on that device but it is hardwired to write to the "Downloads" folder which is what we have on all of our Android devices by default. We do not have a single device that has a "Download" folder. What device are you using? 

See if you can make a "Downloads" folder and it will likely get the files in it. 

We will be adding a path tree selector in a future release. 

OK, I just installed MPP direct from Google Play Store on an Android 16 device. Then I enabled "Export Simple KMZ" in advanced settings, and exported the mission with >200 waypoints. Success! It wrote 3 kmz files to the Download folder on the root of the internal storage, using the basename I provided. That's exactly what I was looking for, so the upshot is that MPP seems to work great for my use case if I use a recent Android device.

Thanks again for patiently explaining how it works.

FYI - Not seeing a "Downloads" folder on the Android devices I have, just "Download", unlike what you saw. That's using either a Windows USB connection (/Download) or an Android App called "Root Explorer" (/storage/emulated/0/Download). Maybe "Downloads" is a special folder that links to this, depending on the app being used.

More tests: I installed the "e" apk on the old android 9 device to see if the newer DJI SDK would improve the kmz export behavior (before I was using "b"). Version "e" doesn't seem to be any better. As with "b", the "Export Simple KMZ" option still crashes on kmz export. To export kmz, you must add a "waypoint" folder to your SD card (e.g., under Download) with some dummy GUID folder and corresponding kmz files exported from RC2. Then the latest kmz will be overwritten with up to 200 waypoints.

TLDR: For best results on Android, use a newer device, install the app from the Play Store, and enable the "Export Simple kmz" option under advanced settings if you need to get kmz files to copy to your RC2.

The SDK doesn't come into play at all with the KMZ Export stuff. That is why it is kind of crappy. It shouldn't matter what version of the app you are installing for KMZ Export only aircraft.