DroneScout guides: how to use every app option

Step-by-step guides to the options in the DroneScout app, written from the app itself. Each guide says which subscription it needs.

Scanning and reception

• Use DroneScout Bridge
  How to set up DroneScout Bridge with the DroneScout app — power, placement, the green/red Bridge status dot on the map, and what to check when drones don't appear. No pairing needed.
• Keep scanning in the background
  How to keep DroneScout detecting drones while the phone is locked or you use other apps, and get a notification when a new drone appears. Settings for iPhone, Android, Samsung, Xiaomi and more.
• See more drones on Android
  Why an Android phone misses some Remote ID drones and how to fix it — switch on Wi-Fi scanning, turn off Wi-Fi scan throttling in Developer Options, check Bluetooth Long Range support, or add a DroneScout Bridge.

Manned aircraft

• See manned aircraft with ADS-B
  How to show planes and helicopters next to drones in DroneScout — with a portable ADS-B receiver that speaks GDL 90 over Wi-Fi, or with network ADS-B as a fallback. Setup, alerts and troubleshooting.

Sending data

• Send drones to CalTopo
  How to show every drone DroneScout detects as a live dot on a CalTopo map — for search-and-rescue and incident teams. Connect key, app settings, testing and troubleshooting.

Map

• Choose a map layer
  How to switch the DroneScout map between OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, satellite and terrain views, HERE and NAVER (Korea). Which layer to use when, and what happens without internet.
• Use maps offline
  How to keep a map in DroneScout where there's no mobile signal — make your own offline map as an MBTiles file and import it. How to create MBTiles, import steps and troubleshooting.

Organising drones

• Label drones and add notes
  How to give a detected drone your own name in DroneScout, so you recognise it in the drone list and flight history the next time it flies — and how to keep notes per drone.
• Group drones
  How to sort known drones into groups in DroneScout — your own fleet, police, regular visitors — with their own map colour and icon size, and alerts or flight history switched on or off per group.