See more drones on Android

Last reviewed: 2026-10-07

Drones broadcast Remote ID in up to four ways: Bluetooth Legacy, Bluetooth Long Range, Wi-Fi Beacon and Wi-Fi NaN. Which of these your Android phone can receive decides which drones you see. Most missed drones come down to one of the fixes below.

Step 1 — See what your phone supports

Tap the ⋯ menu (three horizontal dots) and open Preferences.
On the General tab, look under ENABLED TECHNOLOGIES: - Bluetooth — 4 Legacy and 5 Extended (Long Range) - Wi-Fi — Beacon and NaN

A check mark means your phone supports it; a cross means it doesn't. DroneScout only shows 5 Extended as supported if the phone claims Long Range support and can actually handle the large packets it uses — some phones claim it but can't receive it.

Step 2 — Switch on Wi-Fi scanning

Many drones, DJI's among them, broadcast Remote ID over Wi-Fi Beacon. DroneScout starts with Wi-Fi scanning off, because on Android it's slow and uses more battery. To switch it on:

In Preferences → General, switch on the Wi-Fi switch.
Allow the location permission if Android asks — Android requires it for Wi-Fi scanning.

Step 3 — Turn off Wi-Fi scan throttling

Android lets an app scan for Wi-Fi only about twice a minute. A drone that broadcasts over Wi-Fi then appears late and its position jumps. You can lift this limit in Developer Options:

Open Settings → About phone and tap Build number seven times. (On Samsung: Settings → About phone → Software information → Build number; on Xiaomi: MIUI version / OS version.) Android confirms that Developer Options are on.
Go to Settings → System → Developer options (on Samsung: Settings → Developer options, at the bottom).
Scroll to the Networking section and switch off Wi-Fi scan throttling.

This drains the battery a lot. With throttling off, the phone scans for Wi-Fi continuously, and it also lets other apps scan more. Turn it off only while you're actively watching for drones, and switch Wi-Fi scan throttling back on afterwards — or use a DroneScout Bridge instead, which receives Wi-Fi drones for you so you can leave Wi-Fi scanning off altogether.

Step 4 — Bluetooth Long Range

Bluetooth Long Range (Coded PHY, "S8") reaches further than ordinary Bluetooth, and many Remote ID add-on modules and some drones use it. It's an optional Bluetooth 5 feature, so you can't switch it on if your phone lacks it. If 5 Extended shows a cross in Step 1, your phone can't receive these drones — and some phones that show a check mark still receive Long Range poorly. A DroneScout Bridge receives it for you.

Step 5 — Check the basics

Bluetooth and Location are on, and DroneScout has the Nearby devices and Location permissions (Preferences → General → PERMISSIONS, then Open app settings).
Battery saver is off, or DroneScout is excluded from it — battery savers often limit scanning.
The drone is in the air and broadcasting: DJI drones switch Remote ID on only after take-off, and only where it is mandatory. See Why am I not detecting nearby drones?

When the phone can't do it: DroneScout Bridge

DroneScout Bridge is a small receiver that listens to all four transports — on 2.4 GHz, and on the higher models also 5 GHz — and passes every drone on to your phone over ordinary Bluetooth, which every phone receives reliably. It works with any Android phone and with iPhone, up to about 2 km, without changing any phone settings. Setup: Use DroneScout Bridge.

Using an iPhone? Apple doesn't let any app receive Wi-Fi Remote ID or Bluetooth Long Range — see Why can't my iPhone see every drone?