okay so this has been bugging me for a while. i fly near a small regional airport, not super close but close enough that its class D airspace and i know i need authorization. i went through aloft, got the LAANC approval, whole thing said approved and i got the email confirmation. but when i go out to fly the DJI fly app still has the area marked red and wont let me take off without doing the manual unlock thing inside the app itself. so now im not sure if my LAANC approval actually covers me legally and the DJI thing is just a separate annoying software layer, or if theres something i missed. has anyone dealt with this

yeah this trips people up constantly. your LAANC approval is the actual legal authorization from the FAA ? that's the real thing. DJI's geo-fencing is completely separate and is just DJI's own system layered on top. they dont talk to each other, DJI has no idea you got LAANC approval unless you go in and do the self-unlock inside the fly app. so technically you need both ? the LAANC for the legal side and then the in-app unlock so the drone will actually let you arm. annoying but thats just how it works with DJI. the self-unlock process in the app is pretty quick once you know where it is, i think its under safety settings or somewhere in the no-fly zone section

this is honestly one of those things that makes me wonder why DJI doesnt just integrate with LAANC directly, like other manufacturers have started doing i think. or at least show you the laanc zones accurately. i had the same confusion on my first authorized flight and almost didnt go out because i thought my approval wasnt working. the self-unlock is buried pretty deep in the app too which doesnt help