Behind the scenes
Hoverpoint was built to give drone pilots the most precise, safest and most intuitive flight preparation there is, right on their phone. From calculating the exact camera field of view through to analysing complex wind profile data at different altitudes.
From a simple idea to a digital co-pilot
It all started harmlessly enough. Born in Hesse, at home in Bremen today, I was simply looking for a pragmatic solution for my hobby. As a trained electronics technician for energy and building systems and a car mechatronics technician, I bring a deep technical understanding with me. Today I work in the field as a commissioning engineer in mobile robotics – a job that suits me perfectly: plenty of travel, with plenty of opportunity to weave my passion for drone flying into everyday life.
For my top-down shots I initially just wanted an AI-supported tool that would pick out interesting spots on the map for me. That AI idea is what got the project rolling in the first place. It is still in its infancy today – but it is by no means off the table.
Because the classic pre-flight check came first: quickly checking whether, and under which conditions, you may take off at a spot at all. And as so often with real founder stories – the project took on a life of its own. At first I thought: fine, build the whole thing as a website. But anyone who spends a lot of time on the road knows that you want to check spots spontaneously, without laboriously loading mobile websites. So an app of my own was needed. I dug into development – the first tangible result was a plain map with the official geozones.
To avoid looking at my own work through rose-tinted glasses, I gave the app to a pilot friend for everyday use. That practical use brought the decisive turning point: an app that does not come officially from the store causes problems in daily use. The next step was unavoidable – off to the Play Store.
From then on there was no stopping it. A first idea turned into new design approaches, and those into new ideas again. What began as a small helper grew into a comprehensive application that swallowed nearly every free minute. Today there is a substantially expanded foundation, and the focus is on the finishing touches: continuous optimisation and turning feedback from other pilots into features.
The real value lies in the bundling – bringing the airspace maps of many countries together in a single app and seeing, in as few clicks as possible, whether you may fly or not. What started as the harmless idea of using AI to find a few beautiful spots has grown into a fully fledged digital co-pilot.
Why does Hoverpoint cost money?
These days there is often a feeling that apps on the internet should be free. But “free” in the app world usually means one of three things: annoying ad banners, the quiet sale of user data, or the project being shut down quickly because the running costs crush the developer.
With Hoverpoint I take a different route: I protect your privacy completely and do without trackers. But because the app processes professional live data, every use creates real, ongoing costs on my servers. A fair Pro model is what keeps the app permanently independent and stable to run.
Map & satellite infrastructure
High-resolution satellite imagery and topographic elevation data require specialised servers (map tiles) that have to be licensed and cached per request.
Real-time weather & wind profiles
The detailed calculation of wind speeds and gusts at different altitude bands is based on professional meteorological models whose data interfaces (APIs) are paid services.
Official geozones & NOTAMs
To show temporary flight bans, airfield control zones and official restrictions to the minute, my server continuously retrieves the official data from the aviation authorities.
AI-supported features
Complex analyses such as the automatic spot finder, or recognising interesting geometric structures from the air, need expensive computing power in the background for the neural image evaluation.
My freemium philosophy
That does not mean Hoverpoint disappears behind a hard paywall. Basic features for safe orientation stay freely available to every pilot. Only when you use features that cause me direct server and API fees in the background do I ask you for a fair contribution.
Thank you for being part of this journey!
Try it yourself
The free web tools run straight in your browser – no installation needed.
To the web tools → Back to the home page