The Tello drone has long been the gold standard for drone education in K-12 classrooms. Affordable, durable and equipped with a camera, it checked all the boxes for educators looking to teach everything from basic flight principles to autonomous coding. That’s perhaps no surprise, as it came from a company called Ryze which built Tello using DJI parts — presumably the perfect combo for a drone at a high ratio of quality to cost.
But there’s been a problem: the original Tello app is no longer supported on newer operating systems, and the Tello drone itself has been discontinued, making it increasingly difficult to purchase.
For educators who’ve built their curriculum around the Tello, this created a serious dilemma. What do you do when your trusted classroom drone becomes harder to find? Fortunately, many schools continue to keep their Tello fleets flying through refurbishment programs and new tools like the FlyCode app, which breathe fresh life into this proven platform.
Enter FlyCode, a new app from a STEM education company called Drone Legends that’s designed to solve exactly this problem.
How Drone Legends has revived Tello with Flycode
FlyCode is a free app available on both iOS and Android that gives Tello drones (including the Tello EDU and RoboMaster TT) a new lease on life. The app works on iOS 13.0+ and Android 10.0+ devices with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi support.
Unlike the original Tello app, FlyCode is built specifically with teachers and students in mind. Educators actually helped design it, which shows in features like the ability to pre-load up to 10 Tello drones into the app. Students can simply select their assigned drone from a list, tap and go. That’s a game-changer for managing classroom drone fleets.
“FlyCode is a breakthrough for schools and Tello users everywhere,” said Scott Buell, Founder and CEO of Drone Legends. “We built this app to solve the problems teachers face when bringing drones into their classrooms — unreliable software, poor multi-drone management and a lack of coding integration.”
Why having a drone with a camera matters
Here’s something that often gets overlooked in discussions about educational drones: imaging is approximately 80% of commercial drone applications. Whether you’re talking about infrastructure inspections, search and rescue operations, cinematography or orthomosaic mapping, the camera is critical.
While platforms like Crazyflie Nano and CoDrone offer coding capabilities, they lack cameras. For programs that want to use drones as a tool beyond simply learning to code, that might be insufficient. Yes, autonomous flight and coding skills are important, but they’re only part of the equation.
The Tello’s camera — modest as it may be — makes it a true representation of what real-world drone work looks like. FlyCode ensures educators can continue using this complete platform.
BlockCode integration coming in November
The initial FlyCode release focuses on the “Fly” component, offering seamless manual flight control. But the real excitement comes in mid-November when Drone Legends will roll out BlockCode, their proprietary block-based coding environment.
Unlike existing block coding solutions such as Scratch, Tynker or DroneBlocks, BlockCode is custom-built specifically for drone education — not adapted from Google Blockly. It’s designed to be more advanced and, crucially, more reliable than current alternatives.
Perhaps the biggest convenience? No more switching between separate flight and coding applications. Everything will be integrated into one streamlined interface, reducing technical headaches and keeping students focused on learning rather than troubleshooting.
The Tello supply problem
There’s an elephant in the room: you can’t easily buy Tello drones anymore. DJI quietly discontinued them, leaving educators wondering what comes next.
Drone Legends has stepped in to make sure classrooms aren’t left grounded. The company reserved its remaining Tello inventory exclusively for schools using its STEM Fundamentals program — meaning educators can still get reliable drones backed by full curriculum support rather than trying to piece things together on their own.
Even better, every Tello purchased through Drone Legends includes the option to add the DroneCare Repair, Replace, and Recycle program, designed to keep Tellos flying and out of landfills. When a drone is damaged, it’s repaired or replaced. If or when it’s beyond repair, parts are recycled to reduce e-waste. It’s a smart, sustainable approach that keeps technology investments viable and classrooms running smoothly.
Founder and CEO Scott Buell told The Drone Girl that Drone Legends will continue supporting Tello until a new platform meets their strict educational standards.
“We’re not abandoning ship,” he said. “We’re keeping Tellos flying.”
The bottom line
FlyCode represents more than just a replacement app. It’s a statement that the Tello still has a vital role to play in STEM education, and that Drone Legends is committed to supporting educators who’ve invested in this platform.
With the core engine now built, Drone Legends is also positioned to support future drone platforms as they emerge. But for now, their focus is clear: keep the Tello flying in classrooms around the world.
FlyCode is available now as a free download on the App Store and Google Play. The BlockCode coding environment will be added via update in mid-November 2025.
For more information about Drone Legends’ educational programs, visit dronelegends.com.
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