Yuneec have always made a thing of they will never force an update on you. OTA was introduced to make update easier via wifi but does not force you to update, unlike some other makes.
Not yet maybe but the times they are a-changing and all manufacturers will have to play ball. This is the price to be paid for "soft" new upcoming regulations which don't require every amateur pilot to undergo practical training and testing.
For example, the upcoming
draft EU legislation states:
"Manufacturers shall ensure that procedures are in place to
ensure that software upgrades taking place after the placing
on the market do not alter the compliance of the product."
That must include making their software tamper-proof.
The UK CAA goes further in its
consultation response, stating several times that drones should:
"- be equipped with a system which limits/prevents the UA
from operating if the software is not updated regularly (time
duration between updates to be determined based on the risk
and level of reliance on technical systems)
- be manufactured in a way so that the systems necessary
for safe flight and maintaining classification limits cannot be
tampered with".
…which would have to mean forced software updates, either OTA or by restricting flight functionality until updates are manually installed.
Meanwhile,
Yuneec have already stated:
"So that updates are even easier to install, we have also
introduced an OTA update function. That means that all
future updates will be downloaded simply via Wi-Fi using
the ST16 and automatically installed on the remote control,
camera and hexacopter."
It may be a translation thing but the key word there is "will". They don't say that future updates "can" be automatically installed.
All will become clear over the next few months as the drone laws are updated across Europe, and presumably elsewhere; but it does look as though we will soon be under the control of Big Brother - and that no manufacturer will be able to opt out. Many will consider that a good thing of course, albeit competent pilots may not.