Hello all. So unfortunately I have an update about my ten-day sensor. The thing is I work in a computer store. I’m also around a lot of phones and iPads OK I’ll be frank I work at the Apple store. I noticed that when I was at work, it would connect reconnect and connect and stop working for hours at a time. Then I would get home and everything would be fine. I called the company, they said that unfortunately due to my work I am not going to be able to use the sensor effectively. I really am upset about this because I love it. Anyone else ever had this problem does anyone have any suggestions
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I use the Dexcom app on an iPhone XR; I bought it for the Dexcom app support, so I didn’t get an 11 
I assume since you work for Apple you are obliged to use the 11, so can’t install the Dexcom app and are therefore using the Dexcom receiver. Until recently I also used the Dexcom receiver; I was new to Apple kit and didn’t trust it so I ran both the XR and the Dexcom receiver in parallel.
I have found the XR to be extremely reliable, perhaps slightly more than the receiver. I’ve used both in “hot” environments; airport departure lounges and, worst of all, airplanes, which consist of hundreds of people using bluetooth and wifi inside a small metal tube. Neither suffered the drop outs that I have experienced before with the G6 and other receiver configurations.
However to get this reliability I keep the receiver (or receivers) on my person all the time. The ISM frequencies the receiver uses do not penetrate water and we are water so if you keep the receiver in your back pocket (for example) with the sensor is on your belly you will very likely get drop-outs because of the vastly reduced signal strength. To avoid this I keep my XR in only three places:
- A front pocket of my pants, this is my preferred location though it is probably not ideal for signal transmission.
- A front jacket pocket. Closer to the transmitter but the XR is more prone to damage and I rarely wear a jacket.
- A strap on “belly pack” (I guess); this works if I am neither wearing a jacket nor pants.
I suspect that if you are having problems at work it may just be down to where you put the receiver. If you could get the app on your phone then you are probably more likely to have it in transmitter range more often and that might be enough justification to use a compatible phone (just don’t upgrade to iOS 1.13.1; that provokes repeated warnings from the app.)
The other approach is to use Apple; from their point of view it is bad enough that Dexcom takes forever to validate new versions of their OS, but if Dexcom are telling you that you can’t work in an Apple store and use the G6 then I think Apple might be seriously motivated to find the real problem. I cannot, myself, believe that the G6 doesn’t work because of the hot environment, if that were true airpods would be unusable in an Apple store.
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@jworthin, I don’t often think of my son as being disabled, but as a T1 he certainly has a federally defined disability. I am assuming that Apple is a great employer, and as such I would be asking them for an accommodation, in this case for them to find a resource to help you solve this issue. When I sold implantable defibrillators occasionally we would get a commercial welder who needed a defibrillator, and their union and sometimes their employer would hire a consultant to go to the worksite and help them figure out what tasks they could do without their defibrillator getting triggered. This would seem to fall in the same category to me, and I would hope HR would be happy to help you and all the other T1’s that work in a similar environment figure out how to make it work.
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To answer some of the questions, yes I am using the iPhone 11 Pro. I’m guessing that when you were using the EXR it was using the software that is the most recent which right now I believe is 13.3. The other thing is, I can’t use the receiver because I have to use voiceover which makes the phone talk. The receiver doesn’t have anything like that so I have to rely on the phone. I am going to talk to my doctor tomorrow. Maybe we can either find one that doesn’t use a Bluetooth or maybe he can help me figure something out. I also plan to call the company again. The thing is, I can’t believe that people that work in computer stores like this can’t use this particular sensor. I mean it just boggles my mind. Anyway the sensor is supposed to stay connected to just my phone because it’s using my Bluetooth right? I will let you know how it goes. Thank you all for your support and I’m sure that we will find an answer to this. On a sidenote, originally I was going to get the libre. I work for a company that has one of the greatest insurances there is, guess what? They don’t cover the libre and that’s why we went with this one. Maybe if this one doesn’t work I can write some kind of a grievance to my insurance company to get the libre? We’ll see
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And previously you said:
Didn’t they point out that you are using an unsupported phone? Here’s the list of phones that Dexcom supports with the G6 app (the list is specific to the G6):
For iPhones you have, specifically (from that list, as of today: the list changes):
5S, 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, SE, 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XS Max, XR
[with iOS]: 11.0.0 - 13.1.0 (for compatible devices only)
I’ve not had any problems with the iPhone XR, this is a supported phone. I have had problems when I used unsupported phones and (for that matter) unsupported apps and these problems are much like the one you report and have been reported widely.
Typically the app software has fixes and work-rounds for infelicities of the hardware and, sometimes, software, e.g. there is a specific fix for certain Samsung Galaxy phones. Until Dexcom has tested a new phone and implemented appropriate fixes there is no guarantee that phone will work.
I suggest getting the doctor to write a prescription for a supported phone; since you have needs which mean the standard Dexcom receiver won’t work, and since these are certainly covered by the ADA, getting a phone specifically to act as the receiver shouldn’t be a problem.
It might be a good idea to first check that the Dexcom receiver does work; the transmitter can connect to two (maximum) bluetooth receivers and there are instructions for how to pair the Dexcom receiver with a sensor/transmitter that has been activated by the 'phone app. In any case keeping the phone in close proximity to the transmitter is as much, maybe more, of a requirement than it is for the Dexcom receiver.
FWIW on my iPhone (an XR) I just got visited with this mighty disclaimer; I am using an iPhone XR recently bought from Apple and only upgraded on Apple’s equally mighty command. I quote verbatim, minus my own transcription errors:
Attention: Dexcom is in the process of testing this app on the latest iOS version (or mobile device). This app will continue to function although there may be areas that may not work as expected. For more information, tap on the ‘More information’ link below.
For the record, there was no “More information” link below; there was a high glucose alert, but I think everyone can understand why. I tapped on “OK” and, lo and behold more information was absent. I was at 198, I really do care more for that than whichever fool is controlling our elections, give me a break,
Ok, so I’m calling Dexcom. If I’m told I can reboot my phone. On the other hand I can listen to a valley girl, wow, I suddenly want to arrange for a massive nuclear device to randomly drop on the valley. I must be evil, give me a baseball bat.
It looks like they are swamped. I have to wonder if putin has realized that swamping our universe is ridiculously simple, given enough workers [czech]
“To request a callback press One, otherwise please remain online for the next available agent.”
Like men-in-black, give me the pug; I had a deep, intimate and very real relationship with a Pug named Helen (face that launched a thousand ships; not my piece of irony). I think she had some respect for me, but maybe I’m just fooling myself.
They just answered
I got someone who really cared and was incredibly stressed; Dexcom support is slammed. I hope I helped.
The executive summary is that Apple have been dropping"Dexcom compatible" phones on users with iOS versions that are not Dexcom compatible because Apple have been delivering those phones with an incompatible version of iOS (13.3 as opposed to the original shipping version of 13.1).
We (the USians among us) live in a strange world. It forces us to criticize those we speak to on the spurious basis that they are the corporations they are employed by. I just has a wonderful conversation with a Dexcom employee but that wasn’t because she is (and I hope continues to be) a Dexcom employee and it certainly isn’t because I think Dexcom deserve more than being stamped in the mud below our boots.
At this point I have been disarmed. I can’t think of any trite or apposite remark. The best I can say is that I seem to be up shxt creek without a baseball bat, sorry, best I can do.
I used the G5 app for about a year and this message would regularly pop up for me. I just figured it was normal, albeit very annoying…
For what its’ wroth, the LibreLink app that works with the FreeStyle Libre supports iPhone 7 and higher and iOS 11 and higher, according to the Canadian Libre site (may be different in the US). It may be worth checking whether insurance would cover the Libre rather than having to spend money on a different phone just to be able to use a CGM. The Libre also doesn’t use Bluetooth, so may be more reliable in some instances. The downside is that the Libre, by itself, provides no alarms and requires manual scanning to get a reading.
I skipped the replies above since it was too much reading.
My son is blind so I am very active in the blind community and the go to phone for accessibility is currently iphone. Android is quickly catching up but they are still lagging behind right now.
Siri does have the ability to tell you your blood sugar. I believe the phrase is “siri what is my blood sugar” as long as you have the dexcom app on your iphone it works great. (i am on Android so can’t confirm)
One issue you need to be aware of: is when ios is updated it always breaks the apps until they are updated to work with new ios. My advice is to wait until they catch up to install the update for ios.
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I regularly use Siri on my iPhone 6s to learn my Dexcom reading. It may work better if you create your own command for Siri. I use an affectionate, “How’s my sugar?”
You can set this in the Dexcom app->Settings->Siri Shortcuts.
I haven’t tried it, but it looks as if you could set up a whole repertoire of different commands that Siri would respond to. Everything from "What’s my BG?” to “Tell me how sweet I am.”
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So I have “Get Glucose” set in, and I Tested It (before the last OS upgrade). So:
“Hey, Siri, Get Glucose”
“Searching the iTunes store for Glucose.”
Hum… “Hey Siri, what is my blood sugar?” [polite this time]
“I can’t answer that on the iPhone, but you can find it in the Activity App.”
At last! Even a button to open the “Activity App”. Press it:
“I can’t do that, you don’t have the Fitness App installed.”
A button to install the Fitness App (fitness for what I am wondering, buying stuff maybe?) Ok… Loading, Loading, lowding, lowda.
“Cannot Connect to App Store.”
I Guess i Am Saved.
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