Libre 2 App for USA

Hello Everyone,

First, sorry if this has been addressed before. I tried searching but I can’t find anything specific to what I am asking or I just don’t know how to use the search function affectively.

I got the Freestyle Libre 2 back in Oct. I was told that the app would soon be released but here we are in a new year and still nothing. I know the app exists over in Europe and I know its not here yet due to FDA stuff but does anyone have any insight on when it will be available? I am tired of carrying the sensor scanner around and I was hoping to have all my data in my smartphone (iOS). I know there are patches for Android but I do not think there is anything for iOS other than a bluetooth reader that goes on the sensor, not really wanting to do that unless thats the only option. What are your thoughts?

2 Likes

I am sure that someone will have more information than I, but I just wanted to say that the new bluetooth readers are pretty small. Might be worth investing in until the official app comes along.

Do you have any recommendations which one of the bluetooth readers to look at? Ones that work well with iOS?

I have heard good things about the Miao Miao 2, and I think there is one other option but I can’t recall what it is.

There might be an issue, see this thread:

you’d have to use the us 14 day, not the uslibre2, but the 2nd version of the blucon from ambrosia works well with iOS… seemed very limited on alarm choices when I tried it, and you need to use Sony cr2032 batteries… I purchased 100 on Amazon… usually lasts 10-14 days less if you are away from your phone often…it supposedly works with apple watches also…I tried miaomiao2, but their tomato app didn’t work consistently for me and only works with android 9

1 Like

@RogerType1 ,

I just started using the US version of the libre 2, with the reader device. It’s working well so far.

I’d like to use my phone with it, and understand abbott hasn’t gotten fda approval yet for their app.

Is it possible to use the libre 2 with miao miao or similar, to connect to xdrip?

1 Like

xdrip will only work on Android 9 in the u.s. I have tried the newer blucon, miaomiao2 and am a fan of bubble from Sweden, but I miss xdrip’s predictions and insulin integrated graphs, etc… nothing works with android 10 or 11 and xdrip yet

1 Like

@RogerType1, shoot, I forgot about Android version, I just recently bought a different phone, running Android 11. I guess there is my old moto e4, which is running Android 9 or earlier.

So, are you using the add on transmitters with libre 2 in the US?

1 Like

our us libre 2 is strictly us libre2 reader only… we will probably never be able to use the libre link app with the us libre2, I work in a place where its too loud to hear the libre2 alarms(I tried 1 and the rest are collecting dust), and have relied on my android wear watch since 2018 pretty much…I have purchased the miaomiao, miaomiao2, blucon1stversion, blucon2ndversion, but my current is the bubble, and I just ordered a watlaa watch which is supposed to work without the phone, but I haven’t received it yet. I tried the xdrip nightscout but it always failed and always searched for a Bluetooth reader…I almost had hope for the libre3, but it looks like they still have a ways to go before supporting watches (no support on the Germany libre3 which is very disappointing)

4 Likes

hello the libre 2 app was just approved for i o s devices. you will have to have an i o s device that has i o s 14 or higher on board. i just grabbed the libre 2 app tonight and installed to my i phone xr . Hope that helps you out.

4 Likes

I just saw that the iOS app was approved in the US last month. So exciting. Has anyone heard anything on the Android version yet?

I used the android app with the 14-day sensor and loved the convenience but have been stuck carrying around my meter since “upgrading” to version 2 a few months ago.

1 Like

Welcome to FUD @garym11 and @micah! I am sure someone will be by shortly with the answer.

There is a new Android App called Juggluco for FreeStyle Libre 2 (and 1) sensors:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tk.glucodata

It not only can scan the sensor, but it also shows the glucose value received via Bluetooth every minute. You no longer need a Bluetooth sender like Miaomiao on top of the FreeStyle Libre sensor anymore. The Freestyle Libre 2 sensor sends very minutes the current glucose value to Juggluco (Miaomiao only every 5 minutes).

In contrast to the official app for FreeStyle Libre (Librelink), Juggluco shows the curve of previous glucose values in great detail. So it is easy to see the relative position of glucose values and events like meals, insulin injections and activity.

It should work with all versions of Android above 4.4 and available everywhere where you can access Google Play.

Juggluco isn’t approved by any official agency like FDA. Glucose values it shows are the same as Abbott’s Librelink app shows. But the Android version of Librelink is also not approved in the US for Freestyle Libre 2 sensors. What is the difference with the previous Freestyle Libre sensors and with the IOS version of Librelink? Naturally the Bluetooth connection with the Android app needed for Alarms. If you have alarms, they should be reliable. And Low Energy Bluetooth (BLE) has its problems under Android, maybe not under IOS. Sometimes the connection with the sensor is lost, for I don’t know what reason.

Juggluco has glucose alarms, and they are as reliable as Androids BLE is.

But in Juggluco you can constantly see what your glucose value is and if the connection with the sensor is missing, you can easily detect that. If for three minutes there was no new glucose value, no current glucose value is shown. Continuously showing the current glucose value, makes Juggluco more reliable, not less. (Also in Juggluco you can set a Loss of Signal alarm, which goes off, if for whatever reason, there is no new glucose value after a specified number of minutes.)

Another Android specific feature only relevant to alarms, is its fight against apps running in the background. For alarms an app needs to stay active when other apps are in the foreground and when the device is in doze mode. Android restricts this by default and the app has to ask the user for special allowance to get an exemption. A lot of Android device manufactories have imposed additional restrictions, which also can be turned off, but which all use a different interface and Librelink doesn’t handle any of them. Juggluco links to them in a Doze mode info dialog you can assess from a sensor info screen, but doesn’t direct to them at install.

2 Likes

Thanks @jka for posting. Welcome to FUD, are you involved with Juggluco, or just a happy user?

I am the happy user. I considered Abbott’s official Librelink app unusable even for Freestyle libre 1 sensors. I used to measure my glucose before the meal, but was not able to determine the exact time and value from the daily graph. At first, I used Freestyle reader and uploaded the glucose values to my computer, but I thought that the Librelink app gave more accurate glucose values and I couldn’t find a way to upload the values from the Librelink app to my computer. (There were some apps who could, but they gave even less accurate glucose values than Freestyle reader).
So I was forced to spend my time making this Android app.

2 Likes

I just took a quick look and the Juggluco app is quite impressive. I see that it is free, is this a passion project, or are their plans to monetize it in the future? Also, you mention that it is available in the US, does it work outside of the US? We have lots of international members.

At long as it doesn’t generate substantial costs, it will stay free.
It should work with Freestyle libre 2 sensors independent of location.

1 Like

The app doesn’t work for me. When I try to scan the sensor, my phone starts vibrating like crazy and throws an error.

1 Like

Maybe just a scan error.
"… vibrating like crazy… ", what do you mean?
Librelink vibrates two times with a pause between, something I considered confusing. Juggluco vibrates continuously until the result is known and ends with a long vibration if an error occurs.

1 Like