Went for my omnipod training and my trainer thought that the Dash used a Samsung S5 custom phone?
They will be trained on it and agreed I could switch once out. All I hear is Q1 2019.
For those on it:
I am not on it, but it has no built-in meter. That is a big negative for me.
We are not on it either. But the Dash is a custom Android phone whose OS is, I understand, totally closed to outside mods, apps etc. It is fairly bulky, without a meter as @Eric wrote, so you will need to carry an additional device.
For some people, this absence of meter will be a worse issue. UHC compels you to use a OneTouch meter except if you use the Omnipod PDM with its integrated meter. There is not a single one in the OneTouch range that FUD evals like 
I am like @Eric, I am not looking forward to the Dash.
I am Dash curious but it is not out in Canada yet.
I am concerned with the loss of buttons I can push. I like to bolus while not looking at the pump and I do not think you can do that with a touchscreen.
Ditto all the above. I don’t see the benefit, except for people who have a visceral hatred of the current PDM, which I don’t. I don’t have a phone, but if I did, I’d be teed off about having to carry my phone plus the Omnipod phone plus a BG meter.
Unless there’s some really appealing feature they add at the last minute, I’ll wait for the generation after that, which will use a phone-that’s-really-a-phone. Or see what happens with the Omnipod/Tidepool Loop integration.
I could be wrong, but aren’t they also going to also launch an iphone app that will strictly display certain pdm info? I don’t use the pdm as a meter (never bothered to try to get the strips approved) so I’m kind-of neutral on the pdm/dash conversion itself, but I’m really interested in being able to possibly see time of last bolus, insulin on board, and some other stuff on my phone.
My pdm is usually nearby, but my phone is pretty much right at hand all the time - it would be really convenient to be able to glance at that stuff without fishing out the pdm every time.
Yes, that is all true. You would be able to see it on your phone instead of your pump. Provided the PDM is close enough to communicate with the phone!
But to me that’s not much help. One button push on the PDM, versus possibly having to unlock your phone to see it. I am not sure if the app will be a like a banner app that you can see it when locked, or if you will need to unlock it. I have no idea.
And I am pretty sure the PDM “phone” will have at least a 4 digit lock which can’t be turned off, and the max timeout setting will probably be at 10 minutes. Which is a lot more button pushing whenever you want to take insulin.
Certainly it depends on how people use their phone and their PDM. It might be great for some.
So KP, are you going to get the new one?
I myself think it is a great idea because it will be more intuitive since it will be a locked down phone. I tend to like touch screens vs button pushes myself, but that’s just me.
I also hear it will be easier to start and get onto because the pdm will be FREE with your script order for refills, and most can use their prescription vs DME side.
Recently i read somewhere where they are partnering with Samsung because of their KNOX security and trying to roll out dosing from certain samsung phones by integrating the app on the KNOX side somehow. Now THAT would be cool!
I honestly hadn’t thought of this… lol. But what I’m mostly thinking is when I’m at my desk at work, my phone is sitting on my desk next to me. My pdm is in a zipper pouch, inside my purse, inside a desk drawer. Or right this minute, I’m in the living room using my phone, and my pdm is upstairs in the kitchen. So In cases like that if I just want to glance at it for a quick piece of info, the phone is simpler for me.
I’m definitely leaning toward it. In my case, I’ve only used it since July anyway, and I have no strong feelings about the current pdm one way or the other other. Also, I like shiny new toys 
But that’s the trick. If your PDM is in a different room, will your phone be able to pick up the bluetooth signal and be able to display current data? I have no idea!
I am not much of a “phone guy”, so I don’t know. Maybe some others would have a better guess on how far the range might work.
How far does the phone pick up a Dexcom transmitter signal? My Dex receiver can pick up the signal from a much further distance than my phone, I think.
My phone and Dexcom do ok in most of the main areas of my house, but not always from one more separated room to another. I know my Dexcom connects from here to where my pdm is right now… different rooms but open to one another. (When I said upstairs it probably made it sound further and more separated than it is)
I am admittedly attached at the hip to my phone. And I like touchscreens (good ones, anyway). And I also don’t hate the idea of the pdm looking like a phone rather than whatever it looks like now. I’m kinda private about stuff and would love to be able to use it in front of someone else without them having any idea it’s NOT just a phone.
I don’t really find much wrong with the current one though so I get why people would be happy to keep it.
Yes. We used to be able to pick a signal with a receiver from about the width of a soccer field. With a phone (specifically an iPhone SE) a large room is about all we get in general.
I don’t have or use Omnipod, but I do have an interest in the product. I took several focus group surveys last year for the Dash that used Samsung (Fort) Knox to lock the Samsung phone down so it could only be used as a pdm. Not sure if that is what they ultimately settled on, but my curiosity is piqued.
This new feature would be limited to only certain models of Samsung Galaxy phones, but the press release did not specify which models. No timeline was given for the project’s completion, and the integration would need to be approved by the FDA before hitting the market.
@Thomas
What is your experience with bluetooth range? Any guess on a distance you might get on the PDM being able to talk to the phone to give insulin data?
This is another reason I almost always use the receiver instead of the phone.
ha ha ha
I replied then deleted it.
I see insane variations.
I have seen BLE failure within a couple feet.
I have seen perfect BLE at 50 feet.
It can be difficult to predict.
The G5 and X2 had frequent disconnects.
The communication between the G6 and X2 is substantially improved with very few drops.
EDIT: The other item I had initially written was about needing to communicate to the PDM. IMHO that would be a bad design. A better design would be the way Dexcom has done it. Where the transmitter houses the algorithm and is what everything needs to connect in to. I would think it would be better if Insulet did the same such that both the PDM and the SmartPhone App connect in to the Omnipod itself and get all the information they need from the Omnipod. So if the PDM is not around, you would have full functionality from the SmartPhone app itself in direct communication with the PDM.
Although you may already know what direction Insulet has gone (or is going) with this?
Yes, that would be better. Maybe it is because it would take them more time to get approved?
I think the issue is:
how do you guarantee that your pump-controlling algorithm will work 100% of the time when you are not in control of the kernel (OS) code and you have a bunch of other apps running?
How do you guarantee that nobody will take control of your app through malware?
It is pretty core since you are in control of a pump.