OmniPod - getting past the confirm button and doing stuff without looking

Tips, Tech & Gear Pump
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If you use the OmniPod, you know one of the quirks is the Confirm button, and the fact that it moves around. It was done that way to require people to look at it, and not just blindly do things on it.

But I like being able to do things without needing to look at the PDM. Like when running, or driving.

For others, it might that they are in a meeting and don’t want to be looking at a PDM which could give the impression they are looking at their phone.

So I came up with a way to get past the confirm button without looking at it. And I memorized the key sequence so I can bolus without ever looking at the PDM.

First of all, to get past the confirm button which moves around - it’s pretty easy.

Try this. All by touch:

  1. power on
  2. left button
  3. middle button

Hold the power on a few seconds so it registers, and then hold the left button for 2 seconds and then the middle button for 2 seconds. This will always land you on the Status page, regardless of where they put the confirm button!

Try it!

Unimportant side-note: The trick is that on the status screen, the middle button doesn’t do anything. And the confirm button is always on either the left button or the middle button. So if you go left then middle, you either hit confirm and then a do-nothing input, or a do-nothing input and then a confirm. So this will always land you in the same place regardless of where they put confirm for that particular power-on.

This will always get you past the confirm button no matter where they put it. If you power it on and then press the left button then the middle button, it will work every time. (Make sure you hold the power down for a few seconds to activate it, and press the left button then the middle button, not the other way.)

At this point, one more push of the left button gets you to the Home (functions) page.

Now for me, I don’t have bolus calcs turned on. I just enter the bolus amount from the bolus page.

So for example, here is what I do for a 0.20 unit “no-looking” dose if I am running.

  1. power on
  2. left button
  3. middle button
  4. left button
  5. right button
  6. right button
  7. up arrow for amount (2 pushes gets me to 0.20 units)
  8. right button
  9. middle button

Try it sometime. If you have bolus calcs on, you can memorize a sequence that gets you past the BG-entering and carb-entering if you want. But for me, having bolus calcs off is the easiest way to get to a bolus.

Just getting past confirm and to the functions screen (power on, left button, middle button, left button) can also allow you to do other sequences you memorize, like if you want to do a temp basal or cancel a temp.

Anyway, just wanted to share this if anyone is interested in doing stuff on their PDM without looking at it.

Try it a few times, first when looking and then without looking, and you will see how this always lands you on the functions page:

  1. power on
  2. left button
  3. middle button
  4. left button

Let me know what you come up with. It’s fun to outsmart the pump-safety engineers! :wink:

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@Eric, this is sheer genius. I plan to play around with it as soon as my son comes home from VB practice tonight (season started last week).

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Just make sure you hold them down a few seconds so they register. Works every time.

Also, one other note, whenever I do it my PDM is within range of the pod since it is attached to me. Not sure how it works if the PDM is not within range, like if Kaelan is across the room.

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I booked marked this post straight away! Thanks Eric.

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A post was split to a new topic: Why was my Omnipod bolus not run?

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And if you do this, you will get extra lives…

image

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Thanks @Eric, this was always one of the biggest UI fails that really bothered me. Especially at night because (a) I can’t read it without glasses and (b) the screen isn’t smart about dimming so I find looking at the screen really wakes me up.

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It wasn’t really a fail as much as it was a safety measure. The only time you see the PDM name is on the confirm screen. In theory, if you get past confirm without looking at the screen name, you could be bolusing the kid at diabetes camp sitting in the bunk next to you, if you picked up his PDM instead of yours. So the idea is that if forces you to look at the PDM in order to confirm, and you would know if it was your PDM.

But that doesn’t mean much to those of us who are not at diabetes camp.

Anyway, try it and see what you think.