Hello all, I am somewhat new here and my family is new to T1D (March 23rd of this year). Yesterday the Endochrinologist approved us for the G5 for our 8 year old. He said the G6 upgrade will be coming soon and there is a chance we may get that one instead (which is fine by me, I believe it is released next month). We are looking forward to it. I have a co-worker who was diagnosed with T1 when she was 11 years old and she has the G5 and says good things about it.
This means we will have to get our 8 year old daughter a cell phone. We currently use Straight Talk and I was planning on getting her an iPhone 6 (they are actually pretty cheap now). It seems the Dexcom works best with an iPhone. My wife has a Galaxy S7 and I have an older Android phone with version 5.1. I know the Dexcom app works with the iPhone 6 (G5 and G6). My questions is about the Dexcom Follow app (bear with me, again this is all new to us). Does it work with an older Android like mine? I really don’t want to have to upgrade several phones just to get the app to work but if I have to, I have to. I assume the “follow” app will work just fine with my phone. When I talked to the Dexcom rep they said refer to the website but it seems to only cover the information on the G5 and G6 app, not so much the “follow” app.
Any help would be appreciated. Looking forward to getting this as we believe it will make our lives a bit easier. She isn’t ready for a pump yet (only gets 5 units of Levemir a day and Novalog when needed and so far Novalog isn’t needed very much we do a lot of carb counting but are still in the honeymoon phase and that will eventually change and that’s when a pump will be needed).
@bridgesbunch
Not necessarily. It works fine with an Android. You could also use it with an iPod. Check the Dexcom compatibility chart which is periodically updated and is different between the G5 and G6.
Note that the “Follow App” is also listed on that page [scroll down to the bottom of the page]. I currently use the “Follow App” on an older Samsung Tablet (Galaxy Tab3). I don’t even think this one is listed but it seems to work fine. In terms of the “Follow App”, you can download it right now to your device and see if it launches.
It displayed that it is not tested with this phone or Android version (ZTE phone). It’s an older phone but it’s a great phone so I hope I don’t have to get a new one. will wait and also check the Dexcom site again but I’m almost positive this version of the operating system is not listed. My wife should be good as she has the S7. The problem w Straight Talk is with those phones you are not able to do phone updates but that’s the provider that works best for us at least for now (only service we’ve ever had and by far the cheapest).
Well that screen looks very familiar !!!
lol
So you have two choices. Live with the screen (which has one more annoying aspect) or update to a newer device which is listed as being compatible.
I choose to live with the annoying screen because I am cheap. ha ha ha. Functionally (for me) it works just fine.
So the one annoying thing with this is that the screen will pop back up every 24 hrs. BLARG. Still not enough to convince me to buy a new device. It looks like close enough for you to at least get going and find out if this is good enough or if the warning really drives you crazy.
Note that if you get an iPod for your child, it will provide exactly the same functionality as an iPhone when she is connected to wifi. The only difference is outside of a wifi zone, the iPhone will continue to send data every 5 minutes via cell tower. The iPod would continue to have all the same local functionality (ie receive data from the transmitter and raise local alerts and all that) and would dump all the stored data through the cloud over to your “follow app” once it came back into a wifi zone. So depending on your situation (ie - wifi options for your child) the iPod could be a cheaper alternative. And if you all are an “Android house” the Android phones should be just as good as the iPhone from a Dexcom perspective.
Thanks Tim! I did look at the specs on the Dexcom website and I believe the follow app will work with my older phone. I don’t mind the pop up. Like you I’m cheap
Our household is a mixture. My wife has the Galaxy S7 and our teenage daughter has an iPhone 6 which would also be perfect for our 8 year old. I do have a 4th gen iPod but that really isn’t an option as WiFi isn’t available at her school for students. Plus Straight Talk has a new $35 a month plan which would be perfect for her as I don’t believe she could use up data (the rest of us are on the $45 plan). However, if the app uses a lot of data to send out info I could easily put her on the $45 plan.
Again thanks for the info.
T1 is new to our family and we are really looking forward to getting the CGM.
I don’t think the app would even install on the iPod 4. Pretty sure the G5 works for the iPod 5 & 6 and the G6 is only on the iPod 6. For the Mobile App that communicates directly to the transmitter (ie - the app your child would use) you don’t just get the warning screen like you get on the follow app. Generally either it is supported and works or it just won’t install.
In terms of the data usage, it is minimal. Drop in the bucket. Just a tiny cgm data point every five minutes. You would likely not even notice the usage on the smallest data plan possible.
Still waiting to hear back from the vendor on our G5. She said we would be able to upgrade to the G6 as well. Wondering if we have to pay for both (pretty cheap with insurance anyway but no sense in having to buy two). If that is the case we may wait a little longer and not get the G5 and wait on the G6. I read about the 10 day “stop” period, I’m sure that’s kind of annoying but we have been pricking fingers since day one anyway and my daughter is used to it.
No pump needed yet but we will probably go with an Omnipod, these seem to be great for kids.
I faced the same situation with my Android phone (Moto G5+). A hacked version of the Dexcom Mobile App for Android is available at Dexcom G5 Mobile US Stable.apk | by shabado8 for Generic Device/Other. It works fine with my phone even though the the Moto G5+ is “unapproved” by Dexcom. I got tired of waiting for Dexcom to expand their list of approved phones so I found the app at a perfect time.
Thanks I’ll keep that in mind and save that link. Haven’t heard back from the Dexcom rep yet she has been out of the office so maybe I’ll hear about an arrival date on Monday. We will be getting our daughter an iPhone 6 so I’m not concerned about the app on that phone I know it will work. If for some reason the Follow App doesn’t work on mine I’ll check out that link. I believe mine is Android 5.1 and so far it just displays what I posted in my earlier message. I believe it will work but we’ll see when it gets up and running.
Contacted Omnipod this morning and they are sending us a non-working demo. We are pretty sure this is the pump we will want to use when she is ready for it.
I used to recommend MM pumps, but since their new models have come out, I don’t think I can do that any longer. If my 551 gives up the ghost, I hope I can get another 5xx model, instead of either of the 6xx models. Hope she likes the Omnipod.
I have been on the OmniPod for over a decade, and I think that you have made a great choice for your child. Although I am an adult, I like the freedom of NOT having to disconnect anything to take a shower or to swim. The OmniPod is a great choice for an active child. Good luck as you move forward and increase your knowledge of how to live with T1.
Good news, we got our G5 yesterday and got it hooked up last night!
Works like a charm. We have it on our phones and can follow her throughout the day. I have an Android that isn’t listed on the Dexcom site but the Follow App works just fine. She had a high in the middle of the night (over 300) and I heard my wife’s phone alert go off so everything works like it should. This morning she checked her blood with the meter and it matched the G5 so we know it is working like it should. I hope this made life a little bit easier for us, I know we all should rest better at night.
Would you be interested in helping me purchase an OmniPod for a 6 year old boy with T1D in Saudia Arabia? They aren’t sold there and I can’t get my hands on one in the USA without a US prescription - which I don’t have…
I would not be able to legally buy the OmniPod system without a prescription either, and since my prescription only covers enough equipment for one year for me, I would have no means of getting additional Pods or another PDM. Perhaps if you contact Insulet Corporation, they may have some ideas for you.
Thanks for posting this, Mark. I’ve been pestering Dexcom for awhile to approve the Moto G5+, but they claimed that it may not work properly. I was upset that only folks wealthy enough to own “flagship” Android phone models could enjoy the convenience of using their phones to manage BGLs. The link you provided works fine with the G5+ and I can now travel a little lighter while recording and analyzing data more simply. Thanks again!
