Dexcom CGM direct to Smartwatch!

Diabetes Technology Diabetes Apps
21

I still wish direct-to-watch was available also for the G4 with Share – so far, it’s not :frowning:

22

No, the widget combined with the Wearable Widgets app is just a display technology to display the data the phone is collecting on the watch.

23

Hi Guys,

I have found Tony’s post in this topic and I think he is in the similar position as me. Can I ask you to put some light on watch/iphone/android combinations/possibilities from your experience?

I am type one amateur athlete, mainly road and mtb cycling, doing also other sports during winter/preparation period, swimming, running, xc-skiing… I leave in Czech Republic/Slovakia, where just recently G5 appeared at dexcom sales rep site. I wonder which way to go, what devices (iphone vs android in general) to use with it.

1). I am using Android phone and garmin watch/cyclocomputer for sports. Would really appreciate if signal from sensor went directly to watch, without need for phone syncing - for swimming and cycling and in general seems like a good idea to not go through additional steps. Is that possible for Garmin (735XT)? From what I read, only Android smart watches with xdrip+ app can do that as of now.
2). In Slovakia/Czech Republic there is G5 Apple compatible sensor available only. Android one as stated by Dexcom sales rep will be here in half of year. Could not believe there is a difference in Bluetooth technology between those platforms. I am thinking about combination:
a) Iphone as the receiver from G5 sensor and transmitter to Nightscout DB
b) Garmin sports watch connected to nightscout as receiver (over bluetooth connection from Iphone). I have this watch on my wrist all the time.

The shortcoming of such setup is no BG during swimming but that I can live with. Also if the connection via Nightscout is cumbersome (I live where borders of 3 countries meet together and it is not unusual to be in Slovakia/Austria/Hungary on 2hrs cycling trip) because of mobile operators change I would go for either:

  • AppleWatch - no direct G5 sensor connection as it requires Iphone but dexcom works on that and I dont need internet Iphone is enough for BG data transmission, drawback - still no BG during swimming at least as of now
  • Android Watch with xdrip+ app - communicates directly with G5 sensor. Can it be used together with Iphone? I dont need this watch for anything else than BG, dont care for internet etc

Please advise

24

@Lechu, you have it right – only Android Wear smartwatches, paired with an Android phone running xdrip+ can collect samples directly with the watch without the phone present. That’s the current state of the technology “out there”.

However, there is a technical issue with swimming generally. The radio signals for bluetooth can not penetrate water, so there is unlikely to ever be a solution that can reliably grab readings wirelessly in water.

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25

Hi,

I just posted some major news on the Dexcom G5 Android compatibility in another thread:

All the best,
David

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26

The big advantage of xDrip is that it can use the transmitter even after the 105 day expiration and also after the DIY battery change. It is also linked to the HAPP, the Android APS, which the official software is not.

27

Hi David,

Thx for your post. I am type I with for over 28yrs, living close to you in Slovakia. I have decided to move to CGM system, but health insurance does not cover it here. I have possibilities to move to Vienna for a job (normal employment with health insurance covered), could you please tell me how does it look with CGM expenses coverage? Also insulin etc…

Thx in advance

Lechu

28

Hi Lechu,

since I have a private insurance which covers 95% of all my CGM related expenses, I can’t give you any exact figures regarding CGM coverage policy of the public health insurance. But I’ve met some T1s who told me that their CGM was covered by public health care. I assume not as good as mine (95%), but still a considerable proportion! When it comes to test strip supplies etc. I can tell you that you get a 3-month supply either shipped via mail regularly or you pick it up at the local office of your public health insurance. For Insulin you get a prescription of your doc and go to the pharmacy of your choice. There is a flat rate set for all regular prescription drugs (insulin included) of around 6€/USD for each package. E.g.: 5x3ml Levemir + 5x3ml NovoRapid = 12€
If you have a low income or your annual medicine expenses exceed 2% of your annual income, you don’t have to pay anything for your medicines.

I would just recommend you that you set an appointment with your local health insurance office once you’re in Austria and get proper advise on how to handle all the bureaucracy. But you definitely don’t have to worry about anything here!

Atb,
David

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29

There are other advantages to xDrip, or xDrip+, such as bolus calculation, forward looking prediction, insulin on board calculation, correction suggestion, Tasker integration, and more that Dexcom will likely never have. As long as Dexcom doesn’t break xDrip to transmitter communication I will gladly stay with xDrip+.

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30

I just got my smart watch 3 and have tried to pair it to my Galaxy Note 4. Xdrip+ displays on the watch, but I’m unable to have the watch function as the collector. The collector function has never worked on the note 4 and that’s why I got the watch-- to use it as the collector. I was able to pair the watch with my TabS2 tablet, which has been functioning as my collector very well. The watch displays the data very well, but when I tried to use the watch as the collector it was the same story–no go.

I’m getting kind of frustrated and was wondering if you had any advice on setting up the Sony Smart Watch 3 as the collector so it could run independently of the phone or tablet.

Thanks

31

Sorry for your frustration. I’m using a note 4 which I agree, has poor Bluetooth connectivity support.

There was a new xdrip+ nightly release yesterday which is much improved. Could you update to the latest version?

Also, here is a setup guide which is a work in progress but you might find helpful.

https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip/watchgide.md

And the gutter channel where devs can be reached.

You are welcome to private message me if you need additional help but please try the latest nightly! Good luck.

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32

Oops, the watch guide link is

https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip/blob/master/WatchGuide.md

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33

Thank you very much for the assistance and pointing me in the right
direction. I finally got everything working together! The watch working as
the collector is reading the g5 transmitter about 75% of the time and it is
syncing flawlessly with the Note 4.

Stephen

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34

That is great, and you are welcome! I usually have a capture rate in the high 90s so you should be getting much higher than 75% once it gets a full day of readings:)

35

Does “Direct to Smartwatch” then sync to Dexcom Servers or Nightscout once it re-pairs with smartphone? Does it then fill in missing points when it wasn’t connected to the phone?

36

The watch us now reading 100% of the time! The difference is that I left my Dexcom receiver at home today.

My guess is that somehow the receiver and the watch compete for the transmitter signal, and if the receiver gets there first the transmitter stops it’s ble signal. But when the watch gets there first it doesn’t shut off the transmitter so the receiver is still able to get it. Am I close?

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37

I think because the G5 uses a Bluetooth signal, that it connects to the best-available connection only, I’m not sure. I am still using the G4 w/Share - which happily connects to my Android phone, but for which direct-to-watch is not (yet?) available – hoping…

38

I pretty much disproved that last night. I was outside at the barbecue for about an hour with the receiver in the house , and the watch on my wrist only got one reading. The receiver had to have a far worse connection than the watch but it still got most of the readings.

Also, with the receiver in my pocket it got all of the readings but the watch also got about 35% of them.

I need to do some more research on this.

39

What happens if you shut off the receiver altogether? Maybe it isn’t a signal problem but a parsing problem…

40

Yes, that’s what I did and now the watch is reading 100% of the time, at least so far today.