I’ve been a Dexcom user for 8+ years and earlier this year started using the G6 with my phone. It started out as a great system where I could get my readings on my phone vs carying an extra device, and plus no calibrations are great as well.
Now for the warning…my app has been bugging me for a couple of weeks to upgrade and I’ve been putting it off. I was about to do it tonight but glad I hesitated after reading feedback on Google play…it appears that the new version 1.8 will not allow the app to work unless you allow it to lambast you with notifications! In other words, gone is the ability to manage your readings without annoying vibrations and beeping. With my current app, I could disable notifications so not to be bothered while in critical meetings or formal events. From my understanding, the new version does not allow users to stop notifications else you won’t get your glucose reading! There are times when I run low but know my level will rise after I just ate a few glucose tablets but I’ll have no choice but to listen to the dexcom beeps until my numbers rise. Sorry but I am thoroughly disgusted with this change. ONCE YOU UPDATE YOU CAN’T GO BACK TO THE OLD VERSION.
Others are annoyed that it constantly requires users to allow location information…not just when checking your level. Any other app makes this an option, not a requirement.
Hope this helps others avoid this repulsive requirement.
I upgraded to 1.8.0.4 last week and I don’t have the issues you describe. All my alarms are muted except for below 55 which you could never mute. Something doesn’t sound right.
Thanks for your reply. I’m using an S9 so assume I’d have a similar experience to yours.
For reference, here is what I see on my screen today. Based on the paragraph at the bottom appears to indicate that even if you put your phone in DND (do not disturb mode) it will still sound the irritating alarms.
Additionally, here are a few reviews I saw on Google Play:
"on a samsung note 9, the current update overrides the dark mode preference on the quick glance feature. this wasn’t an issue on the previous version. it also overrides the disabling of the “BEEP BEEP BEEP” urgent low sound. again, this was not the case with the previous version and is insanely annoying. please, please, please patch this as it wakes me up at night. i’ll update my review to 5 accordingly, please for the love of god just change it to the way it was. please and thank you"*
“Works good, but beware of permissions on the phone. Up until recently I could set my phone to Do Not Disturb when i went to bed. I am lucky enough to wake up if my bloodsugar is out of whack, however, after the app has updated I can no longer use the DND in order to keep the app quiet. I cant tell the app that it’s not exempt from DND, because then it wont show me any glucose levels, so now I need to turn off my phone at night, but my phone is my alarm clock… not ok…”
Reviews were posted 12/18/20 and 12/19/20 respectively.
I’m curious if you have a different take on this? Please advise.
Ok, I understand. What I want from Dexcom is a little different than you. I want the below 55 alarm for safety reasons, so I wouldn’t want that alarm to be bypassed.
The below 55 is the only alarm that can’t be turned off. I have all other alarms turned off.
Your other option is to go to Settings - Apps --Dexcom G6 and force stop the app. That will stop everything. I’ve done that for prolonged lows that I was treating and didn’t want to hear the alarm. Better than turning off your phone.
Sounds good. I’ll do the forced stop if I need a situation where I require no alarms.
Compared to before, it was much easier to treat with appropriate amount of food, then go back to bed vs listening to beeps until I got back to normal range. Now I’ll be forced to shut down the app and also lose the ability to know where my levels are until I re-start app.
The ability to avoid the upgrade now seems to be a moot point as it appears Dexcom is forcing everyone to upgrade by 1/6 based on my screen shot. I’m hoping there is enough dis-satisfaction expressed with the new requirements, that they revert back to the previous settings.
I’m a stock holder in DEX (albeit not a large amount) but know there is competition on the horizon from Abbot’s freestyle Libre 2. It provides reading every minute vs every 5 but every 5 is just fine by me. The greater difference is an 4 extra days (14 total) with the Libre. If their app is less annoying, it would make it worthwhile for me to change over, once available in the US. The G6 is very easy to install a sensor and virtually pain free for me, so Libre would need to be similar to convert.
Regarding the blue tooth constant location tracking requirement, there is no need for this unless Dexcom is selling your location tracking information to other organizations in an effort to make money. Perhaps as a supplement to lost dollars from competition?
As I understand it, the location permission has something to do with using Bluetooth. Android permissions sometimes cover odd corners of the system that don’t mean exactly what they appear to.
I stared at that DND issue for a while before I upgraded. I concluded that they are really just enforcing what the previous intended operation was. (And possibly FDA required though I don’t know.) With no concerts at present, I haven’t had a chance to verify it, though I plan to try soon. I set my low alert at 90 anyway, so I’m comfortable with the idea of the urgent low blasting through.
So far what bothers me most about the new version is that when there’s an alert and I switch to the app, it flashes the screen a couple of times before activating. Hard to describe. If I hit the OK on the alert quickly, it doesn’t take because even though the alert shows, the app isn’t ready to process the tap. This might be related to the fact that the other app I’m in usually has the keyboard active.
