Dexcom Follow

We absolutely love this app! My brother-in-law is 15 and has a CGM. Me, his mom and dad, grandma, and girlfriend all have the app. It is such a comfort to know when he is high or low. Especially when he is playing a sport or is asleep and can’t feel when it drops or rises. One thing I wish they could do is maybe add a chat in or something. In the middle of the night his mom and dad may have him drink a juice or something, but the rest of us don’t know. Early this morning the app was only registering LOW. I woke up to my phone going off that it was an urgent low. I texted and called my mother and father-in-law, but they wouldn’t answer me. After a few minutes my husband and I drove to there house in a panic that no one knew he was that low. Thankfully they only live a few miles away. Long story short, they were all asleep but had given him a juice an hour earlier. So his sugar wasn’t as low as we thought, it was just registering with the app a lot slower. If there was some kind of chat or a way to leave a notification I think that would be great. That way the rest of us will know that they got him, or gave him a juice at a certain time. It would give us some peace of mind if nothing else. And be a lot easier than just texting each of us. I love the app though! It’s a real blessing to have!

I have never done an app review before but when this latest version came out, I knew it was time. I just had to get on here and tell you how much my daughter (13 yr old T1D) and I love the G6. It has been such a great product upgrade. She can even put it on by herself now, where she wouldn’t with the G5 because of the plunger applicator. So kudos to you all. Now... for the not so lovely stuff. I downloaded this latest follower app in anticipation of some wonderful things.... like a widget app, or being able to see the “complication” on my iPhone the same way my daughter sees it, or maybe some new alert tone options since sometimes I get used to the same ones and don’t hear them as easily at night anymore. Hmmm, nope.... I’m guessing by the number of reviews prior to mine you know what I am going to say. Green? Really, friends? Why green? I had to move it out of my favorite icons at the bottom because it blends in with the phone and message icon. You gotta bring back the orange... or like hot pink... or something. And yes... the smaller font is a no go. People reading this might say we are being picky but when you look at an app as much as some of us do that have dependent children.... those little things are equivalent to seeing a hair in your food. Still, I love ya... but..... please fix quickly and try to add some things that will really enhance quality and ease. Thank you!

response required

Two stars because Dexcom as a product is amazing and has changed my fiancé’s life. However, it seems pretty clear that the company’s product strategy focuses only on the hardware and not their mobile apps. Least of all, the Follow app which hasn’t been updated beyond minor bugs fixes possibly ever. But even the Dexcom G6 app is basic and limited. There are major bugs, inconsistencies, grammatical errors, and even duplicates of the exact same question on the FAQ page. Dexcom releases app updates maybe once a year, if we’re lucky, and they certainly don’t have anywhere in their apps or on their website to report bugs or give feature suggestions. There is so much potential for the Dexcom apps, but it’s wasted (it doesn’t look like they even employ a software product manager). Thankfully, they have open APIs, so there are some great third-party apps that are way better than Dexcom’s app, but it’s really disappointing that they don’t put more focus here. While their hardware is much better than their competitors due to being so hands-off, it’s not that huge of a competitive advantage and the mobile space is definitely where their competitors can quickly gain some ground on them. I hope Dexcom puts more strategy behind their entire product solution in the future instead of only focusing on the hardware.

It’s called “ Follow” app. So, you can follow your dependent loved one, in this case- a special needs child and monitor readings of their glucose. when it works, it works. However: Early this morning, I get an alert if his low reading. We call him on the phone and tell him to eat a sugar pill right away. Then, 10 minutes later we can’t get a reading. Keeps saying “No Data”. This went on for several HOURS! This has happened several times since installing this monitor on our child and using the new programs and apps to watch and monitor his glucose levels. This is a very scary situation. He is hundreds of miles away and now, we have to battle in hopes of getting a reading of his glucose while he’s away from home. This has been failing us too many times. I am hoping that DEXCOM will take note of this review because it is a serious problem when the app/ meter just does not show information for no valid reason. Internet connection is good. Wi-Fi connection is good. At both ends of the spectrum. Therefore, I cannot see a reason for the failure in this product at this point. DEXCOM: PLEASE, address this right away! Thank you.

I love this app...but would like to suggest a few upgrades that would make it even better for the dexcom follower. I saw that dexcom recently did an app upgrade to the 'user' app so they can have their sugar readings displayed as a 'complication' on their Apple Watch. This would be a great improvement for the follow app also! Please update this so a follower can have it on their Apple Watch just as easily. Also, please please please do an upgrade so that the sugar readings from the iPhone can be directly Blue-toothed to the Apple Watch without having the "go between" of the iPhone with you at all times. It would be so much more beneficial for both the user and follower if it would Bluetooth directly. I called Apple directly to see if this would be an upgrade they would need to do and was told that it would need to be an upgrade on Dexcom's side so that it can Bluetooth to the Watch directly, like it does the dexcom receiver and the iPhone. This would be a huge improvement in my eyes and could potentially save lives in the future! Thank you!