New FreeStyle Libre 2 App Offers Major Upgrades
By Arvind SommiKatie Mahoney Julia Kenney
Abbott has released a new iPhone app for its FreeStyle Libre 2 which offers several important upgrades, including improved remote monitoring, which helps people with diabetes and healthcare professionals. The Android version is now FDA approved as well.
The Freestyle Libre 2 app has been approved by the FDA for both iPhone and Android users. The app was originally only approved on the iPhone but as of DATE, the FDA has approved an Android FreeStyle Libre 2 app that will be available to users shortly. This will help the millions of people with diabetes with Android devices more easily view their health data. You can download the iPhone app here and we will notify readers as soon as the Android app is available. The new FreeStyle Libre 2 app features several new upgrades:
Previously, anyone using a Freestyle Libre 2 had to use a separate reader in order to scan and view their glucose data – now this data is accessible on your iPhone reducing the need for multiple devices. “The app will allow patients to monitor their blood glucose easily from a phone [app], reducing the burden of carrying an extra device with them at all times,” said Natalie Bellini, an endocrinology family nurse practitioner in Buffalo, NY. “Although this can seem like a small thing for some without diabetes, it is a big deal for a huge percentage of [people with diabetes]. We have been inundated with calls asking about upgrading to the app as soon as it is available.”
The app also includes improved real-time alarms that no longer require a reader to be nearby. Previously, the separate reading device (which only showed you CGM data) had to be within 20 feet of your sensor in order to receive real-time alarms alerting you of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. With the new app, you only need your phone within 20 feet of the sensor to activate real-time alarms.
Finally, improved integration with LibreView and LibreLink will help you more easily and smoothly share your CGM data remotely with your healthcare provider and it also allows caregivers and loved ones of people with diabetes to have real-time alarms on their own phones. The LibreView Portal is used by healthcare professionals to keep track of glucose data for the people with diabetes they see. Due to the pandemic and the increase in telehealth and remote monitoring, use of LibreView has increased dramatically and this improved integration will help your healthcare provider monitor your CGM data and make care recommendations remotely.
“This means my patients won't have to carry a separate device and it also means, their data will automatically show up via Bluetooth in the LibreView portal to facilitate virtual visits and remote monitoring,” said Dr. Diana Isaacs, a clinical pharmacy specialist and CGM program coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic.
LibreLink allows for data sharing and alarms for family members and caretakers to make sure you are safe even if they are not nearby. The LibreLink integration will be especially useful for parents and guardians of children using the FreeStyle Libre 2. To learn more about sharing your data with loved ones, read “To Share or Not to Share: My Approach to Diabetes Data”.
To download the Freestyle Libre 2 app, click here.
