• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

FreeStyle Libre 2 system issues since Apple IOS 14.6 update 5th June 21

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

GaryDHall

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Has anyone else's iPhone XR stopped communicating with their FreeStyle Libre 2 system sensor since their iPhone updated with IOS 14.6? Mine has completely stopped and numerous calls to the helpline are simply answered by Abbot saying they are 'looking in to it' and will get back to me. 11 days later and at least 9 calls to them and Abbot have not reported back in any way. In these conversations with the call centre I get the impression there is a major issue and I am not the only customer unable to use the system? Anyone else out there with the issue?
 
Quite by chance I have my XR updating beside me at the mo, as up till now I've been on a narrowboat with limited wifi. Wish I'd seen your post first!

I will report back in due course.
 
Well, so far all perfectly fine and Libre2/Librelink/Libreview all behaving normally. Possibly you had a dodgy sensor?
 
It's not a dodgy sensor I'm afraid, I have since tried three and none connect. Glad to know yours is working. I guess it is a setting hiden in the Iphone or the App. What this shows is that without detailed support such sophisticated technology can trip over and us lay technicians are at the mercy of Apple and Abbot.
 
I do sympathise and hope you find a solution soon.
 
I’ve got an iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 14.6 and it works just fine with Libre 2 sensors. I suspect it’s the App that’s corrupt. I would try deleting the App from the phone and reinstalling to see if that helps.
 
Hi I also have some issues with the Iphone 12 max pro. Please try again in 10 mins. I have had 3 replacement sensors. They also sent me a reader but I want to know what is the best to use, iphone or the libre reader. I need to replace sensor tonight so I would appreciate some advice.

Many thanks
Ian
 
I’ve got an iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 14.6 and it works just fine with Libre 2 sensors. I suspect it’s the App that’s corrupt. I would try deleting the App from the phone and reinstalling to see if that helps.
Yes tried that, made no difference, sadly. Thanks.
 
The data is online at LibreView but yes, you loose it on your phone
OK thank you, how good is the reader or is phone better...Also where is best place for sensor i have seen videos about underarm and other places
 
I have never used the reader as always used iPhone. But will set up reader as iPhone not working. I wear the sensor as suggested, underarm would seem uncomfortable and likely to damage as it'll rubbing against your body. But who knows....
 
My iphone8 stopped reading sensors about a month ago, tested with the reader and another iphone and they both worked fine so i suspect the NFC reader in the iphone8 had died, 4 years old so i cant complain too much, good excuse for a new phone so I have a iphone 12pro now and all is working fine again.
 
My iphone8 stopped reading sensors about a month ago, tested with the reader and another iphone and they both worked fine so i suspect the NFC reader in the iphone8 had died, 4 years old so i cant complain too much, good excuse for a new phone so I have a iphone 12pro now and all is working fine again.
Hi Thank you for that. I have the reader but not used it yet, how good is compared to using the phone.
 
Hi Thank you for that. I have the reader but not used it yet, how good is compared to using the phone.
I much prefer the phone, only because it means I don’t have to carry an extra device around and alarms get shown on my iwatch. That said the reader works just as well, I suppose it’s personal preference as there is no difference in the data you get
 
I find the reader much more forgiving in finding the sensor than my iphone, which I usually have to swipe multiple times.

Not run a Libre for a little while so no idea if my phone (still running 14.3) will now refuse to play ball! I suspect it’s not new enough to run the latest iOS. Either that it it’s just too full to update without plugging into itunes again 😛
 
Hi Thank you for that. I have the reader but not used it yet, how good is compared to using the phone.
I'm an android user, but I hope this is still helpful.

The Reader is very basic, not unlike comparing a Nokia phone from 15yrs ago with a smart phone today. I've used 3 L2 readers since 3 Feb, all behaved similarly. Using it to put data in, eg insulin doses and carbs, is crude and clumsy with the touch screen frequently unresponsive. My smartphone with the Librelink app is much more sophisticated for data entry and provides reasonable reports, even before looking at the reports in the cloud on Libreview. Data from the Reader can only be transferred to Libreview by a connection cable and a PC, whereas from my phone it goes automatically by WiFi, once I'd set up my Libreview account.

BUT, despite these negatives, I have tried using the phone only and reverted back to using both the Reader and phone in parallel - for the ALARMS. It is true, there is the nuisance of carrying an extra device; but if I'm in the garden or with kith and kin, I don't need the phone, just something that will alert me when I'm heading to hypo terrain. For this purpose the Reader is light and convenient; I've got an improvised pouch on a lanyard for when my pockets are inconvenient carriers. Once the alarm goes the display is immediate and clear and I can decide what response I need to take quickly. On my phone (perhaps my smartphone skills are limited) I find I need to get the phone out, wake it up, etc and generally it's a much slower process. I use the phone fully for putting in data and remarks, or logbook notes, as memory joggers when I'm studying Libreview.

Also, I found on my 3+ yr old Samsung A5, that various notifications from other apps were interfering with the alarms, often disconnecting the alarm, which I didn't know until the next time I looked at the awake phone. This happened 3 times in the early hours and I'd sleep through bad lows, which defeated the purpose of wearing a sensor. I eventually removed all notifications except Llibre 2, but I felt uncomfortable about isolating potential incoming notifications. I might reason that I used to manage without such smartphone "conveniences", but the modern world is steadily expecting me to pick up notifications promptly and more and more agencies are assuming that I will see these promptly. The neutralisation of alarms might not be a problem on a newish iPhone.

The Reader alarm signals are also fixed and very basic, I can improve the ring tone selection on my phone - but this shortcoming is not a big issue for me. The main thing is that the Libre will only send alarms to one device, so if you want that to be the Reader it must be activated BEFORE the phone.

Overall, I'd suggest activate the Reader first and use it solely for the alarm functions, accepting that you always need to keep it close; then activate your phone and use that for data input and review of Librelink reports - knowing there is no harm if you aren't in the same room as your phone every minute of 24 hours a day. You can try something different, eg phone only, when you change the sensor after 14 days.
 
Like "everydayupsanddowns" I also find the Reader much more forgiving than my phone; invariably get a reading first contact whereas the phone is "twitchy".
 
I'm an android user, but I hope this is still helpful.

The Reader is very basic, not unlike comparing a Nokia phone from 15yrs ago with a smart phone today. I've used 3 L2 readers since 3 Feb, all behaved similarly. Using it to put data in, eg insulin doses and carbs, is crude and clumsy with the touch screen frequently unresponsive. My smartphone with the Librelink app is much more sophisticated for data entry and provides reasonable reports, even before looking at the reports in the cloud on Libreview. Data from the Reader can only be transferred to Libreview by a connection cable and a PC, whereas from my phone it goes automatically by WiFi, once I'd set up my Libreview account.

BUT, despite these negatives, I have tried using the phone only and reverted back to using both the Reader and phone in parallel - for the ALARMS. It is true, there is the nuisance of carrying an extra device; but if I'm in the garden or with kith and kin, I don't need the phone, just something that will alert me when I'm heading to hypo terrain. For this purpose the Reader is light and convenient; I've got an improvised pouch on a lanyard for when my pockets are inconvenient carriers. Once the alarm goes the display is immediate and clear and I can decide what response I need to take quickly. On my phone (perhaps my smartphone skills are limited) I find I need to get the phone out, wake it up, etc and generally it's a much slower process. I use the phone fully for putting in data and remarks, or logbook notes, as memory joggers when I'm studying Libreview.

Also, I found on my 3+ yr old Samsung A5, that various notifications from other apps were interfering with the alarms, often disconnecting the alarm, which I didn't know until the next time I looked at the awake phone. This happened 3 times in the early hours and I'd sleep through bad lows, which defeated the purpose of wearing a sensor. I eventually removed all notifications except Llibre 2, but I felt uncomfortable about isolating potential incoming notifications. I might reason that I used to manage without such smartphone "conveniences", but the modern world is steadily expecting me to pick up notifications promptly and more and more agencies are assuming that I will see these promptly. The neutralisation of alarms might not be a problem on a newish iPhone.

The Reader alarm signals are also fixed and very basic, I can improve the ring tone selection on my phone - but this shortcoming is not a big issue for me. The main thing is that the Libre will only send alarms to one device, so if you want that to be the Reader it must be activated BEFORE the phone.

Overall, I'd suggest activate the Reader first and use it solely for the alarm functions, accepting that you always need to keep it close; then activate your phone and use that for data input and review of Librelink reports - knowing there is no harm if you aren't in the same room as your phone every minute of 24 hours a day. You can try something different, eg phone only, when you change the sensor after 14 days.
HI Thank you, So how do I activate reader then phone. I thought only one device can be used. Now i am a little confused. My replacement sensor has stopped after 8 days same old message retry in 10 mins. I now have a replacement for my replacement on route to me. Thank you for your help
 
So how do I activate reader then phone
If you activate with the reader, you can then use the phone app.
The opposite is not true - if you activate with the phone you can NOT then use the reader.
With Libre 2, you can activate with the Reader and later scan with the phone.
BUT if you activate Libre 2 with the Reader, ONLY the reader will alar,.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top