Libre 2 on a smart watch?

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Daaavid

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi, I have a Libre 2. I wish to use a smart watch with it. Has anyone any advice / recommendation on which smart watch to use please?
 
I've been using a Samsung fit e for a couple of years. Dead cheap and gets alarms and notifications from the phone via Bluetooth. Handy to have the vibration on your wrist for say low glucose alarms when in a noisey environment.
I'm not sure there is any more functionality available for even expensive smart watches.
Having said that I'm thinking of getting a Fitbit for better battery life and screen. Also I'm not that keen on the Samsung apps that go with the phone.
 
It’s not something I’ve looked into, but I think several forum members have managed this with 3rd party apps like xDrip or Tomato.

I don’t think there’s an ‘official’ Abbott route, so the algorithm used to show the data won’t be the one Abbott developed and tested in their clinical trials.

I’ve taken the liberty of tweaking your thread title to attract attention of smartwatch users.
 
I've been using a Samsung fit e for a couple of years. Dead cheap and gets alarms and notifications from the phone via Bluetooth. Handy to have the vibration on your wrist for say low glucose alarms when in a noisey environment.
I'm not sure there is any more functionality available for even expensive smart watches.
Having said that I'm thinking of getting a Fitbit for better battery life and screen. Also I'm not that keen on the Samsung apps that go with the phone.
Is it complicated to link to a smartphone? It sounds like exactly what I'm looking for cos it's cheap! (oops, thread hijack alert!)
 
Hi, Many thanks for the replies. I'm a bit baffled by references to linking to a smartphone. Does the smartwatch not work independently? I ask as ideally I don't want the watch to link to my phone.
 
Does the smartwatch not work independently?
Not really. All can do some things independently (so if you go out without your phone you can expect your smartwatch to keep telling you the time, counting your steps, etc.), but generally you need a smartphone for many things so the smartwatch is best thought of as an extension of your smartphone rather than a genuinely independent thing. For the moment, anyway. I think even the ones where you can make and receive phone calls (so they have their own SIM or eSIM) still want a smartphone for setting them up.
 
Hi Bruce, many thanks for the reply. The only thing that I want the smartwatch to do is to tell the time and give me readings from the Libre 2 sensor. Will a smartwatch do that without a smartphone, and do you, or anyone reading this, have any smartwatch recommendations for this use please?
 
I've been using a Samsung fit e for a couple of years. Dead cheap and gets alarms and notifications from the phone via Bluetooth. Handy to have the vibration on your wrist for say low glucose alarms when in a noisey environment.
I'm not sure there is any more functionality available for even expensive smart watches.
Having said that I'm thinking of getting a Fitbit for better battery life and screen. Also I'm not that keen on the Samsung apps that go with the phone.
Hi Magpie, thank you for the reply. Which Fitbit do you think would be best for taking readings from the Libre 2 sensor please?
 
Hi.
I'm not aware of any watch that will work directly with a libre - they all will need a phone to link.
 
It’s not something I’ve looked into, but I think several forum members have managed this with 3rd party apps like xDrip or Tomato.

I don’t think there’s an ‘official’ Abbott route, so the algorithm used to show the data won’t be the one Abbott developed and tested in their clinical trials.

I’ve taken the liberty of tweaking your thread title to attract attention of smartwatch users.
Hi Mike, thank you for your reply. Do you know whether there is a smartwatch that will work directly with a Libre 2 sensor please? I thought that I had read somewhere that a smartwatch gives you continuous blood sugar readings.
As I don't want my mobile phone on when I go to bed, I am currently using another cheap smartphone which is linked to the Libre. This means that I have to carry 2 phones around with me, which is not ideal, so if a smartwatch on my wrist can do the job, that would be GREAT! Any thoughts please?
 
For official apps Abbott would certainly be my first port of call.

If you are interested in 3rd party software I’d suggest checking the ‘Libre Geeks’ group on Facebook. There’s not a lot they don’t know about getting Libre to work with various bits of tech.
 
For official apps Abbott would certainly be my first port of call.

If you are interested in 3rd party software I’d suggest checking the ‘Libre Geeks’ group on Facebook. There’s not a lot they don’t know about getting Libre to work with various bits of tech.

Abbott have authorised no smartwatches nor third party apps that send data from any of their sensors either direct to a smartwatch or via their Librelink app. They never have done. Nor it seems are they likely to do so in the near future. This has been a bugbear for many who use their products.
 
Many thanks all.
BadaBing, you are telling me that I will definitely not be able to use just a smartwatch with a Libre 2 sensor. End of that story, I think.
I think that a Dexcom G6 does work with just a smartwatch. Anyone using that combination please?
 
Many thanks all.
BadaBing, you are telling me that I will definitely not be able to use just a smartwatch with a Libre 2 sensor. End of that story, I think.
I think that a Dexcom G6 does work with just a smartwatch. Anyone using that combination please?
Daaavid, yes you have understood me correctly.

I contact Abbott from time-to-time and ask them when they will allow data generated by their glucose monitoring systems to be read directly by smartwatches. Their answer is always the same: not at the moment but they are in discussions with a number of "partners" to do something in the future.

I understand Dexcom are far more amenable to data generated by their glucose monitoring products being displayed on compatible smartwatches.

I wish Abbott would be more nimble. Having first trialled the first Libre system in 2013/14, then having miniaturised the sensor and made it proper, real time cgm with the Libre 3, the next logical step would be to make the data easily accessible on a smartwatch.

The seeming slowness to innovate is palpable. At the moment, one has to open up the Libre app (and scan the sensor in the case of Libre 1 and Libre 2) in order to see one's current glucose reading. There isn't even a widget that gives one the current number.
 
Agreed. I am far from impressed with the Libre 2, and would not recommend it to anyone.
 
Agreed. I am far from impressed with the Libre 2, and would not recommend it to anyone.
I am reluctant to switch to the Dexcom, not least because it produces more packaging and product waste and it's already difficult getting my local council to take my medical waste.

I'd still like to try the Libre 3 but it feels like so few people will get access to it in England that I wonder why Abbott are making it available at all.

I still want to be able to view my data and get alarms, etc on a smartwatch though - without having to use unauthorised third party apps and devices.
 
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