• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Libre Freestyle Librelink using with Apple iOS - a warning if you have sensor failures

cbish8 said:
I'm getting my phone upgrade within the next month and I was considering switching to iPhone, how often do issues like this occur with the Libre app?
Click to expand...
The only time I've ever had a problem with the LibreLink app was a couple of summer’s ago when there was a major update of the app and everyone just got a blank screen (I think maybe this was iPhones only). Since then I have had no app based problems, just dodgy sensors that lose signal. Abbot always replace them after a quick phone call.
 
This is the first time that I have been able to identify the iOS as the probable cause of any issues but it may have been lurking behind the scenes previously. I haven't used an Android phone since using the Libre system but I suspect the same apples there as Abbott also specify the phones and OSs with which their system is compliant. The list of compatibilities is buried within the Libre website but can be found at https://www.diabetescare.abbott/support/manuals/uk.html.
 
Why are you being so nice to Abbott. Can you imagine your headphones stopping working every time apple did an update. This such a simple device using standard Bluetooth. Abbott need to get their act together and stop making excuses. They are a billion dollar company making huge profits. Honestly I am tired of calling them every time a sensor misbehaves.
 
The response from Abbott is a sneaky way to shift the blame away from them & onto patients & phone manufacturers. This is not fair. They are providing a system with a selling point that we can use our phones as readers. Abbott must invest more money to keep their software updated in lock-step with Apple, and other phone manufacturers. Don't let Abbott fool you. The problem is a faulty sensor.

The only way we can apply pressure on Abbott to do so is to report these faulty medical devices to the MHRA via their "yellow card" reporting scheme, which can be found here: https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/ . Completing this form only takes a couple of minutes.

The MHRA monitor these reports & when there is enough they can apply pressure on Abbott. The only other option we have as patients is to vote with our feet & request we are switched to another manufacturer, e.g. Dexcom.

Best of luck.
 
This looks like a good way forward. I recently pointed out the problems that their lax way of confirming compliance causes for users, but their response seemed to show they hadn’t read my email with any care and they just trotted out their usual “you mustn’t upgrade until compliance has been confirmed”. They seemed to miss the point that by the time they confirm compliance, a new operating system upgrade has occurred, and you can’t upgrade other than to the latest version.

I saw an advert on TV this evening which was selling the Libre system based on use of a phone, with no sign of a simple reader. This might be considered misselling since the company seems to have no strategy for aligning itself with current phones and operating systems. Maybe a referral to the Advertising Standards Agency might be appropriate too.
 
I am on IOS 18.5 on an iPhone 12. The bluetooth connection keeps cutting out between the phone and the sensor, so every 5 minutes I get a signal loss alarm, and I have to scan the sensor again to get a reading. This also means that I can't leave the phone on during the night unless I want to be woken up every five minutes by the signal loss alarm I spoke to the Abbot Helpdesk and they confirmed that Librelink 2 is not compatible with the latest version of the iphone IOS. He said that I just had to wait until they 'catch up'. Just not good enough, frankly.
 
Yet I too am on Libre two, I phone twelve mini, and the same update with no issues.
By the way I haven’t had the signal lost signal on since I started using my phone. Too irritating! Beeping every time I go into a different room or pop to the garden. You would probably be less aware of signal losses and just give it time to reattach itself.
 
Back
Top