Evening all! Forgive me if you know all this, but we might get people searching the thread for this information, so I’m being thorough!
The Libre season alone needs the Abbott scanner or iPhone 7 or above to scan it directly, due to the NFC chip in the phone.
Spike, downloaded as a beta test app
here (because it’s not officially sanctioned as a medical app by the NHS or FDA) via TestFlight (in the App Store) is what you need on iPhone in order to collect the signal from the (also unofficial) transmitters, MiaoMiao (which I have) and Nightrider (which
@Scott-C uses). Android phones use Glimp or xdrip+ to do the same thing. Spike works on iPhones 5 and above (I can’t download TestFlight on my old 4) because it doesn’t scan the Libre directly.
The MiaoMiao and nightrider transmitters sit on the Libre sensor and “ping’ it every five minutes using the same signal that the official scanner and phone app use. They then send the data to your phone via Bluetooth and Spike uses a similar, but slightly different algorithm to process the data to give you a value. When you connect to Spike with a new sensor, it asks for a blood glucose reading so it can calibrate against it - giving it a huge advantage over the official app and scanner, as Libre is factory calibrated and isn’t always very close to a blood reading (taking the 15 minute lag of a sensor reading into account, as it measures interstitial fluid, the juice between the cells). I calibrate mine every morning and at bedtime.
So once Spike is connected (very simple to set up), it plots the five minute readings, plus any on demand ones you choose to do, on a graph, similar to the scanner and Libre app. In the settings, you can choose your BG range, and set alarms to go off when you go low, high, falling or rising fast - and for certain times of day. For example, I have all the alarms switched on at night - but just the “urgent low” one during the day. You can also have the data pushed to a variety of smart watches, I use an old Pebble Steel I got for £26 on eBay.
One feature of Spike I find really useful is the full screen mode - I use my phone with it active as a nightlight on a stand on my bedside table while it’s charging. Basically it displays a massive number with a trend arrow that even my blurry eyes can make out!
View attachment 28072
You can also install Spike on other devices on the same WiFi network and they’ll also display the values. If you want to get really nerdy, you can set up a Nightscout account, and anyone with an internet connection and your personal secret code can see your numbers - it’s quite an involved process but I managed it with zero programming knowledge. It’s especially useful for me, as I’m home alone a lot, so my husband can keep half an eye on me when we’re apart. I wanted him to have that capability because I’ve just started using a pump, and wasn’t sure if I’d be having lots of hypos. We’ve set his up so an alarm goes off if I drop to 3mmol, and if I don’t answer when he phones to check on me, he can call for help. We’ve not needed to do that, but it’s very reassuring to know I have that safety net.
Hope this helps