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



## GaryDHall (Jun 16, 2021)

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?


----------



## JJay (Jun 16, 2021)

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.


----------



## JJay (Jun 16, 2021)

Well, so far all perfectly fine and Libre2/Librelink/Libreview all behaving normally. Possibly you had a dodgy sensor?


----------



## GaryDHall (Jun 16, 2021)

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.


----------



## JJay (Jun 16, 2021)

I do sympathise and hope you find a solution soon.


----------



## mikeyB (Jun 16, 2021)

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.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 17, 2021)

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


----------



## GaryDHall (Jun 17, 2021)

mikeyB said:


> 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.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 17, 2021)

GaryDHall said:


> Yes tried that, made no difference, sadly. Thanks.


If I do that do i need to change sensor and will i lose my data


----------



## GaryDHall (Jun 17, 2021)

The data is online at LibreView but yes, you loose it on your phone.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 17, 2021)

GaryDHall said:


> 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


----------



## GaryDHall (Jun 17, 2021)

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....


----------



## Paulbreen (Jun 17, 2021)

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.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 20, 2021)

Paulbreen said:


> 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.


----------



## Paulbreen (Jun 20, 2021)

Shaggy said:


> 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


----------



## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 20, 2021)

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


----------



## Proud to be erratic (Jun 20, 2021)

Shaggy said:


> 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.


----------



## Proud to be erratic (Jun 20, 2021)

Like "everydayupsanddowns" I also find the Reader much more forgiving than my phone; invariably get a reading first contact whereas the phone is "twitchy".


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 23, 2021)

Proud to be erratic said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


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


----------



## helli (Jun 23, 2021)

Shaggy said:


> 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,.


----------



## Proud to be erratic (Jun 23, 2021)

Hello @Shaggy,
If you activate the Reader first then it will allow you to use your phone and the FreestyleLink app additionally; just scan from the app on NFC, it leads you through the simple process. But, as you say, if you use the phone and app first, you can't subsequently activate the Reader (but this is OK, there is little reason to have the smart app with alarms and the basic reader without). Roland


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 23, 2021)

helli said:


> 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,.


Ok so I can scan with the reader and the phone as long as i activate the reader first


----------



## trophywench (Jun 23, 2021)

That last sentence of @helli's causes confusion as it says the opposite of what they've just said.

Activate with reader - then can scan with phone.
Activate with phone - cannot then scan with reader.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 23, 2021)

trophywench said:


> That last sentence of @helli's causes confusion as it says the opposite of what they've just said.
> 
> Activate with reader - then can scan with phone.
> Activate with phone - cannot then scan with reader.


Hi Jenny
Thank you for that.  I have just activated the reader so need to wait for the hour.  Then i guess i can scan with Iphone and the reader.

Many thanks
Ian


----------



## Bexlee (Jun 23, 2021)

Yes but you’ll only get the alarms on the reader. I’ve tried on the phone a couple of times and had issues with the alarms not working properly due to all interference so I use reader to activate and phone as additional scanner.


----------



## Bexlee (Jun 23, 2021)

You can activate with phone now. You don’t have to wait the hour before you activate with phone as it also counts down like the reader before use.


----------



## Shaggy (Jun 23, 2021)

Bexlee said:


> Yes but you’ll only get the alarms on the reader. I’ve tried on the phone a couple of times and had issues with the alarms not working properly due to all interference so I use reader to activate and phone as additional scanner.


Thank you Bexlee, I am new to this I appreciate all your help.


----------



## Bexlee (Jun 23, 2021)

You’ll love it. All the information it gives. I far prefer starting initially with the reader as it’s far safer using that at night than dropping and smashing iPhone !!! Also good to have back with reader. I had issues with the alarms and my phone with libre 2 constantly saying out of range despite been next to it. I’m on sensor 12 now.


----------



## Audm (Jul 13, 2021)

Hi everyone.  I hope that you are all well.  This is my first time posting, -  I thought this might be helpful to those with a libre2 sensor and iPhone app. 
On holiday last week the libre view app on my iPhone suddenly stopped reading my sensor. I continued to try but no joy.  After 6 hours I applied a new sensor ( did not remove the one I was currently using) My iPhone did not recognise the new sensor. Panic started to set in as I did not have my libre view reader and only a few test strips. My husband downloaded the app onto his iPhone and I signed in. Thankfully it read the sensor I had been using ( and it continues to do so). Given we were on holiday we just continued to use his iPhone.
Internet searches did show us there were others with a similar issue. 
We emailed Abbot with the issue and we still have had no reply after 9 days. We left a poor review on the Apple App Store and the app developer replied within 2 hours giving a phone number to contact. We did that today and got some excellent help. 
We were told there IS an issue with the libre app, the libre 2 sensor and the iPhone ( it can affect any iPhone and happen at any time )   The company are aware of it and are trying to solve the problem. Until it does we were told not to use the app and to use the reader. They offered to send us the reader ( we declined as we already had one) and they are sending out a new sensor for the one we wasted. They were unable to say when it will be fixed or how we would be informed. 
So my advice is to take their advice and use the reader just now. It’s clear from what I was told that even if it’s working on your iphone just now it can just as easily stop working without warning


----------



## Sid21 (Jul 30, 2021)

Hi all Just to let you know that my Iphone SE also stopped reading sensors about 3 weeks ago changed sensor no good, contacted Abbott no help with the phone app, but they did send me two new sensors and a reader, as above there is a problem with the app so if you use your phone for your readings make sure you have a reader for back up. The reader is not as good has the Iphone, it is limited on infromation that you can input basically lets you know if you are high or low still better then test strips. Just hope Abbott get the app sorted ASAP.


----------



## Paulbreen (Jul 30, 2021)

Sid21 said:


> Hi all Just to let you know that my Iphone SE also stopped reading sensors about 3 weeks ago changed sensor no good, contacted Abbott no help with the phone app, but they did send me two new sensors and a reader, as above there is a problem with the app so if you use your phone for your readings make sure you have a reader for back up. The reader is not as good has the Iphone, it is limited on infromation that you can input basically lets you know if you are high or low still better then test strips. Just hope Abbott get the app sorted ASAP.


Sid it very much depends on the age of the iPhone SE, it looks like it’s coming to the end of apple supporting them iOS15 will be their killer.


----------

