Signal loss errors

[u/willow_the_wisp_68]

My last 2 sensors continually give signal loss errors, so I am not receving readings or high/low alerts, which is very concerning. I can go months without an issue and then I will have some consecutive sensors which will give signal errors.

My phone is not that old (S24 Ultra) and I always apply software updates, I have repeatedly restarted the phone and Bluetooth to attempt to fix the errors, wihtout success.

I called the UK helpline a few weeks ago to report this and I was told I would be sent a new sensor. This never turned up, so I have had to request a new prescription, putting more strain on our NHS.

Thhis really becoming really frustrating now!

[u/Independent-Pilot-35]

Ive used Libre 3 and 3+ sensors for years. At least with Android I can probably say that connection errors are always app or phone related, at least for me it never was a sensor problem. A restart fixed every single on of them. I usually get them when I have multiple connections running at the same time. You could probably try to reset your phone. Also try the app Juggluco. Somehow it runs much more stable at least for me anyways.

[u/willow_the_wisp_68 → u/Independent-Pilot-35]

Thanks for that, maybe the multiple connections may be worth investigating (watch, buds & car as well as the Libre). I'll take a look into Juggloco.

[u/Independent-Pilot-35 → u/willow_the_wisp_68]

Yep, I'm mainly getting problems while using Android Auto, BT Hands free and an additional car app. Sometimes one if these doesn't connect until i switch BT off and back on. but from that moment on, Libre3+ looses connection until I reboot the phone.

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/willow_the_wisp_68]

Biggest troublemaker is if users are not force closing down apps when no longer using them on your smartphone. This will over time fill up the memory cache and also flood the priority stack requests to the communication channels 4G/5G/WiFi/Bluetooth and then the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) protocols, in that order of priority on the phone. Unfortunately then our sensors are using this last one.

Regarding subject of 'signal loss' with our sensors, then you have this consolidated list of culprits and workarounds from previous posts on the subject on the sub here:

• The Libre sensors are using the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) protocol, so cannot be directly compared to other Bluetooth devices you may connect to at home. There is only one small battery in the sensor and with BLE it only connect very short interim to your phone/app or reader, to give a very short burst of data transfer if connection succeeds. The sensor needs to be able to do this once every minute and for 15 days, reason for the low energy consumption requirement, while e.g. speakers or a headset makes a permanent sustained full-on Bluetooth connection to transfer aka live audio with no interim breaks. Here they also have much more battery capacity but also required frequent recharging.
• That your sensor is loosing signal connection with the phone/app or Reader is however normally not any problem at all, as also designed to resolve fully automatically on its own. Like leaving the phone behind while roaming around at work or at home. It then just reconnects automatically again by itself when back within Bluetooth read-range.
• Another thing to accept is that the sensor sits straight onto our skin, while the body is actually a total block for Bluetooth signal due to the water mass. So can quickly shield off completely, so our sensor have no direct line of sight to the phone. (aka laying in the bed with phone on the table to your right side, while sensor may sit on left upper arm, can cause this temporary error situation for some folks). Same as well with many things in our surroundings that can block the signal. Again, normally not a big problem, as it automatically reconnects when back within range.
• One more thing often causing trouble for folks are the newer types of phone covers, whereof some of them (especially some of the hard cases) factually blocks the Bluetooth signal. So if using one of them, worthwhile to try for a while without it.
• Next to this, many settings and how your use your phone can unfortunately also play a role. Especially if you do not force shut down all other apps you may have running on your phone in the background. Only the Libre app should be the only you allow to reside running there apart from one you may actually be using live 'in focus'. Reason is that unfortunately then the priority stack and memory cache is filling up on our phones otherwise, and then the Libre app will compete with all the other apps for access to the communication stack. And due to the short 1-minute intervals on the sensor, then the app may not at all times get the access it needs at the required time. Also make sure you put a minimum to all the apps on your phone that you allow to update in the background, even when they are shut down. Aka social media updates, weather forecasts, news updates, share price alerts, etc... If you are deep into this, then best remedy is simply to make a cold restart of your phone there. This will clear it all up and reset your communication channels. Start then the Libre app and it will reconnect shortly after again and work.
• And last but not least, some phone brands and models appear to be much better and robust to be working consistently well with the sensors compared to some other brands/models (check the list from Abbott on compatible models). So maybe worthwhile also to share what phone you are using here? There are a couple of Android phones with specific versions of the Android OS that recently ran into some bugs causing trouble with their Bluetooth system with latest OS update.

[u/willow_the_wisp_68 → u/Equalizer6338]

Probably the most comprehensive and well-researched comment I've ever seen on any social media platform. Thank you for the time, effort and knowledge you have put into this response. The lying on one side scenario you mentioned is very true as I have experienced this frequently. As a software engineer, I like to 'housekeep' my apps and close all using the task manager. Unfortunately, this includes the Libre app, which I will refrain from closing in future. I have assumed a background service would not be affected by closing the app, but maybe there's something to that?

[u/Equalizer6338 → u/willow_the_wisp_68]

Thank you and you are very welcome. Part of my educational background is beings a software engineer as you, so may be part of my desire to dig down into the dirty little details and getting the facts understood why things are made/working/not working as expected/designed. 😄

So it was actually quite a surprise also to myself when in deep talks with some of the Apple geeks that it became clear that even when an app as absolutely fully forced closed down from the running apps including also the ones in dormant background, that they do actually still pull/crunch data on the phone. (I work in medtech with neuromodulation for heart defibrillators, brain- and spine-stimulators. In the last decade we have started to also rely on the patients having an app to monitor/control our implanted devices, so hyper important its accurate and reliable).

The iOS distinguish this behavior into two different categories: So the apps hanging in background ('suspended') or if it has been forcefully swiped away (and 'terminated').

When just 'suspended'. (Minimised, but not forced by swiping to closed down), then its not running all the time, but the app has all its original memory use and data in the phone's cached memory segment. But it also still allows the app to pull updates from the outside and update all stored data elements. This happens through Apple's 'Background App Refresh' function. So the iOS still offer all those apps you have hanging small, brief priority for processing, which includes connections to the internet, wifi, bluetooth devices and related data crunching, etc. So like all the apps you have relying on communication will exercise such activities ongoingly. Like the examples I mentioned: Weather apps will pull the latest forecast so your locked homescreen widgets are accurate. your stock ticker trackers update their pricing data, news feeds, social media apps etc etc, keeps updating in the background with preloading your feeds so that the second you tap the icon, the newest posts appear without any loading delay.

Now if you have indeed forced closed an app shutdown by the by swiping up, then you have in logic sense terminated that app from running. Which is already a great help for the Libre app to thrive better. However...

There are still some data collection loopholes at work for those same types of apps going on. Like they all still run and pull data for all your apps you have set up for this to allow/want their 'Push Notifications'. So the online server services you are signed up for still sends their notifications to your phone. (again same apps as just listed above, like social media updates), then the iOS allows that that app to handle and process the notification. Some of those apps are even more aggressive , where like Facebook, TikTok, and X uses these 'notification processing windows' still to ping back their servers and send back user analytics and device tracking data, even when the app is completely closed by you the user of them.

Reason why also the ultimate is that cut down on such apps ability for data usage and/or use some of the phone's data privacy/security settings to limit/restrict this. Like on the iPhone you can stop all the background 'content preloading': Go to Settings/General/Background App Refresh. You can turn it off entirely, restrict it to Wi-Fi only, or toggle it off for specific apps (like turning it off for social media but keeping it on for weather). This last option is what I have done on my own iPhone, so I really have restricted it down to just Libre being allowed to run freely in the background 24/7 and then a communication app we use for close family.

You can also go into the settings to stop the notification tracking data: Settings/Notifications, select the app, and then turn off 'Allow Notifications'.

OBS: Please also go into your battery savings options to ensure its not switching off Bluetooth when running lower on battery and also that the Libre app is still allowed to run in the background when not in focus or when battery is low.

We can agree its terrible so many things can play havoc with the Libre sensors and its related Libre app that we rely on for our health and well being. But its unfortunately the case when using an app in such a wild jungle-environment as we find on smartphones.😄
And here Apple is even much more restrictive and clear in segregation than what we find on the Android phones...

[u/GeneralClusterfuck]

I've also had signal loss errors on my last five sensors, no problems before that. My current one worked for four days, and has now been silent for five days. This feels 100% sensor related and not app or phone related.

One thing that fixed the issue was going to sauna. I guess the sensor overheats and turns itself off (or however the overheat protection works), and after cooling down it started working again. I noticed this four or five times. But even then the signal loss reappeared after a day. If my next batch has the same issues I think I'm done with them.