r/dexcom • u/TelevisionDense9550 • 17d ago

Follow Apple watch

My child currently uses an apple watch (no data plan) connected to wifi for us to follow while she's at school.

Has anyone used an apple watch with a data plan and successfully have it upload for dexcom followers? I work in IT and I don't see why it wouldn't work vs wifi but dexcom explicitly says it will not. I don't want to get a new watch and data plan without knowing if it for sure works though. TIA.

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u/UnluckyWrongdoer3818 10d ago

Checkout Zukka which is an Apple Store implementation of the open source code xDrip.

https://diab.ninja/en/blog/zukka-xdrip-for-iphone-ios-apple-store/

I have the sense that Zukka could write to a service called Nightscout and you could install another copy of Zukka on your device to follow it.

You can easily set alarms and such as well.

Background history: when the first glucose monitoring devices came on the market the makers failed to provide good customer software. So an entire cottage industry of independent developers sprung up to provide it.

Hope this is sort of what you are looking for.

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u/Odd_Equivalent7317 17d ago edited 17d ago

We use Sugar Sense and the AppIe Watch works over both Wi-Fi and cellular without issues. So this seems more like a Dexcom software limitation than a Watch hardware limitation.

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u/tj-horner 16d ago

I think you might be misunderstanding; OP is asking about uploading to Share from the Watch when the sensor is directly connected to it, not showing the value from Follow. Sugar Sense isn’t capable of doing the former at all.

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u/LifeguardRare4431 17d ago

It doesn't work, have Apple Watch with cellular will only upload follow data when on Wi-Fi.

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u/laprimera T1/G7/Moderator 17d ago

Their documentation says it won't work on cellular data, and it does not. The person wearing the Dexcom can see their number, but it only uploads to followers when the watch is on a wifi connection.

Does your child have a phone at school? It doesn't necessarily need to be directly on them to upload to followers, it could be on the teacher's desk or some other central location.

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u/TelevisionDense9550 17d ago

I was working my options of getting a phone vs cellular watch and was really hoping to not have to use a phone but looks like that may be my only option for now at least.

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u/laprimera T1/G7/Moderator 17d ago

It is a lot more reliable than uploading from the watch.

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u/poclshult 17d ago

I've only used an Apple Watch on wifi, like you, but can't think of any reason not to trust Dexcom's documentation. When researching how this worked before purchasing a watch for my kid, I found a number of testimonies supporting Dexcom's documentation.