Top Diabetes Apps of 2020
According to the JDRF, people with consistently elevated blood sugar levels are at higher risk for developing complications from COVID-19. Research suggests that those who manage their daily glucose fluctuations are not at higher risk than the rest of the population. This means that being on top of your blood sugar levels is more important than ever. Staying within your target range will help keep you safe during this pandemic and beyond!
Research shows that using apps can help improve management and help reduce average blood sugar levels. A meta-analysis in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism found that on average those who use apps to manage their condition were able to reduce HbA1c levels by 0.49%! This is a significant reduction and shows how modern technology can help increase the amount of time you spend in your target range.
But how do you know which app is best for you? When I searched for “diabetes apps” on the Apple App store, it returned over 100 results! Choosing the app that will work best for you is not an easy task when there are so many to choose from.
I decided to compile a list of typical features these apps have in common and outline the best app in each category. This way, if you are looking for something specific, you’ll know which app is right for you.
Journal
Glucose Buddy allows you to track blood sugar, insulin, medication, and exercise in an intuitive format. It’s free to join and use the logbook, but there are premium features available including the HbA1c calculator for $59.99/year. One great thing about Glucose Buddy is the online community. The free version of the app gives you access to a huge network where users share stories and offer advice on the support forums.
Predictions
I found that One Drop was a user favourite in terms of offering Automated Decision Support using population data to predict what direction users’ blood glucose will change, and pairs this with advice to help correct the change. This feature is not available for type I patients.
Some other features offered by One Drop are journal logging, a medication schedule, pattern tracking, and HbA1c estimation.
The One Drop app is free, however, they also offer bundles. The Diabetes Health Package includes a Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose meter and a membership to SugarRx (One Drop’s digital coaching platform). You can also choose to add a monthly subscription for test strips at checkout.
Another app that offers predictions is Diabits. Diabits is a diabetes management app for patients who use CGM devices. Their machine learning algorithm uses this data to build a personalized model of each user’s blood glucose and then predicts future values up to 60 minutes in advance with 99% accuracy. The key differentiating feature is that Diabits only uses each person’s individual data to build the model, which is what allows them to reach such high accuracy! Diabits is the clear market leader in terms of prediction accuracy.
Notifications
SugarMate is a free CGM companion app that you can set up to send you notifications if your blood sugar is heading outside of the target range. If your blood sugar drops below a certain level, Sugarmate can send an Urgent Low SMS to a friend or family member, letting them know you might need help. You can also set up Sugarmate to call you if your CGM readings are below normal and you are sleeping.
Another feature offered by Sugarmate is its integration with Amazon Alexa. You can simply ask “Alexa, what’s my blood sugar at?” and she will read it out to you! Pretty cool.
Coaching
Livongo is a holistic program that aims to better the overall health of its users. You can join various programs including diabetes management, high blood pressure management, weight management, pre-diabetes management, high cholesterol management, and lifestyle management. Livongo uses an AI algorithm to find patterns in the population and provide personalized recommendations tailored to you!
When you register for Livongo, you’re sent a blood glucose meter, lancing device and lancets, as well as unlimited test strips. You can also input your food, insulin, activity, and feelings directly into the meter. This is all uploaded to your Livongo account automatically through Bluetooth! Livongo allows you to share your results with your physician or family members via email on the smartphone app too. There is real-time support and coaching on the meter itself, as well as reminders to test blood glucose levels.
Easy sharing with your physician
Glooko has a smartphone app that automatically syncs with 95% of diabetes devices including CGMs, pumps, pens, and meters! You can also journal your meals and activity in the app. Glooko shows you patterns of how medication, food, and exercise impact your blood sugar. You can share all this information with your care team through email, or you can give them access so they can view your data remotely between appointments.
Glooko is offering free care during the COVID-19 pandemic, so this is a good one to check out right now to stay connected with your physician!
Insulin calculator
The mySugr app offers journal logging features, estimated HbA1c, and blood glucose graphs. The most useful feature according to user reviews is the insulin calculator! You can input the amount of carbs and mySugr will calculate the right dose of insulin for you. The basic version of the app is free, or you can pay $2.99/month to get access to features including blood sugar reminders, challenges, meal photos, and PDF reports.
MySugr also offers bundles in partnership with Accu-Chek meters. The bundle offers a blood glucose meter, unlimited test strips, lancing device, access to the mySugr pro app, and diabetes coaching! The coaching allows you to connect with a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) at “the tap of a button”.
My favorite app!
After reviewing all the diabetes apps on the market, it became clear that all these apps accomplish essentially the same goal of providing some basic reporting and analysis, blood sugar graphs, and meal and activity logging. Each app has a feature they focus on that’s their selling point, but of all the apps I looked at, Diabits went above and beyond, expanding on these features and adding innovative new ones. On average, a person living with diabetes has 5 apps on their phone to help them manage their disease! Diabits solves this problem by providing interoperability and combining all the best features into one app.
After looking at all the different diabetes apps on the market, none seemed to compete with Diabits. Instead of just providing simple reports based on CGM data, Diabits provides personalized insights into your data using machine learning techniques.
You can set up followers on Diabits to allow friends or family members to view your data remotely and get notifications if your blood sugar falls below a certain level.
Diabits also has a physician-facing platform called Endobits. Endobits allows your physician to view your blood glucose data remotely between appointments and reach out proactively if needed. If you think of questions between appointments you can send a note to your physician so that it can be addressed the next time you connect. Using Diabits and Endobits is free for patients!
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Finding the right diabetes app can be a daunting task with so many options out there, but hopefully, this article helped bring you closer to finding the right app to help you manage your diabetes and stay healthy!
