FreeStyle LibreLink - US

Review by eFreeware

If you already wear a FreeStyle Libre sensor, FreeStyle LibreLink is the app that turns a compatible phone into the reader. Abbott Diabetes Care built it so a scan with the phone takes the place of a routine fingerstick for checking glucose, and it supports both the 10-day and 14-day sensors.

What you get is the everyday picture of your glucose: the current reading, the direction it is heading, and the history behind it. You can attach notes about food, insulin and exercise, look at reports that include your Ambulatory Glucose Profile, and pass data to healthcare professionals through LibreView.

It is a free download with no ads and no in-app purchases, and it has been installed more than 500,000 times since its June 2019 release. The average rating sits at 2.5 from 5,405 ratings, which is worth keeping in mind before you commit to it as your main way of checking.

Scanning instead of a fingerstick

The core action is simple by design: hold the phone near the sensor and the app reads your glucose. That scan stands in for the routine fingerstick you would otherwise do to see where you are, and it is the reason most people would want the app in the first place.

Each scan gives you the number, a trend arrow showing which way it is moving, and the glucose history that builds up from previous scans. The trend arrow matters more than a single number in a lot of situations, because it tells you whether a reading is on its way up or down rather than just where it sits right now.

The app works alongside a sensor to track glucose levels for people with diabetes, so the sensor is the starting point rather than something the app replaces. Nothing here changes what the Libre system is; it moves the reading onto the phone you already carry.

Notes, reports and the glucose profile

Readings on their own are only part of the picture, and the app gives you somewhere to put the context. You can add notes to track food, insulin use and exercise, which means a later look back at your glucose can be read alongside what you were doing at the time.

The reports include your Ambulatory Glucose Profile, a standard way of summarizing glucose patterns over a period rather than one reading at a time. For anyone who reviews their glucose with a clinician, that kind of summary is usually more useful than a list of individual scans.

LibreView is the bridge to the people involved in your care. The app connects you to healthcare professionals through it, so the data you collect can be shared rather than described from memory at an appointment. Using the app requires registering with LibreView, which is worth knowing before you start.

Running the app and the reader together

Plenty of people keep both the reader and the phone in play, and the app allows that with a single sensor, but the order matters. To use both with one sensor, the reader has to start it before the phone can scan.

The two devices do not share data with each other, so each one only knows about the scans made on it. Scan every eight hours with the same device, or that device's reports will have gaps. Data from all your devices can be uploaded and viewed together on LibreView.com.

That eight-hour window is the detail I would flag first to anyone planning to switch between a reader and a phone. It is not a reason to avoid the setup, but it does mean the app rewards a consistent routine rather than occasional scans.

What the app needs from you

The app does not provide a blood glucose monitoring system, and if you use it you must also have access to one. Fingersticks are still needed for treatment decisions in certain situations: when the Check Blood Glucose symbol appears, when your symptoms do not match the system readings, when you think readings may be inaccurate, or when you have symptoms that could point to high or low glucose.

That requirement is the most important thing to understand about the app. It is a convenient way to check glucose between fingersticks, not a replacement for the backup method your treatment decisions may depend on.

Compatibility is the other practical consideration. It may vary between phones and operating systems, and Abbott points people to its website to check which phones work. Registration with LibreView is required, and the User's Manual can be accessed through the app, with a printed copy available by contacting Abbott Diabetes Care Customer Support.

The rating and what it suggests

A 2.5 average from 5,405 ratings is low for an app tied to a widely used sensor system, and it is the number I would weigh most heavily when deciding whether to make this your primary way of checking.

An average like that usually reflects accumulated frustration across a large user base, and it is the kind of thing that matters more in a medical app than in a game or a note-taker. If your glucose readings are part of daily decisions, a rough experience with the app is not a small inconvenience.

I would treat the rating as a signal to check the current state of things for your own phone rather than as a verdict on the sensor system itself. The app is one part of a larger setup, and how well that setup works for you depends on the phone you carry and how you use it alongside a reader.

Who this app is built for

This is for people with diabetes who use FreeStyle Libre sensors and would rather check glucose on their phone than carry a separate reader. It is also for those who want their readings, notes and reports in one place, and who want to share that record with healthcare professionals through LibreView.

It suits someone who is comfortable with the idea that the phone is the display and the sensor is the source, and who keeps a blood glucose monitoring system available for the situations where a fingerstick is needed. The notes and the Ambulatory Glucose Profile give it value beyond the single reading, particularly for anyone reviewing patterns with a clinician.

If you are not using Libre sensors, or you are looking for a standalone way to measure glucose without one, this app has nothing to offer you. Its whole purpose is to work with the sensor, and everything it does follows from that.

Is it worth installing

FreeStyle LibreLink is worth installing if you already use FreeStyle Libre sensors and want the phone to do the scanning.

The conditions attached to it are real. If you use a reader as well, start the sensor on the reader first, and scan every eight hours on each device if you want complete reports.

For someone already in the Libre ecosystem who wants readings on their phone and a record they can share, it is a reasonable addition to the setup.

What's new in version 2.13.1

Bug fixes and performance improvements.