Looking for direct connect to Apple- please add Dexcom to your beta testing for updating software

Michael is absolutely correct - DexCom absolutely have access to the beta releases. In fact, anyone can sign up as a developer and get early access for free, and application publishers can get access for $99 per year. You can sign up yourself at https://developer.apple.com/programs/

If DexCom are telling you it's Apple who are blocking them, I suggest you look for an alternate glucose monitor for your daughter, because I can't imagine what other things they're misleading you about.

There is one side thought to this - as a medical monitoring device, their app might be subject to FDA approval, and I could see that might add to delays in releasing new versions. Still, that is not Apple's purview.

Maybe the best issue is to pick up an old phone running an older iOS version, and keep that by the bed at night.

If DexCom developed an iOS app, then they most certainly do have access to all iOS beta releases. All developers do. Access to beta releases is part of their developer’s annual fees. They actually get access to the beta release before the public beta program even goes live. They also get direct access to Apple support for beta issues during beta testing, unlike the public beta testers. Again, that is part of what having a for-fee, Apple registered developers account is for.

So if DexCom is failing to keep their app current and up to date, that really is entirely on them, not Apple. They have no excuse for not having their own apps fully tested and ready to go before any iOS update is publicly released. No developer has such an excuse, as they all have access to the betas well in advance of the final public release of each iOS update.

DexCom is more than $1 billion dollar a year company - they are paying professional app developers to develop their apps, and they certainly can afford Apple developer accounts. If they are dropping the ball on keeping their software current, then they are simply putting profit before service for their own company’s products.

I do not and never have worked for Apple. These are volunteer user community forums and Apple will not respond to a request for information from a post here. And there is really nothing Apple could do about any of this. They do not own DexCom, so have no power to influence DexCom’s internal decisions on how or on what time line DexCom releases updates for their software.

I know several people who are registered Apple developers. You cannot submit an App for sale in Apple’s App Store without being a registered developer. So either DexCom themselves have registered developer account(s) or whomever they contract for app development does. Either way, their developers do indeed have access to Apple Beta software.

Thats the point of the entire Apple developer environment and the App Store. It exists to enable developers to develop their apps for the most current as well as upcoming releases of iOS to keep their apps up to date so they in turn can sell more copies and keep their own customers satisfied. And by only enabling registered developers to submit and sell their software on Apple’s store fronts, Apple can ensure minimum standards and practices (like privacy policies and such).

There would be no up-side to Apple not readily providing developers access to beta software - that would just drive developers away from developing content for the App Store. Apple makes beta software available first to registered developers, then to invited “seed” testers (I’ve been an invited seed tester since the early 2000s), and then finally, to anyone and everyone who wishes to enroll in the public beta program. They make their beta software widely available to all. They also make their developers tools available to all, for free - https://developer.apple.com/programs/how-it-works/

With everything that any app developer needs readily available to them in order to keep their apps up to date and working as promised, it is up to every developer to then do so. Apple doesn’t own their software and has no control over how they conduct their own business. It is up to developers to deal with issues with their own products.

The only folks that can sort these sorts of app and notification issues are the app developer, the CGM meter folks, and then maybe Apple via the developer contacts if there are underlying iOS or iCloud issues effecting the app.

Based on what you’ve provided, Dexcom seemingly provided confusing information around iOS beta access. Some of the betas do arrive quickly, some get replaced quickly, and the security-related patches aren’t usually included in beta access.

Any registered iOS developer has iOS beta access.

(I’m a developer. And I have beta access. But I don’t think that’s the issue here, though.)

You’re seemingly reporting a busted app. That means discussions with the app vendor. If they’re pointing at Apple as the cause, that’s the vendor’s decision. This certainly won’t be the first or the last iOS bug. The first communications outage. Which then means the app vendor establishing ways to communicate app support issues with app customers, and it means a whole lot of testing. And yes, it means the app vendor will be using betas.

Sometimes iOS apps will be broken. That whether an app bug, or an Apple bug.

Breakage is also a concern for those app-using folks that upgrade into an iOS configuration that the app doesn’t (yet?) support. Vendors with life-critical products will tend to have a supported configurations list. Which you’ll want to stay within. Some vendors will lock out unsupported configurations, though there’s not really a good way to do that with iOS apps.

Broken apps and related risks should also lead to discussions of the designs and implementations and features of life-critical software, and the inevitable discussions of risks and liabilities. Discussions which are absolutely not going to happen around here, and are almost certainly going to start with Dexcom, and other interested parties. Whether Apple is even involved in these discussions?

The other available approach is to find or to custom-commission a different app for this CGM meter, but that depends on whether the CGM support and related interfaces are sufficiently documented, and not otherwise encumbered or restricted. If there’s no other product with the necessary features. Interfaces and communications which includes whether the CGM is working appropriately, and provides sufficient linkages with the app to ensure proper displays. And means sufficient protections against liability for the third-party app vendor. These sorts of apps are expensive to develop, and to test, and to support. Life-critical software development is not to be taken lightly.

App-related issues seem to be referenced in some of the app reviews:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dexcom-g6/id1209262925

As for us? We are volunteers. Not Apple folks. As Apple puts it, this site is “for informational purposes only”. See the “This site contains...” page footer for the summary version.

Shauna - Stumbled a Ross while looking for an Apple Watch direct connect to Dexcom. As a T1D with many years on Dexcom, I never, ever, upgrade iOS systems. Not only due to Dexcom, but many other apps are buggy (I recall many years ago Google Maps would simply not function with a new iOS).

if you are close enough to your daughter, you may try to keep the OEM receiver at your bedside. Also, as you advance, many closed loop systems offer third party sharing - I have not heard of the buggy issues with these. Google Riley Link and Closed Loop.

No one posting in this user-to-user forum works for Apple except the Community Specialists who only respond to posts that have gone unanswered for a long time, and then only with links to Apple’s knowledge base.

However, I am a registered developer and I have access to all early betas. So I’m sure that Dexcom does.

Thanks, Michael - that's what I figured... was just giving the benefit of the doubt. It certainly does sound like DexCom are the ones at fault here.

They can't have an app in the App Store if they are not a registered developer: https://developer.apple.com/programs/

The FDA does regulate software for medical devices, but a simple maintenance update to stay compliant with operating system changes is not something that requires any new filing with the FDA.

The FDA has a lengthy guide and decision tree document about what sorts of changes trigger a regulatory filing, and unless you’re fundamentally changing the software (or the device it works with) - new features, any changes that introduces new risk (say changing the algorithms that actually compute blood sugar with some new math) - those sorts of things trigger a filing. But a simple maintenance release to fit OS requirements for an already approved device and software does not.