Features

LoopFollow Features¶

Most features and the settings that control them are self-explanatory and documented within the app. Some documentation is provided below.

Status Banner¶

When LoopFollow has trouble reaching your data source or keeping itself awake in the background, it shows a dismissable banner across the top of the screen. The banner is visible on every tab and pushes the content down rather than covering it. It explains what went wrong so you can fix it, instead of the app silently showing no data.

What it reports¶

• Nightscout problems — after a failed download, LoopFollow checks your site and reports the cause, for example "The token is invalid.", "A token is required.", "The site was not found.", or "A network error occurred." If the site is reachable but the data still didn't load, a softer warning says so.
• Dexcom Share problems — a failed Dexcom Share login is explained in plain language (account not found, incorrect username or password, or too many failed attempts). If Nightscout is also configured, LoopFollow falls back to it and the banner notes that data keeps flowing using Nightscout as backup.
• Frequent heartbeat dropouts — when a Bluetooth heartbeat device starts arriving late repeatedly within the last hour — a typical sign of a dying transmitter battery — the banner suggests checking the transmitter/RileyLink/pod battery or Bluetooth range. A single late beat never triggers it.

Clearing and dismissing¶

• A banner clears automatically when its source recovers (the next successful download, or a clean heartbeat window) or when you remove that source (URL/credentials cleared, device disconnected).
• Tapping ✕ hides the banner. The same problem stays hidden for about 30 minutes and then reappears if it is still occurring; a different problem appears right away.
• When more than one source has a problem, the most serious message is shown first; dismissing it reveals the next one.

Alarms¶

When you select the Alarms Feature, the initial screen will be blank. By tapping on the plus sign upper right, you can add as many alarms as desired. There is quick access to the overall Alarm Settings by tapping the gear icon on this screen.

Both the alarms list and the Add Alarm sheet have a search field. On the alarms list, type to filter your configured alarms by name or alarm type. In the Add Alarm sheet, type to filter the available alarm types by name, description, or group — non-matching groups are hidden. When nothing matches, a No Results message is shown.

The graphic below shows a few typical alarms that might be chosen.

When you tap on a given alarm, you can customize the settings in a number of ways. An example for the Low BG Alert is shown below. Once you customize an alarm, you can enable or disable it quickly while maintaining your custom settings.

The graphic below shows the many types of alarms that are available with LoopFollow.

Alarm Sounds¶

Each alarm plays a tone that you choose in the alarm's settings. Tap Choose Tone to open the tone picker, where you can preview and select from the built-in tones.

Custom Sounds¶

You can also use your own audio as an alarm tone. In the tone picker, the Custom section at the top offers two ways to add sounds:

• Import Sound… — opens the Files browser so you can pick an audio file.
• Shared folder — drop audio files into LoopFollow's folder in the Files app; they are picked up automatically the next time you open the tone picker.

Imported sounds must be a supported audio format (mp3, wav, m4a, aac, aif/aiff, caf), no larger than 2 MB, and no longer than 30 seconds.

Custom sounds are stored on your device only and are not included in a settings export. Swipe a custom sound to delete it; any alarm still using a deleted sound falls back to a built-in tone.

Skip Options¶

Some alarms can be told to stay quiet when the situation is already correcting itself. These toggles are off by default, so existing alarms behave exactly as before.

For the two BG alarms, the direction is judged from the last two readings.

Predictive Low Alert¶

The Low BG Alert can warn you before glucose actually goes low, based on the forecast from the looping app. In the alarm's settings, set Predictive to the number of minutes to look ahead in the forecast (up to 60); if any forecast value in that window is at or below the alarm's threshold, you are warned early. Set it to 0 to alert only on actual readings.

• For Loop, the forecast that Loop uploads is used.
• For Trio, the lowest of Trio's four forecast lines (ZT, IOB, COB, UAM) at each point in time is used.

Alarm Types Reference¶

The table below lists every alarm type available in LoopFollow, organized by group.

Glucose¶

Insulin / Food¶

Device / System¶

Override / Target¶

Snoozer¶

The Snoozer is a dedicated tab designed for the night stand and at-a-glance monitoring: a black screen with a large glucose value, the trend arrow, the delta, how long ago the reading arrived, and a clock. When the reading is stale, the glucose value is crossed out. Like the other features, the Snoozer can be placed in the toolbar using Settings: Tabs.

Two options in Settings: General tailor the screen: Show Display Name adds the app name (handy when following more than one person), and Snoozer emoji adds a face that reflects the current glucose.

When an Alarm Sounds¶

When an alarm fires, a card appears at the bottom of the Snoozer showing the alarm name, a Snooze for stepper, and a Snooze button. The stepper's unit and limits depend on the alarm type — minutes for most alarms, hours or days for slow-moving ones like the expiration alerts. Setting the stepper to 0 turns the button into Acknowledge, which silences the alarm without snoozing it.

Snooze All Alarms¶

Tap anywhere on the Snoozer screen to show the bar at the top. When nothing is snoozed, it offers a one-tap Snooze all · 1h button, and a sun or moon symbol indicates whether your daytime or nighttime alarm hours are active. The bar hides itself again after a few seconds.

While a global snooze is active, the bar reads All alerts snoozed and shows the end date and time — tap either one to adjust it — along with − 30m and + 30m buttons and End now. Adjusting the end time below the current time also ends the snooze.

Remote Control with LoopFollow¶

Do not skip the overview page if you have not yet configured LoopFollow for Remote Control.

• Remote Control Overview

There are separate pages for the different remote control options. (No page is provided if None is selected). Quick access is provided using these links once you have configured LoopFollow for Remote Control:

• None
• Loop Remote Control
• Trio Remote Control

As of LoopFollow 6.2, Nightscout remote commands are no longer supported in LoopFollow.

Treatments¶

The treatments screen displays all treatments downloaded from the Nightscout Site with user-selectable filters on treatment type.

Statistics¶

The Statistics screen displays a variety of plots and values. This requires an associated Nightscout Site. If the Nightscout site is limited in the days of data, it will be noticeable in the Data Availability metric on the first row.

Background Refresh¶

LoopFollow has traditionally provided an option to play a silent audio as a trick to allow it to wake up when in the background or when the phone is locked. This has several drawbacks including battery drain and limited reliability.

With LoopFollow version 2.2.9 or newer, an additional method is provided using an external device to provide a heartbeat. This can be a radiolink device, if you have one available, or a used Dexcom Transmitter (G5/ G6/ ONE/ Anubis) or Sensor (G7/ ONE+). The batteries on Dexcom devices continue to provide power to the Bluetooth system, giving a heartbeat at about 5 minute intervals. The radiolink devices provide a heartbeat every minute.

Bluetooth Heartbeat¶

Why was this added?¶

LoopFollow can use a background silent audio to keep iOS from killing the app, but this trick puts an extra load on the phone battery and it is known to stop working in some cases, such as when using a Timer on your phone

• If the silent tune is working well for you, there’s no need to change
• If you’ve been experiencing significant battery drain you may want to use a Bluetooth Heartbeat

How does it work?¶

• You can choose to use a radiolink device or an expired Dexcom device as a heartbeat
• This can save significantly on the battery used by LoopFollow and provides more reliable ability to wake up LoopFollow out of background mode to check for alarm status.

What devices are supported?¶

These devices can provide a constant Bluetooth connection for your LoopFollow phone:

• Radiolink: RileyLink, OrangeLink, Emalink
• Dexcom Device (the battery can last for months after it is no longer in service with a sensor)
  • Dexcom G5/G6/ONE/Anubis transmitter
  • Dexcom G7/ONE+ sensor
• Omnipod DASH pod within Bluetooth range (provides a heartbeat about every 3 minutes)

If you use LoopFollow on your Looping phone for the features offered, you can connect to your own Dexcom device. You don’t need to use an expired device in addition.

How do I configure Bluetooth Heartbeat?¶

Open Settings: Background Refresh and tap Background Refresh Type to pick a mode. The example below shows the steps if you choose to use a Dexcom Device (G6/ONE/G7/ONE+). A similar process is used for a radiolink device or an Omnipod DASH pod.

After selecting a Bluetooth type, LoopFollow scans for nearby devices and lists what it finds — tap a device to connect it.

Once connected, the Selected Device card shows the device name, its connection status, the signal strength (RSSI), and the expected BG delay, along with a Disconnect button.

If the person using LoopFollow is also wearing a Dexcom or radiolink, they should choose their own device. The RSSI is a measure of the strength of the signal. It is normal for the Dexcom device to disconnect. It will reconnect regularly.

Real-Time Watch Updates using Contact¶

Updated Method for Watch Display of Real Time Glucose.

Follow your Looper’s glucose value in real time on your Apple watch by adding a complication!

Note: a new method is required because the old “calendar” method no longer works for iOS 18. You must have LoopFollow v2.2.8 or newer to use this method.

Features include:

• Options for delta value or arrow
• Dynamic font size

Step-by-Step Instructions¶

It is probably easiest to view the video for Set Up LoopFollow Contact Complication on Your Apple Watch, but a bullet list is also provided below

Video, How to add a complication for real-time watch display

Bullet List with Instructions:

1. Enable glucose Updates in LoopFollow
   • Open the LoopFollow app on your iPhone
   • Go to Settings > Integrations > Contact
   • Toggle on “Enable Contact BG Updates”
     • If a permission prompt appears, choose “Allow Full Access” (do not choose “Select Contacts…” / Limited Access)
       • LoopFollow needs Full Access because it creates and keeps its own LoopFollow – BG contact up to date; Limited Access will prevent the complication from updating
     • (The app will automatically create a contact named LoopFollow – BG for you.)
2. Open the Watch App
   • On your iPhone, open the Watch app
   • Tap “My Watch” at the bottom, if it isn’t already selected
3. Choose a Watch Face
   • Scroll down and tap “Face Gallery” or choose an existing watch face under My Faces
   • Pick a watch face that supports complications (e.g., Infograph Modular or Modular)
4. Customize the Complications
   • Tap the watch face you selected to edit its settings
   • Find a Complication slot where you want the glucose contact to appear
   • Select the slot, select the ‘Contacts’ complication, select ‘More…’, scroll through the contacts, and choose LoopFollow – BG
5. Save Your Watch Face
   • Tap “Add” or “Set as Current Watch Face” to apply the changes
   • Check your Apple Watch to confirm the LoopFollow – BG complication is showing your glucose data
6. (OPTIONAL) If you follow more than one Looper
   • Repeat these steps. You can follow up to 3 Loopers using the various LoopFollow-1….-3 builds
   • Each contact will have a distinct name and show up with a different color on your watch face

You’re ready to monitor your glucose data directly on your Apple Watch!

The Contact settings screen also offers color options for the complication (not all watch faces honor them) and lets you include the trend, delta, or IOB in the same or a separate contact: