With the upcoming watchOS 4 update for Apple Watch slated to bring new features for diabetes management devices, we took some time to speak with Dexcom’s CEO Kevin Sayer this week about what it means for users. When Apple revealed watchOS 4 at its Worldwide Developers Conference this month, it featured Dexcom, makers of the G5 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) popular among iPhone users, on stage as an example of an Apple Watch app that will benefit from new features in the release.
Sayer shared details on how exactly Dexcom devices will improve from these new features in watchOS 4, and more specifically why CoreBluetooth support will be a “game changer” for Apple Watch users with diabetes.
We also learned from Sayer about the next-generation of the company’s popular G5 CGM coming soon. And we had to ask about the chatter prior to WWDC that Apple is reportedly developing its own glucose monitoring technology, to find out his thoughts on the possibility of such features being built directly into future Apple Watch models.
Dexcom’s G5 CGM already works with both the iPhone and Apple Watch, but currently the G5’s signal has to go to the iPhone first before syncing data to Apple Watch. That means the data on Apple Watch is a bit delayed, and it also means you must have your iPhone around if you’re on the go and want to continue syncing data. With new support for CoreBluetooth in watchOS 4, the G5 CGM will make a direct connection:
People who work out who have diabetes right now always have these fanny packs and if they have a Dexcom system they’re carrying their phone so the data’s there… If they have an Apple Watch [with CoreBluetooth support], they can leave that phone home, and track their workout real-time. Or if you’re in your office… if I had a meeting in the boardroom and had diabetes and was tracking my glucose…. I could leave my phone in my office so it wouldn’t bother my meeting… there’s a number of places where this direct connection will be useful… I think it’s part of a much longer term strategy to make that wearable more useful in the lives of people who use it.
Sayer also confirmed that the current-generation G5 CGM will get the CoreBluetooth support for a direct connection with watchOS 4, although the iPhone will still likely be required for some setup and data entry:
I believe we will continue to have set up with the phone app… a patient doesn’t have to enter data that often… they have to enter a couple calibrations a day… Those things are to be worked out during our human factors testing and our discussions with the FDA, in addition to our discussions with Apple.
One report from CNBC back in April, prior to the unveiling of new features for diabetes management with watchOS 4, claimed Apple had a secret team working on optical sensors to allow for noninvasive measuring of glucose levels (and Tim Cook was reportedly spotted wearing a sensor of some kind connected to Apple Watch). That’s something no one else has been able to do, so we asked Sayer his thoughts on the reports and the possibility of integrating the technology directly into a device like a smartwatch:
He also told us about the company’s ultimate goal to make “the on body component, the wearable, the size of about a penny,” which in theory could enable a device the size of a bandaid that could be worn underneath or attached directly to a device like Apple Watch:
Currently under development and scheduled for a release as soon as next year following watchOS 4, Sayer told us about the next-generation of the company’s G5 CGM, which will feature a lower profile design, a new automated insertion system, and other new features:
