Diabetes:M App, an ultimate tracking tool for personalized diabetes management

About 30 million people in the U.S. suffer from some form of diabetes. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a large part of keeping diabetes under control. 

There are numerous mobile apps that can help people with diabetes track and manage their condition, including diet, exercise, glucose levels, insulin, and other medications, etc.

Last year, we compiled the list of some of the most useful mobile apps that can help people with diabetes manage their condition.
The problem with most of the diabetes tracker apps is that they come with limited functionalities and features, they cover only one side of the problem (i.e. tracking), they require payment to unlock full capabilities, etc.

The app we review today doesn't suffer from these problems. The Diabetes:M app helps users track almost all aspects of the diabetes management and provides them with detailed reports, charts, statistics, tools, and patterns to better manage their diabetes.

Upon the first launch, users are guided through initial configuration, i.e. they need to enter their personal data, medications, short- or long-acting insulin, glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, and carbohydrate ratio, and set measurement units (US or metric, mmol/L or mg/dL for blood glucose levels, and carbohydrate units).

After finishing the configuration, the users are taken to the home screen which displays the most viable information for the user, including current statistics and 7 days trend with the last glucose check, the average glucose levels, the estimated HbA1c according to the average logged glucose levels through the last 3 months, and the current active insulin (if users are on insulin/pump treatment).

The warning will be shown below these stats if your current condition is not very good. Users can tap on the warning to see more information.

The most used functions of the app are placed below the warning, including Log Entry, Logbook, and Calculator.

At the bottom of the home page there is a Statistics tab you can swipe to view detailed statistics for the last few days/months, as well as stats summary of carbohydrates and calories for the current day, last insulin injections, HbA1c test, cholesterol and blood pressure checks, as well as the medications the most recently taken.

To add a new entry into the Logbook, simply tap on the "Log Entry" button. There are three tabs at the top of the new log screen: Main, Additional, and Laboratory.

On the 'Main' tab users can enter the date and time of the log (current date and time are default), category, which is basically the time of the day/meal. 

Next, users can add glucose and test site (hand), carbs that can be added using the slider or manually. Users can tap on the plate icon to open the Food screen and use the calculator to calculate the needed insulin.

There are also Insulin fields, for users who are on insulin injections, or insulin pump treatment. Here, users can enter their bolus and basal insulin, choose the site or calculate the extended bolus if needed.  Users can also add other medications they use.
Finally, users can add photos and notes to the logbook.

The 'Additional' tab allows users to add weight, ketones, blood pressure, and physical activity (users can calculate needed insulin reduction for exercises using the calculator).

On the 'Laboratory' tab users can enter laboratory test results, including HbA1c and lipid panel (total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL), as well as microalbumin test and comprehensive metabolic panel in case users have the Premium subscription.

All added entries are visible in the Logbook, arranged by date from the current date on top to previous dates while scrolling down the list. Entries are shown with a summary and color-coded warnings for glucose target levels. The Diabetes:M app uses the following colors:

• Purple - indicating very low glucose level
• Blue - indicating  low glucose value
• Green - indicating  normal glucose level
• Orange - indicating  glucose level little over the normal level
• Red - indicating very high glucose level

These colors are displayed on stats, including charts and graphs to help users understand the pattern of their glucose levels visually.

One of the app's highlights is the Calculator which helps users calculate the amount of insulin needed by the body for certain amount and type of food, i.e. how much insulin does your body need to cover a meal. It can also calculate extended bolus if your meal has more fats/proteins, exercise adjustment, and sickness adjustment.

This feature, however, should be used only after the consultation with the health care provider, because if the app and vital parameters such as insulin sensitivity, carbohydrates ratio, or active insulin duration are not configured well, the calculator won't work precisely and may lead to bad insulin doses calculations.

Another app's useful feature is its extensive food database allowing users to manage their saved food or meals and add foods to the calculator to calculate the needed insulin.

Diabetes:M app gathers food information from its own database, from FatSecret database, the two additional databases, including USDA and BEDCA.

Users can search for particular food by using Search field, phone microphone (using voice search), or device camera which works as a barcode scanner allowing users to add the food to the database if it is not already listed there.

Users can also navigate the app by tapping on the Menu icon which opens the Main Menu with all app features listed there.
Besides the Logbook, Calculator, and Food, which are displayed on the Home screen, the Main Menu contains other sections, including Profile, Graphs, Charts, Reports, Reminders, and News among other features.

Diabetes:M app provides a lot of useful statistics in a form of graphs and charts allowing users to understand their data better.
The graphs show all information distributed by short periods of time to help users easily find patterns in their daily insulin or food intakes and understand how different actions affect their body, for example, insulin injections, certain foods, exercise, etc.

Charts screen shows statistical data for various categories, ranging from blood glucose distribution to the history of HbA1c and cholesterol recordings. Users can tap on the chart to view it in full screen and pinch or double tap to zoom in/out the chart.

There are also graphs showing the insulin injection sites and glucose test sites on the hands and body. The most frequently and most recently used spots are marked with darker color.

The Diabetes:M app allows users to generate reports and export all available charts/graphs and other information to PDF, XLS, or HTML reports that can be shared or sent by email.

In the Reminders section, users can create some alerts by choosing from two types of reminders: Recurrent and One-Time reminders. Both types of reminders can trigger an alarm at the exact time and 2 hours after the specified time (for example, after the meal) for additional glucose level measurement.

Data Management section provides various tools for data management, such as linking external drives, the ability to import/export data from various sources, and backup and restore data.

The app supports the analysis of the values from the imported data from various glucometers and insulin pumps.

There are two more interesting features: Patterns and Smart Assistant.
Patterns is a Beta functionality that analyzes all user's entries for the last two weeks and looks for common trends in their glucose levels, with a goal to find potential problems with the diabetes treatments.

Smart Assistant is also a Beta feature which tries to learn user's daily routines and provide more relevant reminders and recommendations. This feature will also try to analyze and automatically log user's physical activities.

Both Patterns and Smart Assistant features are fully available to Premium subscribers. Free users can view limited patterns and routines.

While the free version of the app offers more than enough, the users can unlock additional features by registering an account or purchasing the Premium subscription which is available on a 1 month ($4.99), 3 months ($13.99), 6 months ($24.99) and 12 months ($49.99) basis.

The Diabetes:M app supports Android Wear OS and Apple Watch app, which means that it can be used on a smartwatch. 
The iOS version of the app also allows for syncing health data from thousands of apps via Health app, including Dexcom, Fitbit, UP by Jawbone, Strava, My Fitness Pal, and Lose it! among others.

The app features may seem overwhelming, especially to new users, but the app includes a detailed User Guide which explains every feature and action. It makes using the app a lot easier.

To conclude, I'm positive that it wouldn't be exaggerating to say that the Diabetes:M app is the ultimate solution for tracking diabetes and probably the best diabetes tracker app around.
It doesn't just help diabetes patients record and monitor glucose, foods, exercise, treatments, or other parameters of their condition. The Diabetes:M personalizes this tracking process, trying to identify the patterns for easier management and better health outcomes.

Benefit: The app is designed for diabetes patients. Some parts of the app, particularly the calculations and configuration, should be used only after the consultation with the health care provider to avoid mistakes in insulin dosing.