Setting up Dexcom Share correctly for GGlance

The three requirements

• Share switched on in the Dexcom app.
• At least one follower. Dexcom only uploads while you are actively sharing with somebody.
• The sensor wearer's login, not a follower's. This is the opposite of the FreeStyle Libre side.

Setup

1. In the Dexcom app on your phone, open Settings → Share and turn Share on.
2. Add at least one follower. Share only uploads to Dexcom's servers while you are actively sharing, so with zero followers there is nothing to read. You can follow yourself from a second phone with the Dexcom Follow app.
3. Install GGlance from the Connect IQ Store and add it as a glance or widget.
4. In Garmin Connect, open the GGlance settings and choose Dexcom as your source.
5. Enter the login of the person wearing the sensor: the same email, username or phone number and password used in the Dexcom app that publishes the readings.
6. Open the glance. The first sign-in takes a moment, then readings refresh on their own.

Why a follower login will not work

Dexcom's Share interface only ever returns the readings of the account you sign in with. A follower account publishes nothing of its own, so signing in with one succeeds and then shows no data.

The separate interface that the Dexcom Follow app uses to display someone else's readings requires requests signed with keys built into Dexcom's own software, so no third-party app can use it. We tested it: it refuses the request outright.

Nightscout, xDrip and the rest all ask for the publisher's credentials for exactly this reason.

If Dexcom refuses the sign-in

Check your password in the Dexcom app first, of course. But if it is definitely right, the usual cause is that Share is not actually sharing: it is switched off, or it is on with no follower.

In that situation Dexcom accepts your password and returns an empty account, which is very hard to tell apart from a wrong password. Turning Share on and adding one follower resolves it.

Sources

Every claim on this page can be checked against the manufacturers' own documentation.

• Dexcom: share your G6 data with followers.
• Dexcom: share your G7 data with followers.
• Dexcom's Share and Follow setup walkthrough.

Common questions

Do I need a second phone to follow myself?

It is the simplest way, but any follower will do: a partner, a parent, anyone willing to accept the invitation. Dexcom only needs the sharing relationship to exist.

Does GGlance see the people following me?

No. It reads your glucose values, nothing about your followers.

Which Dexcom sensors work?

G6 and G7, and the older G4 and G5. Dexcom ONE and ONE+ cannot work because they do not offer Share.