SugarTrack – an offline Android logbook for blood sugar (no account, no cloud)
sugartrack-beta.vercel.app
sugartrack-beta.vercel.app
CGMs use the interstitial fluid in (usually, although people also use other spots) inside side of the upper arm to measure blood sugar. As long as they are placed in the right spot (i.e. in a fattier area instead of directly on top of muscle, hence why it is on the inside side of the upper arm and not the outside) and the sensor doesn't fail, they will measure blood sugar fairly accurately for 10-15 days depending on the CGM model (disclaimer: They do tend to run approximately 15 minutes behind the number that an actual finger poke would show you).
Nightscout is an awesome tool because it can be self-hosted so that you keep full control over your health data, but since it is a web application, you can still easily share it with other people too, like family or your endocrinologist.
On android, you can use the xdrip+ application to pair with most types of CGMs to completely keep your data out of the cloud, or you can also pair it with the API from Abbott or Dexcom (depending on the CGM model) to pull data from their 'share/link' applications, if you opt to pair with/use their official apps
[0]: https://nightscout.github.io/ [1]: https://github.com/nightscoutfoundation/xdrip
I personally use Dexcom G7 15 day sensors (because it is what my insurance covers) and use xdrip+ to upload the data to a nightscout instance hosted in my homelab
It must be a different kind of device.
The most humble meters come free in a kit, since you're really buying the test strips, and they all have onboard memory and an optional app.
It's extremely unlikely the owners of those meters would even be able to use any other app. There's no standard for the device data sent over bluetooth to the app. There's no USB port. Beyond 90 days of data (many meters have 99), A1C is preferred. Reverse engineering to support alternative apps is also unlikely since there are always new devices to hack.
SugarTrack, and other apps like it, sit in a weird deadzone. The most likely users either have a nicer meter that already does offline export, or they have a crappy meter but prefer the official app or tracking their stats on paper anyway (in their food journal). Again, the app is always optional unless it's from a super sketchy brand that isn't even cheaper.
There's no room left for doing weird somewhat low-tech things in principle anymore. The market has moved on. The most common layperson user wants integration across all their health apps. The most common nerd user buys the nerd device. The manufacturers have known this for at least a decade.
I've been using Xdrip+ for 2 years now with the Dexcom CGM instead of their proprietary app. Works great and gives me the ability to export my data or sync it with a self hosted database if I so please. Why would I trust a corporation with my private health data when they have continuously shown that they will sell it or lose it to a hack the first chance they get.
I'm not arguing against the idea. I'm being realistic about what devs and users can do about this situation.
If you're lucky enough to find something that works, I'm not knocking that.
The world is your oyster if you have some self motivation.
The issue isn't anyone's ability to reverse engineer a glucose meter nor their "self motivation" to do so.
The issue is how outdated the expectations of some devs can be. The typical consumer will never use these apps because the whole topic is washed up. Software maintenance is a much steeper hill to climb than it used to be. Throwing an LLM at that just makes it more Sisyphean than it already was.
You can have fun, but this isn't helping anyone else defend their privacy. That angle is starting to become as embarrassing as the advice to save the planet by riding a bike.
My motivation wasn't really to replace existing apps. I built it because this is the workflow I actually needed.
For example, my mother is 70 and isn't comfortable using apps. Someone else usually has to help her take the reading, and I need to keep track of the data for her. I wanted something where whoever is helping can simply open her phone, enter the reading, and have everything relevant in one place — readings, meals/photos, medication, notes and A1C.
There are definitely more sophisticated solutions out there, but they aren't always practical or available for everyone. In some places, CGMs and connected meters aren't covered by insurance, aren't readily available, or simply aren't realistic to use.
So SugarTrack is deliberately boring: no Bluetooth, no USB, no account, no cloud, no subscription. Just a simple log that stays on the phone.
It solves my particular problem, and I figured there are probably other people with a similar situation.
The problem I wanted to solve starts when the readings change. A doctor may ask, “What did you eat around that time?” With this app you can save a photo of the meal alongside the blood sugar reading, notes and medication.
So the goal is less about storing the number and more about keeping the context around the number and making that context easy to share with the doctor.
My focus is a bit different though. I’m trying to make the experience as simple and frictionless as possible, especially for non-technical amd old people.
I’m sharing a small app I built: *SugarTrack*.
I know it’s the age of AI, but I still think there’s value in taking the time to solve simple, practical problems—especially when those problems affect people who aren’t technical.
I built SugarTrack because I was tired of managing blood sugar readings using paper forms and notebooks for someone close to me. We were taking photos of readings, keeping Excel sheets, and writing notes in different places. It worked, but it was messy and difficult to maintain.
I wanted something much simpler: a digital notebook that stays on the phone.
A lot of existing apps require an account, a subscription, or an internet connection. I didn’t need any of that. I just wanted to record readings and have the information available when needed.
*SugarTrack is a free Android app with:*
* No account or login * No internet connection required * No analytics or tracking * Local SQLite storage * Blood sugar readings and notes * Meal photos * Medication tracking * A1C tracking * Graphs for viewing trends * Daily reminders * PDF and CSV export for sharing with a doctor
There’s also a practical reason I wanted this to work offline. In many developing countries, people often have to manage and record their health information themselves, without the connected glucose-monitoring devices and ecosystems that are more common in wealthier countries. A simple offline-first tool can therefore be much more useful than an app built around subscriptions and cloud accounts.
SugarTrack *does not measure blood sugar*. You still use your own glucometer—the app is simply a place to keep and understand your readings.
It’s Android-only for now.
I’d genuinely love feedback from anyone who has had to track blood sugar for themselves or a family member. *What would make a simple app like this actually useful in your day-to-day life?*