Google Blocks NHS-Recommended App for Children With Diabetes

Google has reportedly refused to allow an NHS-recommended app for treating Type 1 diabetes to deliver text message notifications to the parents of young children who use it.

Google Blocks App for Diabetes

In the United Kingdom, over 400,000 people have type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the body is unable to generate insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Then in the United States, over 120 million Americans suffer from diabetes and is expected to rise up, per Tech Times. To help people manage this health condition, Camdiab developed CamApsFx, which sends SMS to parents when their children's glucose levels go outside of typical limits.

But there's one problem; Google has refused to allow this NHS-recommended app for treating Type 1 diabetes to notifications to parents of young children using it. Google barred it from the Play Store for two years, claiming that the SMS service was not an "essential feature."

Camdiab appealed for the notifications to be available, but in response, Google stated that it does not allow any apps other than the device's official text message app to send SMS messages. With this, Camdiab initially decided to make the app exclusively accessible on Android smartphones through the Amazon app store.

Today, the app is now made available on Google Play, but the SMS must be delivered through Bluetooth, but only to nearby devices. So instead of making the communications available through Google's functionality, it employs a cloud provider and pays for each one separately.

What this App Does

This app for Diabetes works in unison with a glucose monitor and an insulin pump to form an artificial pancreas. With this feature, it can measure glucose levels as well as give the appropriate quantity of insulin via the pump, and the app utilizes artificial intelligence to estimate how much will be needed.

In a report from BBC, Professor Roman Hovorka from Cambridge University said "Quite often we see people with a young child on the app sending texts to two, three or four adults - to grandmas and others."

CamAps FX was developed by Cambridge University scientists over a 15-year period. This was the first app of its kind to gain approval from the NHS for use by youngsters as young as one and pregnant women suffering from Diabetes.

But it has its limitations since it is a hybrid closed loop system. Meaning, child users' parent or guardian must still deliver insulin during mealtimes. Other than that, the algorithm operates on its own the rest of the time.

Professor Hovorka stated that people liked the app because of its digital ease, and it has grown in popularity among diabetics, particularly youngsters. With its sync notifications, parents of diabetic children find the app beneficial.

Needless to say, Google may have restricted the notification feature, but Camdiab has taken measures to guarantee that consumers may utilize it.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Thea Felicity