If you’ve lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for a long time, you’ve probably noticed how over the years, more and more of our day-to-day management has become digitized, gone online, and (especially) moved over to our phones.

Everything from blood glucose management with continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), to social and community support groups, to even counting carbohydrates and taking fitness to the next level has moved over to apps that can motivate, inspire, and connect us right from the palms of our hands. It’s miraculous, if you think about it!

These are the top apps for T1D that can help spark joy, enlighten, and (hopefully) improve your T1D management.

mySugr

MySugr is a user-friendly app that helps to sync the biometrics that you may already be tracking, such as blood pressure, blood glucose levels, daily step count, BMI, body weight, HbA1c, insulin pump settings such as bolus and basal rates, and more.

The tools included in this app can also help you track and trend out your blood glucose levels, helping you to estimate your next HbA1c, so there’s no guessing (and added stress!) before your next endocrinology appointment. It’s a win-win!

Headspace

Headspace  really brought meditation to the masses, with this friendly, easy-to-use app. It is a great introductory app to meditation, intentionality, and mindfulness, and is best for beginners.

The first 10 sessions are free, and the app talks you through meditation and breathing exercises, with helpful videos and audio. Users can choose between 3, 5, or 10-minute sessions.

The app does get expensive after the 10th session, but it’s a great introduction into the world of meditation that can really help you hone into your body’s rhythms, help manage stress, and help you build the tools you need to deal with the ups and downs of T1D.

SNAQ

SNAQ is a relatively new app that helps users count carbohydrates in the meals they consume with a snap of their phone’s camera. This has the potential to be revolutionary for people with T1D, who have historically had to guesstimate their meal-time insulin boluses. Their goal is to change mealtimes for people with diabetes, “from guesswork to more data driven decisions, hopefully to bring more peace of mind, freedom and choice”.

The app works like this: The user takes a picture of a snack or meal and gets nutritional information, but there are limitations (blurry photos, hidden foods, and secret sauces can still trip up the data). The company wants to provide the user with as much information as possible to make better informed decisions for diabetes management. SNAQ connects to popular glucose sensors and T1D apps from Dexcom, Abbott, Medtronic, mySugr, Sugarmate, Tidepool and more.

Aurelian Briner, CEO and Co-Founder, says, “We want to help all people with diabetes to better manage meal-time glucose.”

The current functionality of the app operates more like a logbook for meals and their corresponding glucose curve and not for bolusing decisions (although it can help inform them, but insulin dosing should not be used directly based on the app’s readings). Users are also able to add notes to a meal and graph trends overtime, as well as view and save time-in-range data for their meals.

Fooducate

Fooducate makes grocery shopping for healthy foods easier than ever with their nutrition scanner that allows you to scan a product’s barcode to get detailed information about the food.

The scanner also notifies you of unhealthy and often hidden ingredients in everyday foods, such as trans fat, artificial sweeteners, and palm oil, and even suggests healthier options for food you’ve scanned.

They give food ratings on healthfulness on the A-F scale and have discussion boards where people can talk about health fads, new products, and healthy foods and recipes they’ve tried and liked and disliked.

Many people have seen great success with weight loss, improved diabetes management, and better health because of this helpful app!

One Drop

The goal of One Drop is to, “re-imagine possible”, and One Drop does that by providing people with diabetes the support, supplies, and tools they truly need to take control of their diabetes for good.

This all-in-one diabetes management system offers discounted glucose strips, glucometers, and lancing devices for a monthly fee, and that include one-on-one diabetes coaching for improved management.

Some additional features of the app include adjustable goal setting, health data tracking, and personalized learning content to help users feel their best.

Harpreet Nagra, Ph.D., VP of Behavior Science at One Drop, says, “We strive to bring precision health to everyone; by combining artificial intelligence with the human touch of on-demand telehealth; by making continuous health sensing accessible and affordable; and by providing real-time insights that allow people with chronic conditions to take proactive action for better health outcomes, peak performance, and a more fulfilling life.”

One Drop has also recently expanded into blood pressure management, heart health, and weight loss as well. There are monthly or annual memberships available, so you can try it out without a huge time commitment!

Glooko

Glooko helps people with diabetes track both their insulin doses as well as carbohydrate intake. It also integrates data from most CGMs, glucometers, and even insulin pumps!

The app lets users track progress over time with the charting feature, to see which foods affect blood glucose levels in different ways. Best of all, it lets you share data with your healthcare team (via remote patient monitoring) to work on your goals together.

Technology has moved T1D management very far along in recent years, and these great apps will surely inspire you to take your healthy eating, exercise, and T1D management to the next level! Hopefully they inspire, enlighten, and educate you along the way.