Frequently Asked Questions

Spike is a research tool developed by members of the open source community and offered for free.

Because we are a non-profit we do not have the necessary means to conduct long-term studies in order to get the necessary approvals to make Spike available on the App Store.

Spike is a research tool only and should be treated as such. Because we’re not subject to any regulators it means we can develop at a faster pace and bring never before released features to the DIYS open source community.

Not being on the App Store means each user needs to digitally sign Spike with their own certificate before deploying it to their devices.

We tried using an Enterprise Certificate before to distribute Spike which made the whole process much faster and simpler but it ended up being revoked by Apple due to being in violation of their Guidelines (and Enterprise Certificate can only be distributed to members of a corporation and not to the general public).

Having all users sign their Spike copy with their own certificates ensures we’re not in violation of any Apple Guidelines and users can use Spike without worrying of it being revoked.

Are you a computer noob, not tech savvy or don’t care much about some Spike features?

Use the Semi-Manual option. It’s easy and compatible with all PC operating systems.
Have in mind that it doesn’t provide HealthKit, automatic iCloud backups/restores and the dedicated Apple Watch app features.

Do you own a Mac or are up to the task of creating a virtual Mac environment? Do you want access to the maximum amount of Spike features? Are you tech savvy?

Use the Manual option. It takes a bit more time and skill to setup initially but once all is set it’s easy to maintain and offers most (if not all) Spike features.

Do you have a jailbroken device or access to a device that can be jailbroken?

Use the Jailbroken method. It’s by far the best one when it comes to the amount of Spike features it provides and the lack of maintenance needed.

Depending of the type of account used to sign Spike the generated certificate will have a validity of 7 days (free regular iCloud/App Store accounts) or 1 year (paid Apple Developer accounts).

Once a certificate expires the user will not be able to open Spike. Having said that, as long as the user re-signs Spike before the certificate expires the app will always work, without any downtime.

Instructions on how to re-sign Spike are available here.

Yes you can!

An Apple Developer account costs 99USD/EUR per year and can be purchased by anyone. To do so, please visit this website.

The whole process should take only a few minutes to complete. Afterwards you can use your newly upgraded account to sign Spike and your certificates will last 1 full year.

After 1 year you’ll need to renew your membership and re-sign Spike to extend it for another full year.

No, as long as you don’t uninstall Spike, you can reinstall it as many times as you want without losing your settings. If you wish to uninstall Spike make sure you first do a backup of your settings or database in Spike’s Settings -> Maintenance. Alternatively you can also backup your database using the Files app (iOS 11+) or by connecting your device to your computer and using iTunes File Sharing.

No. CGM transmitters can only transmit data to one app at a time. Spike has all the features (and more) of the official apps so it’s recommended that you uninstall them and use Spike exclusively. If the official app has an Apple Watch complication you should uninstall it as well.

Yes. Please join the Facebook support group here and ask for instructions on how to translate Spike.

There’s a Facebook support group. Join here.