News out of the US has provided a timely reminder to people that diabetes management apps can drain their pump and phone batteries.

At least 224 people have been affected in the US after an iPhone app called t:connect drained the battery on its accompanying insulin pump, called t:slim X2, causing the pump to fail to deliver insulin.

No one in Australia has been affected. The mobile connection for t:connect was disabled for Australian phones by its manufacturer Tandem Diabetes Care before the malfunction.

In the US, news outlets have reported that the FDA issued a Class I recall of the app on Wednesday, the most serious type of recall issued by the agency.

“The reason for the recall is due to an issue with the software that may cause the mobile app to crash and be automatically relaunched by the iOS operating system,” the FDA recall explained. “This cycle intermittently repeats, which leads to excessive Bluetooth communication that may result in pump battery drain and may lead to the pump shutting down sooner than typically expected.”

The recall includes 85,863 devices, according to the FDA. American consumers are being told to closely monitor the battery level of their pumps, “to ensure the pump is at or near full charge before going to sleep to help prevent pump shutdown.”

“Pump shutdown will cause insulin delivery to suspend, which could lead to an under-delivery of insulin and may result in hyperglycemia or even diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be a life-threatening condition due to high blood glucose and lack of insulin,” the FDA said in its announcement.

Diabetes Australia Credentialled Diabetes Educator Carolien Koreneff said it’s a good reminder for people that all apps used to manage your diabetes drain phone batteries quicker than before they are downloaded.

“I always tell people when I’m starting them on pumps to carry extra batteries for the pump wherever they go or a USB cable if your pump can be recharged with it.”