Pluslife News: October 2026

PM001 Ultra

As of this week, Altruan is shipping a new version of Pluslife's (human) Minidock, called "PM001 Ultra", instead of the current PM001 Minidock. The price remains the same. If you recently ordered a minidock, you may already be getting the new one.

This new hardware revision comes with important improvements:

The Minidock recognizes the type of test card inserted into it using a tiny camera inside the test slot and automatically starts the correct test program. You no longer have to select the test kit in the app.
The heater assembly has been improved to maintain the test's temperature with greater precision. While we don't have any data yet, this is likely to reduce the number of invalid tests and might even slightly increase sensitivity.
The device now remembers the entire test state and curves while a test runs. If the connection is lost, the app closes, or your phone turns off, nothing is lost!
It also stores a record of previous tests, including test results and curves, even for tests run without any app.
As far as we can tell, the power-supply instability issues that plagued the PM001 are much improved, and the device is stable with a greater variety of power supplies and cables.
The virus.sucks app can now optionally turn off the device after a test is done.
The Bluetooth name of the device includes the last four digits of the device's serial number, making it easier to deal with many devices at the same time.
Pluslife replaced some components that were prone to early failure, so there is reason to believe that the new docks are less likely to break.

Lit-up test card from the internal camera against a dark background — It's lit (by the tiny camera)

The new design prevents many types of user error, such as selecting the wrong test kit by accident, inserting the test card too late or too early, opening the lid during tests, or using expired tests. Air bubbles and misbehaving Flu combination tests are also less likely to trigger false results with the new dock thanks to an improved algorithm.

The unofficial virus.sucks app has been updated to support the new Ultra device. It supports all new features, including reading the test history including reaction curves from the device:

Pluslife Analyzer improvements

We have some big news as well: You can now send your test results to someone else and watch tests in real time from another device by sharing a unique link.

You can see an example test here.

To support this, we moved the infrastructure for the entire virus.sucks website to our own dedicated servers in Germany to ensure that zero personal data - not even IP addresses - is collected in the process. You can read more about this in our Privacy Policy.

This also means that you can freely share these links directly with anyone - even on social media - instead of a screenshot, without disclosing any information about yourself.

We have also improved our Bluetooth reconnection logic for Bluefy. However, due to Apple restrictions and hardware limitations in PM001 Minidocks, there's only so much we can do to improve connection stability. Thankfully, the new Ultra docks do not have this problem.

Upcoming Pluslife OTC launch

Pluslife is also planning to launch new SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB test cards and docks in Europe by the end of the year after successful clinical trials. These will be approved under Europe's new IVDR rules, including for use by laypeople ("over-the-counter"/OTC).

This is very good news for the continued availability of Pluslife tests for our community, and it provides long-term regulatory certainty in Europe. The OTC approval will allow distributors like Altruan and even drug stores or pharmacies to market Pluslife products directly to consumers.

The CE-IVD EU approval of Pluslife's existing products expires around mid-2027 and cannot be renewed due to changes in how Europe regulates in-vitro diagnostics.

This means that all of the other Pluslife tests which Altruan is currently selling will be discontinued around this time, including Strep A and FluA/FluB/RSV combination tests and Handyvet. Only the single-target SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB OTC combination tests will remain available. While it's possible that Pluslife expands its OTC product portfolio over time, I would not expect them to come back due to very low demand - they have to run a clinical study for each test kit.

The new test cards will be compatible with existing docks, and new docks will be compatible with existing test cards (as long as you use the virus.sucks app).

The lid of the cards has been redesigned: it will have a plunger of sorts that automatically presses the liquid into the reaction chambers, instead of having to wait 15 seconds and then pressing the button at the top of the card. This makes it much harder to introduce air bubbles.

They will also likely have a longer shelf-life than the current generation of tests (up to 24 months, but we're not sure if this is the final value).

Combined with all the usability improvements in the Minidock, this means that it'll be much easier to hand a Pluslife device to a random person and ask them to use it without having to explain much. Almost all of the usual causes of problems we've seen have been fixed.

There will also be a new dock with the same improvements as the PM001 Ultra dock, except it will have five LEDs so that test results can be read without requiring a separate app. The new OTC dock will be compatible with the unofficial virus.sucks app just like PM001 Ultra.

Answers to some frequently asked questions

Pluslife has not given up on the U.S. market, but there is no timeline or updates. As far as we know, they have not applied for FDA approval. The new OTC product line will only be launched in Europe for now, nobody knows what the future may bring.
We cannot share any information about shipping, international availability, import restrictions and similar. If you want to know more, I would recommend asking others who are more familiar with the import situation in your respective country.
Only Handyvet will be discontinued, not the Pluslife veterinary products and docks. The old products - incl. Handyvet - are likely available until sometime mid-2027.
The new docks can use old tests without requiring the app after initial app setup.
The current PM001 Ultra dock and the future OTC dock are virtually identical beyond the LEDs.
This is only about human respiratory tests in the EU market. We have no information about other markets (though the old PM001 dock is definitely phased out everywhere).

As always, please note that we are NOT affiliated with Pluslife or Altruan. We're not speaking on their behalf and any information above is not official, guaranteed, or medical advice.

Neither Pluslife device is for sale in the US, they have not been approved by the US FDA.

You can discuss this article on Reddit. If you have questions, you can also reach out to us by email.

Pluslife's new OTC dock, with LEDs for Power, A, B, C and Valid