Australians running the Covidsafe contact tracing app on iPhones may not be recording all the data required if they don’t have the app running in the foreground or they are using an older model phone, according to The Guardian.
On April 10, Apple and Google announced a joint effort to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of COVID-19. They’ll launch a solution that includes APIs and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy
This month, both companies will release application programming interfaces [APIs] that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores. Second, in the coming months, Apple and Google will work to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms.
The Guardian says that more than 5.1 million Australians have downloaded and registered to use the app on iPhone and Android devices, and, while the Android version works while running in the background (ie, not open on the screen), the iPhone version works best when the app is open on the screen and the phone is unlocked
Randall Brugeaud, the head of the agency behind the app, the Digital Transformation Agency, told the Senate committee overseeing the government’s Covid-19 response that while the iPhone version did work in the background, it was less effective in exchanging Bluetooth handshakes if it was in the background or the screen was locked, says The Guardian.
“What we can say is the quality of the Bluetooth connectivity for phones that have the app installed running in the foreground is very good,” he said. “And it progressively deteriorates and the quality of the connection is not as good as you get to a point where the phone is locked in the app is running in the background.”
The Guardian says the government rolled out an update to the iPhone app this morning. Brugeaud told the committee he hoped that a further update integrating framework developed by Google and Apple would fix the iPhone issue.
