Apple, Google release COVID-19 app sample concept

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Apple Inc. and Google have announced that their upcoming contract-tracing tool will be restricted to one public health app per country to get as many people in each nation using the software as possible. 

The two companies also released app concepts and sample code to help app developers build programs using the iOS and Android contact-tracing tool. 

In a statement on May 4, the companies declared that they would still support countries to have opted for a regional or state approach. 

The system, unveiled in April, added technology to the iOS and Android smartphone operating systems that alerts users anonymously if they have come into contact with a person with COVID-19. 

The first phase will be launched publicly in mid-May. It requires public health apps to integrate with the system. In the future, the technology will be embedded more deeply into the Apple and Google operating systems to be less reliant on apps. 

The company representatives also outlined why they decided to build the tool, now known as Exposure Notification, adding that the governments had been attempting to build their own apps, but came to Apple and Google for help. 

The companies also reiterated that the apps using the technology must be built by public health authorities, require user consent, collect only the minimum amount of data, and should not record a user's location.