- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
iOS 13.7 is available for every iOS 13-compatible device. This means the iPhone 6S and newer and 7th generation iPod touch. You should be prompted to upgrade automatically, but you can also check manually by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update. Beta testers, if you are running iOS 14 (more about this in ‘The Road Ahead’ section at the end), you must unenroll your iPhone otherwise iOS 13.7 will not show up. iPad owners, Apple has moved you to iPadOS. This is not an iPadOS-focused guide.
Apple and Google want to make it easier for health agencies to join its coronavirus exposure notification system, creating a new option that will allow them to help people track and alert one another about coronavirus infections without having to build an app.
The new option, called exposure notifications express, will allow individuals to join Apple’s and Google’s coronavirus notifications without needing to download an app from their local health department. This, the two companies said, will help spread adoption without putting pressure on health officials, some of whom have told the tech companies they don’t have the resources to build an app.
Apple made the updates available for its iPhones and iPads with the iOS 13.7 released on Tuesday, and Google said it’ll make the new system available for devices running Android 6.0 or higher with an update later this month.
How it Works
A Covid-19 tracing software tool has appeared in the settings of both Android phones and iPhones as part of an update of their operating systems.
The “exposure notification” tool is switched off by default, and is not a tracing app itself.
It enables an app to run in the background while still using Bluetooth.
This lets the app measure the distance between two handsets – and then alert the phone owner if someone near them later tests positive for Covid-19.
In the UK there is currently no available contact-tracing app.
The update has caused some confusion, with people querying the new addition to their handsets on social media.
“This is not a new app but is an extra element added to the phones’ operating systems to enable approved developers to build apps that can potentially warn of proximity to infected individuals,” said computer scientist Prof Alan Woodward, of Surrey University.
“Only apps approved by Google and Apple will be included in their app stores where they try to make use of this facility.”
In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom (J.G.Ballard).
You need to login in order to vote
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.