The NHS Covid-19 app is now live in England & Wales

[Redolent]

For iPhones at least, not sure about Android yet.

My postcode is ‘medium risk’ apparently...

I've had this app for a few weeks as a volunteer responder.

It's not the same as the Isle of Wight app.
It has not drained my battery.
I believe you have to be close to someone for 15 minutes before it counts them as a close contact.
You are supposed to disable it (or switch off Bluetooth) if you are leaving your phone in a locker OR if you are wearing PPE.

I'm confused is it the actual nhs app or is it like nhs track and trace which has nothing to do with the nhs?
I dont understand scanning those code things either.
If they want people to use it they need to explain it rather than just assuming everyone knows how to use it.

In the library where I work we are legally obliged to get everyone to sign in for track and trace purposes and we have to display posters with the QR code. However, those who don’t have smartphones or don’t want to use the app can just leave their name and contact details on a piece of paper, as has been happening until this week. Obviously we have no way of knowing that the details they give manually are correct.

It can’t work on paper. Because the whole point of the app is it tells everyone who’ve I been with that I’m covid positive. My phones to old so I’d have to run around all places I’ve been to let them know... but they not have a way to ping anyone else with the app to tell them.

@Fagled - I understand if you have worked on this project you have done your best and feel personally about, and I have double-checked and agree that it cost approaching 35 million pounds, according to some sources (presumably not including the 12 million pounds already wasted on NHSx app, or maybe that accounts for the difference in our figures).

But if it isn't significantly better than the pre-existing apps that we could have had access to many months ago, then I am not sure it is a good use of public money IMHO.

And I do worry about having to do paper tracing while others with different phones can 'scan and go'. But I don't get out much and I guess that will just continue.

I'd be delighted to download the app and do my bit, but - like many others - my phone is an older iPhone, which is working perfectly well otherwise. I could use it as an excuse to upgrade, but given my income has fallen off a cliff due to COVID, I can't really justify the expense.

@covetingthepreciousthings

Matt Hancock was saying this morning that it’s voluntary to isolate if notified by the app.

What's the point then..?

The point is that many people will still take precautions if they’ve been notified by the app. They may not ‘fully’ isolate, but they may refrain from mixing households that weekend. They may be more careful about their socialising and decision making if they’ve been flagged up as being close to a confirmed case.

If it was made mandatory to isolate, with fines etc, hardly anyone would download the app. That’s obvious. But the hope is that it’ll still inform people’s decision making processes.

[quote LeaveHomeSavePret]@Fagled - I understand if you have worked on this project you have done your best and feel personally about, and I have double-checked and agree that it cost approaching 35 million pounds, according to some sources (presumably not including the 12 million pounds already wasted on NHSx app, or maybe that accounts for the difference in our figures).

But if it isn't significantly better than the pre-existing apps that we could have had access to many months ago, then I am not sure it is a good use of public money IMHO.

And I do worry about having to do paper tracing while others with different phones can 'scan and go'. But I don't get out much and I guess that will just continue.[/quote]
@LeaveHomeSavePret Don't worry I didn't work on this project (thankfully)!

Yes they ought to have not bothered with their original idea as they had been warned it would not be effective. It was without doubt a waste of money. I do see value in developing our own, as it allows easier modification going forwards should specific UK requirements be needed, it's also a good test of industry going forwards, should other technology need to be rolled out at rapid speed.

As for the last point, I also worry about that, but truthfully I think this was doomed from the start, so I can't see adoption being very high.

I've just deleted it. Really uncomfortable with it using Bluetooth and any associated security implications

I don't quite get it though - surely it only means 2 phones have been close for a certain amount of time within a certain distance? eg 2 people go to gym, person A's phone in locker, person B's phone in a locker half a metre away. Person A goes and uses the gym for an hour, person B does 2 classes so a couple of hours - the people never meet and person A tests positive for Covid a few days later - B would be pinged surely despite not proximity?

You switch off the contact tracing bit if put phone in a locker

My phone and teens’ phones are too old too

ah ha thank you obvious really I should have worked it out!

I bet all the right wingers who were bleating about how the poor shouldnt have smartphones because its a luxury are humming a different tune now.

I have downloaded it to my android phone. Apparently I’m in a “medium risk area”, I feel a little uncomfortable about people knowing where I am and where I have been but if it helps with the covid situation then I’m happy to have it on my phone.

@Snozzlemaid @Augustbreeze
I'm also getting the message that I can't download due to software being out of date, but when I go to update software it says mine is 12.4.8 and my software is up to date.
No option to do a further update. Not sure what to do here. DH iphone is even older so seems to be an issue.

If you've got anything earlier than a 6s you won't be able to get the app.
It needs newer software updates you can't get.

But if it isn't significantly better than the pre-existing apps that we could have had access to many months ago
Which pre-existing apps do the same?

(I am not being sarcastic even though when I read my post it does sound sarcastic, sorry)

@StarCat2020
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-use-singapore-off-the-shelf-tracking-app-says-professor-b8pffg273
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52441428
Hopefully someone with more tech knowledge than me can provide better info.

@belowradar
Thanks for the link.

I don't suppose that it would have been as simple as just getting the Singapore app for free though??

Then again when Matt Hancock kept talking (early on) about the difficulties of getting PPE to hospitals and GP surgeries, all I kept thinking was try Royal Mail (been doing it for about 150 years) or Amazon.

Perhaps the solution could have been that simple?

Downloaded and all a bit of a mystery. I get the check-in thing but is that a requirement now? If so having the app is a requirement of going into such a place? That can’t be right.

Is that a requirement now? If so having the app is a requirement of going into such a place? That can’t be right.
It shouldn't be as places can still do the paper details (with shared pen).

Then again businesses don't have to allow you to enter (as long as they are not discriminating under Equality Act 2010).

Then again, imagine the uproar if a business refused to admit anyone without a smartphone that could use the app.

I met a friend for lunch today. The woman on the door told me that it was compulsory to download the app to come into the restaurant. I wanted to read a bit more about it before downloading, but my friend downloaded it and the restaurant woman reluctantly let us in on that basis.
During lunch two couples came to the door and left when she told them about the app. Now I have read this, and the guidelines, I realise it isn’t compulsory at all, and feel a bit sorry for the restaurant losing customers because said guidelines are unclear.

feel a bit sorry for the restaurant losing customers because said guidelines are unclear
No guideline says that businesses have to force customers to use the app.

Maybe the restaurant really didn't want the custom???

Surely you don't need to download the app for the qr code in restaurants etc, you can just use your phone camera like we have been doing all summer. If you don't have a smartphone they'll provide you with pen and paper. I think I'll leave downloading it for a little while to see how well it actually works and what problems it eventually throws up.