Will you be getting the track and trace app? If not, why not?

[FairIsleFenella]

I've downloaded it. The only info I had to give was the first half of my postcode. I'm happy to use it, I have nothing to hide! However, I know there will be people who are unhappy to use it. If you are one of them, please tell me why. Is it a civil liberties issue?

@wizbit93

So if you turn off the contact tracing part then can it only be used to check in? You won't get any notifications?

I have turned mine off and will just use it to check in I think, no point in having it using the Bluetooth and battery sat at home, I probably won’t bother with the tracking part at all just the check in bit if needed, if it’s not on it won’t connect with other phones but will hopefully satisfy the checking in part.

I've downloaded it, but it has really drained the battery on my phone (sitting by my bed overnight ) so I've turned off contact tracing and will only turn it on when I put myself in a position of being close to others - such as a restaurant, cafe, train, etc. No point having it running 24/7 when I'm at home!

The problem seems to be with Apple. Whereas Android phones only need an update up to 2015, so a 5 year old phone will work, iPhones need to have the latest operating system.

And all the talk of needing new expensive phones - my cheap Android Moto Phone is 4 years old and costs £7 a month SIM only (because I have had it so long I have paid off the handset) and the App works fine.

It is the failure of Apple to update the ios on their older phone OR to have allowed the app to use older ios that is the problem. And you will find it’s not just a problem with Track and Trace App- I’m pretty sure you’ll find other Apps don’t work either...

I don't trust it to work properly. I don't want to be told to isolate because our neighbours who we don't see or have physical contact with, have it.
As pp said I don't want to be collateral caught up in government mistakes.

The problem seems to be with Apple. Whereas Android phones only need an update up to 2015

My phone isn't an apple phone and it's 4 years old but i still can't install the app.

@TinySleepThief

The problem seems to be with Apple. Whereas Android phones only need an update up to 2015

My phone isn't an apple phone and it's 4 years old but i still can't install the app.

Do you mind me asking what your phone is then as you should be able to?

I think unless it’s a new Huawei?

I don't get this either tbh. We have had an app in NI for ages and we don't check in, it just runs in the background. You don't actively do anything with it

The checkins mean that you can still be alerted anonymously even if the infected person does not have the app, so it would make the app more useful with considerably lower levels of usage than otherwise required.

ie. a tracer finds out Bob's Café had a lots of cases, they can alert anyone who visited the café in the app, protecting people who didn't want to give Bob their name.

I hope it would not be used much though, too much anxiety triggered by contacts which are highly unlikely due to the location checkins being so much less specific than actual contact (you don't even sign out of an app, although you could make yourself a location and sign yourself in to that when you leave)

The app also pretty hobbled by 1/3rd of all tests not being able to register in the app
mobile.twitter.com/NHSCOVID19app/status/1309446092057202689

Do you mind me asking what your phone is then as you should be able to?

I think unless it’s a new Huawei?

It's a Huawei but I wouldn't calm it new. Like I said I've had it 4 years and never had any problems downloading apps before but the track and trace app wont download.

It's not that I'm worried about being traced, I don't want to have to take my phone everywhere. I've got an Apple Watch so I don't need to carry a phone as I can make or receive calls and pay for everything on that - I don't use a bag a lot of the time now.

To be fair to Apple the phone they introduced in 2015, the 6s, is supported. It’s just that there’s a lot of us still happily using the slightly older version 6, which in normal circumstances is a good thing.

@stonefire

I'm reluctant to download it but I know at least a few places that I use will be insisting on using it, so I think I'm going to have to just to gain entry to certain places. I don't want to be the one person spending ages filling out a paper form instead. But I'll be turning off contact tracing and bluetooth once I've got in. I always keep bluetooth and GPS off to save battery and I don't want to risk getting a false reading and being told to self isolate unnecessarily. And as it's not a legal requirement to self isolate if the app tells you to, I won't unless I actually have symptoms myself.

So essentially you intend to bypass the purpose of the app. You’ll use it to gain access to places with safety measures in place, where other people going there will feel safer due to an expectation that other users must be compliant, and then you’ll actively take steps to avoid compliance yourself. You are a disgrace.

As I understand it the app uses functionality specific to the latest operating systems so it’s highly unlikely to be rolled out to older phones.

Turns out today that it will only accept private test results, not NHS ones. Another world-beating government initiative.

@Hmmph Where have you got your bad information from?

The reason the iPhone 6 and older aren’t included is because they don’t support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4 technology, which devices use to identify passing phones also running the app. So it physically cannot support the main feature of contact tracing apps? It doesn’t matter if Apple updated these older devices to iOS13.5 or brought an app out for older software, as it is the hardware that is the issue, which cannot be corrected with a software update.

Before you get your knickers in a twist about Apple again, Android devices need BLE 4 technology too, any devices without it also wouldn’t be included. The NHS changed its app requirements in May, Android handsets need to run Android 8 (Oreo) or above, which was released in 2017. Therefore Androids from 2015 aren’t supported, yet Apple’s 2015 device is....

No. Given the government's track record with IT (and having to work in the midst of government IT incompetence) this app will not be fit for purpose.

But main reason is DP is self employed, so we can't afford to be tracked. Will only isolate on symptoms, not on an apps say so.

@Frappuccinofan Firstly, there is no need to be rude. I actually like Apple products- I don’t have a problem with them. I just don’t think people should be ranting about the government not making the app compatible when it was developed by Apple and Google.

Secondly, my information came from the BBC news website yesterday morning. I will try and find a link for you.

Therefore Androids from 2015 aren’t supported

That was a genuinely really interesting read, thank you.

So does that genuinely means the only way I'll be able to 'do my part' and download the app is to buy a new phone? If so that's utterly bonkers and of course people won't replace their perfectly functioning phones just to download the app.

“The handsets must have Android 6.0 (released in 2015) or iOS 13.5 (released in May 2020) and Bluetooth 4.0 or higher. That excludes the iPhone 6 and older versions of Apple's handsets.
And some of the latest Huawei handsets are excluded.“

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54250736

I’ve down loaded it because I’ve got elderly relatives and friends, and would want to know ASAP if I needed to stay away from them.

faq.covid19.nhs.uk/article/KA-01167/en-us?parentid=CAT-01028&rootid=CAT-01024

And the technical details from the app help page too.

Although that isn’t a list of all the phones it works on as it works on our old Moto and HTC phones too.

This issues affects 5, 5s, 6 and 6 plus, fine on first gen SE, 6s and above, using ios 13.5 and above.

There has to be a cut off point, either in the software or the hardware it can run on.

You may be forced to self isolate many times and each time lose 2 weeks wages, as most companies will not pay contractual sick pay for this.
For me, this a far bigger problem than whether it works on older phones.

oh and BBC news saying app cannot process a 3rd of all positive tests... so its useless.

@Hmmph apologies for coming across as rude, it seems Android 6 is the baseline supported update and this change was in May - I misread. But that doesn’t mean it’s simply a software issue for any devices that can’t run the app - it’s also whether they support BLE 4 technology or not. Not all devices that can support the listed software updates are compatible with the app, as this technology is necessary for background contact tracing. Likewise if the software was updated on other devices, the devices concerned would not be able to support the NHS’s main purpose of this app.

70,000 tests each and every day cannot be processed by the app in England.... who the fuck signed this off as ready for public use? its bit more than a "bug"

So essentially you intend to bypass the purpose of the app. You’ll use it to gain access to places with safety measures in place, where other people going there will feel safer due to an expectation that other users must be compliant, and then you’ll actively take steps to avoid compliance yourself. You are a disgrace.

The facility is there to do this so no disgrace, most of the people won't have the app anyway, either because their phone isn't compatible or they haven't downloaded it so the app is hardly likely to make people feel safe. I saw mention somewhere of about 20% of people using it, I doubt it will be many more.

Don't have it yet. If I have to download it at some point, I will. But I don't trust the government, and I worry about the power they will have with the data they can collect with it. It's a bit too Big Brother and feels like it might be a step in a direction I'm not comfortable with. I'm happy to provide my details to any place I visit, but I'm wary of this, for now. Happy to be proven wrong, but I've been skeptical of the management/strategy/call it what you will of this virus since the start, and the policies of control that are now enabled does give me the heebies a bit.