(Reuters) – A revamped coronavirus contact-tracing app for England will begin its public trials on Thursday, BBC News reported on Wednesday.
The software will be modelled after Apple and Google’s privacy-centric method of one smartphone detecting another, BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53753678 said. Engineers were still trying to resolve issues with the Bluetooth-based tech wrongly flagging people as being within 2 meters of each other.
The app will let people scan barcode-like QR codes to log venue visits, as well as implementing Apple and Google’s method of detecting other smartphones, the BBC reported.
The test-and-trace programme is key to reopening the economy but has been dogged by problems. A smartphone app developed by the National Health Service (NHS) was initially expected to be rolled out in May but did not materialise.
In June, the government pivoted away from a homegrown model for the app to use the Apple and Google system.
(Reporting by Rebekah Mathew and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
