App or InApp?

The UK government has just announced that it is abandoning the development of its COVID-19 tracking app, after three months development and millions of pounds of expenditure.  During testing on the Isle of Wight, the app, based on Bluetooth handshakes between devices and the centralised collection of data, only connected with Apple devices 4% of the time and with Android devices 75% of the time.

The UK will now switch to an app, based on technology being jointly developed by Apple and Google, which will take several more months to be ready for deployment.  Similar apps developed by Italy and Germany, and based on the Apple-Google model, were released in those countries earlier this week and were rapidly taken up.

The Australian COVID-19 tracking app, which doesn't centrally collect data, but does reply on Bluetooth handshakes between devices, has also had problems.  When released in late April, the app performed poorly in some situations, especially with locked iPhones, but the connectivity has steadily improved (see chart) since that date, with more improvement intended.  Some critics say that Australia should switch to use the Apple-Google model, but the government shows no signs of changing.

The Australian app has now been downloaded by more than 6.3 million people, reaching the government's claimed goal of 40% of the smartphone using population.  In practice, data has only been downloaded from the app about 30 times in Australia as part of contact-tracing efforts, and in all those cases, did not reveal more contacts than had already been uncovered by traditional contact tracing methods.  However, as Australians increasingly travel internally and attend events in greater numbers, the app is likely to prove more useful.

I have the app on my phone and noticed earlier this week, when on a long walk in Lysterfield Park, that twice when I was passed by joggers, my Bluetooth headphone music feed paused momentarily.  Was this the app at work?

I walked 3km and jogged 7km this morning to reach my scheduled 10km target.  The jog was very hard work, primarily due to unfitness and weight, though my right hip was also a little painful.  I was very pleased to reach the end.  Shortly after, I spent 30 minutes on the cycle trainer, trying to build up some bike fitness in preparation for our adventure starting in thirteen days time.