Both Apple and Google announced that future versions of the iOS and Android operating systems will include the companies’ Covid-19 notification system.
Previously users were required to install a separate app.
The exposure notification system uses Bluetooth signals from smartphones that have opted-in to determine how closely and for how long two phones were nearby, without (supposedly) collecting the location or identify of the users.
The ability to opt-in to the system without downloading an app is intended to improve adoption of the system, which would improve its effectivity, because it requires a large number of people sharing Bluetooth signals to work.
″As the next step in our work with public health authorities on Exposure Notifications, we are making it easier and faster for them to use the Exposure Notifications System without the need for them to build and maintain an app,” Apple and Google representatives said in a statement.
