Apple releases new series of iOS betas with COVID-19 “exposure notification” API

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Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

In conjunction with this, Apple and Google representatives say that they are also releasing the first seeds of the exposure notification API to public health authority developers. The goal, the companies say, is to collect feedback from those developers on how to improve the API ahead of its release in mid-May.

Here’s the setting that enables exposure notification:

And here’s what you’ll see when an app asks your permission to share your exposure data:

My concern is that not enough people will choose to participate in this process, at least in the early stages.

From this Bloomberg article, by Mark Gurman:

The first phase of the system will let health agencies build apps that allow a person who tests positive for Covid-19 to input their diagnosis. The system will then use Bluetooth technology to learn who the person has come into contact with and then notify those people of a possible exposure.

And:

A second phase of the project, to be released in the coming months, will have deeper integration with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems to rely less on apps. Still, the first version of the program will require a software update for iPhones and a download from the Google Play store for Android phones.

Long term play. In the beginning, it’s all about creating a foundation, a system for privacy-respecting data collection. Deep iOS/Android OS integration will raise usage levels enough to make the data collected truly useful.

Maybe this won’t help so much in the short term, but when the second wave hits, this might be a game saver.