The efforts are focused at improving contact tracing programs using a person’s smart device to alert them to potential exposure. Early exposure detection aims to mitigate further disease spread.
Read on to learn how it works and how you can use the COVID tracker on your iPhone.
What Does the iPhone COVID Tracker Do?
In light of the spread of COVID-19, public health authorities utilized new technology with smartphone apps for easier contact tracing.
It’s difficult for any of us to trace where we have been in the last 14 days, much less recall who they we’ve been in contact with. Especially when trying to track contact with people we don’t even know.
But these apps can alleviate those problems.
A lot of people are hesitant to participate and download the apps that public health authorities make due to privacy issues. But Google and Apple paired together to come up with a more secure tracking system, called the Exposure Notifications system, enabling COVID tracking on iPhone and Android devices.
This system automates the process to augment conventional contact tracing measures while ensuring that individual privacy is protected. The tracking system does not store and share your identity and cannot keep track of your location.
Once you enable this on your phone, the system will utilize your smartphone’s Bluetooth capabilities and send off a beacon containing a random Bluetooth identifier, a string of numbers that change every 10 to 20 minutes.
If you’re within the perimeter of another person using the system, both devices will exchange and store each other’s beacons. So when a person reports a positive COVID-19 test, everyone they have exchanged beacons with will be notified.
How to Enable the COVID Tracker on Your iPhone
Before we explain how to use it, let’s be clear that participating in COVID-tracing is entirely optional. Turning on the Exposure Notifications is optional, and opting in to your specific region or state’s health department is also optional.
Both will be asking for your consent. You are also free to opt out at any time, delete your user data, or choose not to share your de-identified information in aggregated form.
Your iPhone’s COVID tracker is turned off by default. To turn on Exposure Notifications on your iPhone:
Head to Settings. Scroll down to Exposure Notifications. Tap Turn On Exposure Notifications > Continue. Select your region. Depending on your region’s public health authority, the feature may not be turned on, and if it is, you may or may not be redirected to a local app to use for contact tracing.
With iOS 13.7 and later, you can opt in to Exposure Notifications without the need to download an app. However, this availability depends on the support of your region’s local public health authority.
For regions that do not require an app, a prompt to Turn On Exposure Notifications? will pop up. Tap Turn On > Next, then choose Share or Don’t Share when asked to share your analytics data.
For regions with apps, tap Show in App Store. Once you are redirected to the App Store, tap Get. Set up the app and tap Enable Exposure Notification.
Prompted that [App] Would Like to Send Your Notifications, tap Allow so you get alerted if you’ve been exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
A popup box with Enable COVID-19 Exposure Logging and Notifications will also appear. Tap Enable.
If you want to turn it off, simply go to Settings > Exposure Notifications, scroll down, and tap Turn Off Exposure Notifications to turn it off.
COVID Tracking Apps Per US State
Aside from directly going to the Exposure Notifications on your iPhone, you can also directly check if you have a COVID tracking app for your state.
Here is a list of US states and the links to their COVID tracking apps.
Alabama Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Guam Hawaii Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Nevada New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota Oregon Pennsylvania Utah Virginia Washington Wisconsin Wyoming
If you’re outside the US, you can benefit from Wikipedia’s list of COVID-19 apps, which lists countries that have already deployed their official contract tracing apps. Alternatively, you can also check MIT’s Technology Review COVID Tracer Project.
Currently, not all countries have COVID tracing apps. While some countries are still considering app deployment, other countries have created related apps still directed at curbing disease spread.
Germany, for example, has created a geofencing app that tracks phones to ensure that people diagnosed with the disease won’t leave their homes.
More iPhone COVID Features
Aside from using the COVID tracker on your iPhone, Apple has made improvements to help you use your iPhone to help combat COVID-19, including using it as a digital passport and showing vaccine locations on Apple Maps.
Your Apple Watch can also help you fight off COVID. While it won’t directly stop you getting infecting, unlocking your iPhone with your Apple Watch while wearing a mask instead of through your Face ID (requiring you to pull down your mask) or tapping your passcode on your screen, reduces a lot of contact and possible spread of germs.
Help Curb the Spread of COVID-19
COVID-19 is still lurking around many corners and is likely to stick around. While lots of people have learnt to cope with the new normal, following safety protocols and collaborating with public health authorities will still go a long way in helping curb the spread of this virus.
With the privacy and security that Apple and Google implemented in their COVID-19 tracking systems, there’s really nothing to lose. Turning this system on may not only protect you but even the community around you.
