The functions of the official federal corona warning app will be significantly expanded in the coming weeks. In addition, the app should also be able to run on the older iPhone models 5s and 6 from mid-February. The Federal Ministry of Health announced this on Friday.

The new functions include a dashboard on which current information about the infection process is to be made available . Then the app will be expanded to include a display of the encounter history. The aim is to inform the app users more precisely about the time of risk encounters. This function will be implemented in accordance with the applicable data protection. As a third innovation, Apple’s interface for the older iPhone models 5s and 6 will also be implemented on the federal corona warning app.

This change alone will grow the Pool of compatible smartphones in Germany by up to four million devices. Apple had previously provided the necessary interface, the Exposure Notification Framework, also for the older iOS 12. 5. Apple thus responded to the request to change the Bluetooth interface so that even more iPhone models than before can run the Corona Tracing app.

More compatible countries Also in February, the development team from SAP and Deutsche Telekom wants to integrate a voluntary user survey in which users can express their opinion on possible data donations. The exchange of infection codes with Switzerland should be possible in March. So far, the federal app’s system has been exchanging data with Ireland, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland. In addition to Switzerland, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Portugal, Austria and Cyprus are expected to join them in the first quarter 2021. The Czech Republic, Estonia and Greece are in the further planning. The national apps in Great Britain and France, on the other hand, are not compatible because they are not based on the interfaces of Apple and Google.

From the 201 Corona test laboratories established in Germany are now 174 already digitally connected, 7 more are in preparation, the ministry said. This means that over 95 percent of the test capacity is connected to the Corona warning app. 20 Laboratories are “passive”.

The Corona -Warning app of the federal government has been downloaded more than 25 million times to date. Experts estimate that it is actively used by around 23 million people. The download numbers refer to the Apple IDs or Google IDs used. Since in some families several devices are supplied with one ID, the starting point should be even higher than 25 millions of people. Updates to the app are not counted as a separate download. A good ten percent is deducted from this initial value, as some users have uninstalled the app again or not reinstalled it after switching mobile phones. This calculation also takes into account those users who have permanently switched off Bluetooth so that the app cannot work. The effectiveness of the app increases the more people actually use the application.

(anw)