Has there been any information about the international compatibility of this app now that they’re using the Apple and Google Exposure Notifications System?
I ask because I’m in Austria right now and due to return to the UK via Germany at the end of next month.
I’ve got no idea whether these countries have their own apps yet, but if they do I assume the NHS app will work with them?
tl;dr: I’m not in the UK right now, is there any point in me having this thing switched on?
That’s good. I’m on a rare trip to the office today, so I’ll see what’s been done and go over the QR code thing with HR if it’s not visible.
Each app only works in the country it is built for
On iOS, in the Exposure Notifications settings, you can set your Active Region (for example all us lot are now set to England and Wales, and @glasgow will have Scotland selected)
You can add other Regions there if you travel, and switch between them so that iOS reports to the correct local app.
We don’t get those options on Android. Here’s the extent of the Exposure Notification settings:
This can’t be right surely? If so someone who lives in Scotland but then travels down to England won’t have a working app. Hardly a ‘United’ Kingdom.
It’s also worth noting that the apps seem to be geo-locked so beyond Gibraltar we can’t see any other contact tracing apps. Germany definitely do have one, but I can’t for example switch to theirs when I’m there.
If someone did that then they should install the NHS England and Wales app and switch over to using that over the NHS Scotland app not in Scotland.
Well that’s miserable. Maybe you get more options when a supported app is installed and active?
We get this:
And then going into the Active Region section gives this:
Just found this which answers my question.
You would have thought that with the backbone being Apple and Google’s system phones should be able to exchange IDs and notifications regardless of which app is installed 
You would have also thought that the solution for the UK would work across the entire nation from launch.
I guess the biggest problem with all of this is that non-UK apps aren’t available in the UK app store/play store, so even if you did want to install another app whilst traveling, you can’t!
It has a dark mode! Now it makes sense of why it took so long 
/s
My (admittedly vague) understanding is that your phone will continue to share randomised device IDs and therefore still work effectively.
The one thing you won’t be able to do in a foreign land is declare that you’ve had a positive result, because you’ll need the foreign app to verify your foreign test result.
Ps I have downloaded the app and have it running 
It’s too little too late from the NHS on this one.
Running it for a few hours this morning has depleted my battery by nearly 40% and I haven’t left my house.
Really? Stats show that?
I’ve seen stats straighten out after a reboot on Android.
I’ve been running the application since it was released last night and not seen any issues with battery life on iOS although the phone is an iPhone 11 so battery health is very good.
I’ve also got no worries about how this app works seeing it is based on Google and Apple API. We are probably tracked more by Facebook even if you don’t have an account than this application and quite frankly if it helps us get to some normality then I’m all for it.
But
International examples show take-up rates of similar apps at between 10% and 30%,
Source:
It will be lower than is hoped, probably down to how things have been managed by the government. Still, some usage is better than none. They have an uphill PR battle to convince people to use it despite the overwhelming benefits to do so
Not wishing to stray off topic, but this statement is probably true.
The number of apps that use Facebook analytics in the background, Monzo’s included, I think.
Well that’s one way of dealing with it!
Good point.
However, I am confident that we can get better than 10% and, as others say, it is a case of anything being better than nothing - so I’m still installing it even though I hardly go out anyway at the moment (so I can avoid passing the virus to my elderly grandparents).
I do think that the app we now have is the right approach, I didn’t previously support the “centralised” app at all. In fact, I like the idea of QR code check-in (almost like a COVID version of Foursquare) augmenting the automatic API token exchange system. I think it’s the right balance of anonymity and usefulness.
I do see where people are coming from (even though I don’t personally feel the same way) with some concerns about the partial postcode, though, and I think we could increase take-up if this was made optional. I think it gives people the impression that they are being tracked based on location, even when they are not, and also in certain areas I imagine that postcodes don’t contain many people or cover a particularly large area -meaning it would theoretically be possible to identify someone based on their movements.
