If you were just hanging out with your friend or family, wouldn’t you want to know if someone around you contracted Covid-19? Contact tracing essentially creates a network of individuals, time stamping their time and location of proximity to each other. This helps you become aware if you’ve just been around someone who has Covid-19. Researchers and the experts at I Repair Cracked Screens have shown through simulations and tests that contact tracing helps slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
Top Tech Companies Working Together
Apple and Google released a statement earlier in the year. “As the next step in our work with public health authorities use the Exposure Notifications System without the need for them to build and maintain an app.”
Both Apple and Google have been in longstanding discussions to further build out this accessibility to iPhones and Android phones. You previously needed to download a specific application from your local health authorities, but both Apple and Google who are behemoths in the technology industry, have been integrating the tech into their phones.
Contact Tracing can be turned on for both iOS 13 and iOS 14.
Most Google Android users should be able to access this integration with Android 6.0.
How to Get Alerted When You’ve Been in Contact With Someone With Covid-19?
- Open the Settings (gear icon) on your iPhone
- If you scroll down a bit, you should see Exposure Notifications with a red and white icon. Tap that.
- Tap Turn on Exposure Notifications
- This is turned off by default when purchasing a new iPhone as well as for existing iPhone owners
- It is worth reading the “How Exposure Notifications Work..” as well
- Tap Continue
- Keep in mind, you can only turn on and use this feature if your local and state authorities allow it. Virginia was one of the first states in the U.S. to allow this.
Privacy
While Apple is all about privacy, just keep in mind that this information makes your location and data a little less private.