‘Privacy central’ – what our readers think of the NHS Covid-19 app
- 24 September 2020
The NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app is officially live in England and Wales after months of waiting – so how is it faring?
Of course, we at Digital Health have downloaded it and had a look at all it’s features. All you need is the first half of your postcode get started, then you don’t have to do anything else unless you’re checking into a venue using the QR check-in functionality.
The design is simple and easy to use, the symptom checker and check-in functions are clear, the locality risk indicator based on your postcode is really helpful if you’re concerns about cases in your area and, dare we say it, overall it’s quite sleek.
And if you’re worried about the Bluetooth draining your phone battery, you can turn contact-tracing off in your app and it will give you an option to set a reminder to turn in back on in 4, 8 or 12 hours – that way, if you’re home all day you don’t need to have your Bluetooth running.
As with all new digital solutions though, we will have to wait and see how many people download it and whether it causes any technical issues before we know if it is a success.
But you don’t just have to take our word for it, here’s what some of our readers had to say.
https://twitter.com/NHSCCIO/status/1309031576932671488
https://twitter.com/hssood/status/1309021016597856259
https://twitter.com/dermotor/status/1308881271737774082
https://twitter.com/nickex5/status/1309031909989777409
https://twitter.com/kevin_percival/status/1309053551776276481
https://twitter.com/DMckennaTweets/status/1309017381902209025
https://twitter.com/mikarv/status/1309022998574305281
https://twitter.com/jasonkillens/status/1309082765514731524
https://twitter.com/marcus_baw/status/1309059861993357315
6 Comments
I am sure it’s draining my battery. Can’t find evidence though have tried.
As a Greater Manchester GP patient I would not download this app under any set if circumstance.
As Health and care organisations across Greater Manchester have accelerated the deployment of the GM Care Record for all 2.8million people.
It builds on the existing borough-based care records that are in place already to create a single joined-up care record for all of the city-region patients.
I live alone and have health issues,but cannot download the app because my tablet is too old,a veritable dinosaur at 2 years old!
Do they expect half the population to buy new mobile devices just for this app?
If you do not book a covid test using the app then you must record the result manually using the app, ie enter the result code in.
Problem is you do not always get a result code?
Promising app BUT it doesn’t download onto an iPhone 6 or older models. So with a newer phone I can access the app but my wife can’t! Worrying and disappointing.
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