Corona warning app: Update fixes errors

Lisa Weidner studied German and sociology and completed several journalistic internships. She is a volunteer at Hubert Burda Media Verlag and writes for the "Meine Familie und Ich" magazine and on nutrition and health topics.

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The official Corona warning app is a useful component in combating pandemics. However, users have to deal with cryptic error messages again and again. An update should now remove some "bugs" and make the functionality of the app more transparent.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has published a new version of the German Corona warning app. This update aims to fix various bugs that still appear in the older versions. This includes, for example, a possible interruption in the data exchange in the background. The new version also improves the comprehensibility of the texts for risk status and test results. In addition, the instructions for scanning QR codes should be easier to understand.

Experts emphasized on Friday that users with an iPhone in particular should also install the latest version 13.7 of the iOS operating system at the same time. Apple has significantly improved the technical interface (API) in the past few weeks. On the Android smartphones, the API is updated via the so-called Google Play Services without the user having to take any action. The update of the RKI app must also be initiated by Android users.

Not just bugs improved

The new app not only corrects errors, but also provides new and expanded functions. To improve accessibility, the information was added that the hotline supports Tess relay services and links to information on easy language. Tess Relay Services are a nationwide telephone switching service for people with hearing and speech impairments.

The newly updated application also provides additional information on the risk status. If there is an encounter with a low risk, in the detailed view of the risk status, users now receive a brief explanation of why the risk of infection is still classified as low despite one or more encounters with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The recommendation to open the Corona warning app once a day to be on the safe side is now also displayed in the app. If the risk status has not been updated for 48 hours, the users are shown the status "Unknown risk" in a gray box. The users can then update the risk status manually.

The app should soon be applicable across Europe

The RKI's corona warning app has been downloaded almost 18 million times so far, which corresponds to around 27 percent of all smartphone users in Germany. The developers of the app from SAP and Deutsche Telekom are currently working harder to make it possible to track contacts in the European Union. So far, the application has only provided usable data in Germany.

You can find out more about the Corona Warning App in our article "Corona Tracing App: The most important facts". (lw / dpa)

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