Contact Tracing: Computer Software

(asked on 17th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2020 to Question 98750, what steps he is taking to address the inability of 87 per cent of iOS and 93 per cent of Android smartphone users to use the NHS Covid 19 app; and what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that the number of users in those categories amounts to 3.7 million people.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 4th January 2021

The latest data from Apple and Google indicate that 87% of iOS smartphone users and 93% of Android smartphone users in the UK currently do have access to a smartphone that is able to install a version of the operating system with the contact tracing technology the NHS Covid-19 app uses. We have always known that some phones would not be able to support the app because of the hardware needed for this Bluetooth technology to work effectively. This is the same in all countries with apps using the Google and Apple exposure notification API for contact tracing.

The NHS COVID-19 app is only one part of the wider NHS Test and Trace system and for those who cannot use the app, advice is available via NHS 119 and the phone-based contact tracing system. People who do not have a compatible smartphone will still benefit from other people downloading it. The estimate of 3.7 million people being unable to use the app as they do not have a compatible smartphone is derived from the above data from Apple and Google, and data from the Office for National Statistics that indicate that 79% of adults in the United Kingdom have a smartphone.

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