Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to extend access to the NHS covid-19 to Apple iPhone and Android phones that do not support iOS 13.5 or Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and higher.

The COVID-19 app works on the vast majority of smartphones, approximately nine out of 10 in the United Kingdom. Not all handsets can use the app as it requires Bluetooth technology provided by Apple and Google in the operating system. On 14 December 2020, Apple released a version of their operating system (12.5) that brings the exposure notification contact tracing technology to older iPhone models. However, the app also uses other software components that are not available in these older versions of the operating system. Whilst we do not have plans to re-design the app in order for it to work on older iPhone models, we will continue to look at options to increase uptake of the app.