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A user with the Corona warning app
Photo: Petra Schneider-Schmelzer / imago images / Petra Schneider
The official corona warning app of the federal government is available for download in an improved version.
According to a blog entry by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the current version 1.7 was released on Wednesday afternoon in the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.
With the update, the risk check can now be carried out several times a day.
Up to now, the update was only done once a day.
In addition, users who tested positively receive a reminder with the current version if they have not yet shared their test result.
The warning app launched by the (RKI) in June can measure whether cell phone users have come closer than about two meters for a longer period of time.
If a user has tested positive and has shared this in the app, it reports to other users that they have been near an infected person.
The application, which was developed and operated by the two German tech companies SAP and Deutsche Telekom on behalf of the RKI, has now been downloaded more than 22 million times onto suitable smartphones.
The number of active users is slightly below this value, as some users have uninstalled the app again or have permanently deactivated the Bluetooth radio required for the app to function.
In Germany, an estimated 53 million smartphones are actively used on which the app could run.
With the current version 1.7, users can now be informed more quickly about possible risk encounters.
The multiple daily check takes place automatically according to the information of the RKI.
The prerequisite for this, however, is that the smartphone is connected to a WLAN.
The standard, daily risk check is still carried out once a day independently of a WLAN, i.e. via the cellular network if necessary.
Furthermore, two hours after opening a positive test result in the app, users receive a reminder to share it, if they have not already done so.
After another four hours, a second reminder occurs if the users have still not shared the test result.
With a click on the reminder, users go directly to the function for sharing their results.
The makers of the app are reacting to the fact that not all app users who tested positive have entered the result in the application and thus triggered the digital warning chain.
Please set the clock
In addition, various program bugs have been fixed and a function has been introduced that is activated if the time on the smartphone is not set correctly.
Because for the risk check it is absolutely necessary that the time set in the mobile phone corresponds to the actual time.
If the software detects a discrepancy here, it will inform the user of this.
The clock can be set automatically on Android devices by
activating
the menu item
Use time from network
in the
settings
under
System / Date and Time
.
On iPhones you can find the menu item Set
automatically
in the
settings
under
General / Date & Time
.
The version published on Wednesday is the first of a total of four planned updates of the Corona Warning app by the end of 2020. Among other things, a contact diary is to be introduced in the other updates, in which users can enter who they are with when met.
In addition, information about the development of the pandemic is to be integrated into the app.
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mak / dpa