Apple and Google are not building the apps. Rather, they’re building technology into their market-leading smartphone operating systems, iOS and Android, to enable apps to use Bluetooth signals to determine their distance from other phones. If a person tests positive with Covid-19, they can use the apps to send notifications to other phones that have come within a certain distance, telling the owners of those phones to get tested.
Millions of people around the world are expected to download these apps to fight the spread of the coronavirus over the coming months. Apple and Google’s application programming interfaces, or APIs, are included in the beta version of Xcode 11.5, a program which is used to develop apps for Apple computers. In addition, a beta version of Apple’s smartphone operating system, iOS 13.5, which was released on Tuesday for software developers, includes the code needed for those phones to run apps using the Apple-Google APIs.
For Android phones, a new beta update to Google Play Services and Android Developer Studio will also support apps using the Google-Apple system. Apple and Google will release sample code on Friday to help developers working with public health authorities to build the final apps, company representatives said. The official release is expected in May. -Full Report
