COVIDSafe app released, but does it work on iPhones?
Professor Katina Michael from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences at the University of Wollongong said “I am very concerned that the concept was tested but the app was not tested ‘in the field’ in ‘real-time’ with different handset types. Just because a piece of code executes it doesn’t mean it is bug free or design error free. Here we have a purported app that allegedly works (I don’t know how the user will be sure it is actually working as it should be) and we have not tested this for performance, battery usage. How much market share does iOS have in Australia? Significant – 40% according to Statista.
“The other thing that no one seems to mention too much is that not everyone has the BLE sensors needed in their handset, to make the App even work? What investigation was done into this? Did anyone take into consideration issues of in-building monitoring as bluetooth devices everywhere- pair to printer, to car, to earphones, to FitBit etc?
“There is a major chink in the design. And little attention was placed on user device performance. We haven’t done enough field testing and this means the device will likely not work as it drains people’s batteries which may well be a greater hazard than COVID, given Australia’s current COVID numbers.
“A lot of companies that develop software that require battery data and sensor data, have complexities when they want to launch to a market beyond Android users. This is well known in the industry. But such is the brand for Apple that they want to maintain their competitive edge, and ‘privacy-enhancing devices.
“iPhone users may well give the app a go, but when they realise how fast the battery drains, they will quickly uninstall the app as it will inhibit the rest of their productivity on the device. So this is certainly an issue we have to consider, but does show the government did not do comprehensive testing. Would we deploy a half-baked vaccine for the people before it is ready for human testing? The answer is no. Thus we should not do so for apps,” she concluded.
Health Industry Hub, April 29, 2020, “COVIDSafe app released, but does it work on iPhones?” Health Industry Hub, https://www.healthindustryhub.com.au/pharma-biotech-medtech-digital-innovations/covidsafe-app-released-but-does-it-work-on-iphones/