UK abandons government COVID app, switches to Apple-Google framework

London: Britain’s government is scrapping its existing coronavirus tracing smartphone app and switching to a model based on technology supplied by Apple and Google, the BBC reports.

The government’s app is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, and was expected to be rolled out in the rest of the country later. But the program, previously hailed as a fundamental pillar of the UK response to the pandemic, has been delayed.

Apple and Google’s framework to build the app, though attractive to nearly two dozen countries, was not favoured by UK which said the technology was not particularly useful in contact tracing because it prioritises user privacy.

On Wednesday, the official responsible for the UK government app said it may not be ready until the winter and that it is not the “priority” at the moment.

The data gathered by the Apple-Google design is expected to be less centralised.