Apple is gradually reopening its retail stores around the world, as we’re tracking in our detailed roundup. Apple is implementing new procedures such as temperature checks to ensure the safety of visitors and employees, but regulators in Germany having concerns about these temperature checks.
We’ve seen a number of tech companies like Apple and Nomad contribute to COVID-19 relief in substantial ways. Now popular accessory maker Belkin is in the final stages of getting emergency ventilators into production to help health systems that need the life-saving device.
Iceland’s contact tracing app has achieved the highest per-capita download rate in the world, having been downloaded by 38% of the population.
But impressive as this is, it still gets nowhere near the minimum 60-80% usage epidemiologists say is needed to make a meaningful difference – and Iceland’s experience seems to have proven them right …
Whether you’d like to use the Apple Maps mobility trends data for professional use during the pandemic or are just curious on a personal level how movement in different cities around the world has changed, read on for how to use the Apple Maps mobility trends.
A new report today says that AirPods will be made in Vietnam for the first time this quarter, as Apple accelerates plans to diversify production outside China.
It also suggests the company is preparing for a fall in demand for AirPods in the current quarter due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis …
The NHS has kept its promise to share the source code for the UK contact tracing app, placing both the code and documentation onto Github. This will allow security researchers to examine the code to determine exactly how it works, check for any flaws and try to solve a mystery.
Developers will be keen to understand how the app apparently works in the background in a way that shouldn’t be possible …
Apple’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams joined Fox Business for an interview this morning in which he expresses optimism about the US economy going forward. This comes after Tim Cook reportedly told Donald Trump that he expects a “v-shaped recovery” following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seven European countries have now agreed to use an Apple-style contact tracing approach, where Bluetooth codes are stored on phones, not in a central server …
Britain’s standalone NHS contact tracing app has gone live on the Apple and Google app stores in order to allow real-life tests to be conducted.
Anyone can download and run the app, but it will only accept positive coronavirus diagnosis reports from those in the test area on the Isle of Wight, a small island off England’s southern coast …
Last month, the UK National Health Service said that it would release its own coronavirus contact tracing app for iOS and Android, but without using the Apple and Google exposure notification framework. A new report from the Financial Times today says that the NHS has asked its developers to “investigate” switching to the Apple and Google standard.
A former spy chief is one of those calling for the British contact tracing app to be subject to additional privacy safeguards…
The British government has revealed details of the UK contact tracing app – which doesn’t use the Apple/Google API – and it doesn’t make for good reading. While it’s full of reassuring-sounding statements, these soon start to unravel …
A day after the French government said that it would not adopt the Apple/Google coronavirus contact tracing API despite it being ‘innovative and efficient,’ the same minister has issued a misleading statement claiming that Apple refuses to help France with its StopCovid app …
Emergency measures designed to ensure businesses continue to have access to financing during the coronavirus crisis have effectively provided Apple with cheap credit to fund stock buybacks and dividend payments, says a new report today.
The government backing enabled Apple to borrow money on the bond market at the lowest rates it has paid for seven years …
After releasing a new beta of iOS 13.5 last week, Apple today has provided new information on its Exposure Notification API for COVID-19. The company continues to underscore the privacy-first design of this API and is releasing new resources to public health authority developers.
A device which sticks to your throat like a Band-Aid is intended to help diagnose coronavirus infections by detecting early signs of coughing or breathing difficulties associated with COVID-19.
The sensor wirelessly syncs to an iPad to facilitate analysis …
A Poynter Institute WhatsApp bot will provide a simple way to fact-check coronavirus claims which users might otherwise forward …
France is still rejecting the Apple/Google coronavirus contact tracing API, despite acknowledging that it offers an ‘innovative and efficient’ approach.
The country is planning to begin testing its own app in the week of May 11, says a government minister …
The CDC has shared a new document today that covers some of the minimum as well as preferred criteria for digital contact tracing apps. No surprise here but Apple and Google’s exposure notification system lines up with many of the “preferred” criteria elements and looks like it will offer a good choice for local health authorities as they develop apps and start to release them this month.
Apple has released version 3.0 of its COVID-19 screening app. The latest update includes tips for using cloth masks as well as the updated symptoms and recommendations from the CDC.
A group of major app developers have set up their own association, seemingly geared to doing the same job as The App Association, an existing group sponsored by Apple and other tech giants.
They have formed the App Coalition, which seeks to lobby Congress on behalf of app developers, especially during the coronavirus crisis …
Americans are divided on whether they would be willing to use coronavirus contact tracing apps powered by the joint Apple/Google API. A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found an exact 50/50 split between those who would use it and those who wouldn’t.
That’s already less than ideal, but there were three further worrying aspects …
Best Buy is the latest retailer to announce that it is closing all stores due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company will instead offer curbside pickup and delivery, much like many other retailers have done over the last week as the coronavirus pandemic evolves.
Apple has released a new beta of iOS 13.5 today, containing the first version of its exposure notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing. The beta is available to developers now alongside the first beta release of Xcode 11.5. The Xcode release includes an updated version of the iOS SDK that incorporates the exposure notification API.
Update: The second public beta of iOS 13.5 is also now available.
