Aarogya Setu Covid-19 app crosses 10 million downloads on Google Play Store

The Indian government earlier this week launched a new Covid-19 smartphone app, Aarogya Setu. It uses the phone's location and Bluetooth to identify if the user has been around the vicinity of a Covid-19 patient. Aarogya Setu has crossed over 10 million downloads on Google Play Store.

The Covid-19 tracker app was launched on both Android and iOS on April 2. Apple doesn't reveal the number of downloads on apps but Aarogya Setu is ranked no. 1 among health and fitness apps on App Store. It's also listed under the PSA section on the Today page of App Store. Overall, the smartphone app has received almost 8 million installs, according to Arnab Kumar, Program Director of Frontier Technologies at NITI Aayog.

Aarogya Setu has been developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It uses the government's database to keep a track on Covid-19 cases. What the app does is it uses the phone's location data and Bluetooth as well to check if the user has come within six-feet of a person infected with Covid-19. The app will alert the user on detecting any such activity.

In addition to this, the app will also ask the user to go for a test and schedule an appointment at the nearest testing centre. Other features of Aarogya Setu include Covid-19 prevention tips, and a chatbot to answer queries on the virus. It's also available in 11 Indian languages. On concerns of privacy, the app states that the user's data is shared only with the government and details like the user's name or phone number isn't disclosed to the public.