Apple, Google Covid-19 Exposure Notification API gets updated with improvements, Brazil launches app with alerts

As a part of the update for the Covid-19 Exposure Notification API made by Google and Apple, the Bluetooth controllers have been recalibrated to improve the detection of nearby devices.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health has also announced that Brazil is going to offer support for the same API for iPhone and Android. (9to5Mac)

The new Covid-19 Exposure Notification API was introduced by Apple And Google earlier in May this year that would allow public health authorities to create apps that can alert users when they have been exposed to the virus. The API has just received updates that makes it more flexible about how data is obtained by the apps that use it.

The update to the API was announced by Google yesterday and includes a bunch of changes that make these exposure notifications more capable and flexible, according to a report by 9to5Mac. The public health authorities who have adopted the API into their apps now have more control to decide the level of risk for each exposure based on technical information.

Another change in the API is that the Bluetooth controllers have been recalibrated to improve the detection of nearby devices.

The first version of the API that was rolled out did not allow different apps to communicate with each other and the updated version now supports an interoperability feature between countries. The new update also promises better debugging tools so as developers can perform more “in-depth testing in order to create more reliable apps”.

Google said that these improvements have been brought in based on the requests from governments that are using the API already. Currently, there are 16 countries using the API.

Canada just got a Covid Alert app that uses the API to offer virus-related exposure notifications and the Brazilian Ministry of Health has also announced that Brazil is going to offer support for the same API for iPhone and Android.

Brazil has access to exposure alerts through the Coronavirus SUS app that provides data on the pandemic and tips on prevention. The government said that patients who have tested positive will receive a unique token with the test results that can be inserted into the Coronavirus SUS app to alert others when the app is installed. This process is both voluntary and anonymous.

Reports have it that this update to the Coronavirus SUS app with Exposure Notification API is already there on Android and will be rolled out to iOS soon. Additionally, Covid Alert application and any app built using Apple and Google's Exposure Notification API will not work on iOS 14.