News: 1601305510

One bug, which was eventually resolved by the developers on Sunday, meant users were unable to register a positive test if it was booked outside of the contact-tracing app.

If a bug of that scale was still around when it went live, one has to wonder how thorough the testing was.

There should have been, of course, but if it wasn't there, then there would have been nothing to test against.

It's not a bug though is it, just a part of the process that was not thought through before it went live. If it was a bug it would be a feature or selection available that didn't work

If that's how you define "bug" then, yes, you're correct.

Not everybody would agree, I should think.

one has to wonder how thorough the testing requirements analysis was.

The requirements analysis concentrated solely on the commercial lighthouse labs. The NHS hospitals, universities and the like were excluded, as were local authority testing labs.

And there is no trace of the bug fix in the commit history, no tests, no documentation, nothing as far as I can see...or am I wrong? Those dont seem like trivial issues...

Especially considering:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exemptions-from-devices-regulations-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

So, is it a medical 'device' ? If so its not a very good one apparently...

It baffles me that something that important is even the user's responsibility. The people responsible for delivering the test results to the testees could surely be delivering them en masse (and accurately) directly to the system that supports the app, given some sort of upfront anonymous identifier exchange.

It's good to see it here. A remarkable number of people I know seem to have old iPhones, though, and it seems to be a horrible battery drain on them.

Any thing in the 5 range and under are aren't too difficult to plonk in a new battery. I replaced an iPhone 5 battery in about 10 minutes for under 20 credits, get the kit with tools included. The duration went from a few hours to more than a day, but I'm not a heavy user.

But an iPhone 5 won't run the version of iOS required, so it's useless. (Whether you regard 'it' as meaning the app or the phone depends on your point of view, of course).

Apparently a moot point. My colleague has an iPhone 5s, and the app will not install. It says it need iOS 13.5 or later, and the latest available for his phone is less than that. So old iPhones may be supported, but it looks like not that old.

The 5S was introduced seven years ago. If that's "not that old" to you for a smartphone, what do you think is "not that old" for a PC? A Pentium MMX?

I've downloaded the Android version and have received the update, presumably to add the missing test feature.

As for whether it does the job it was build for is another matter. There's no indication if you've been in bluetooth range of another phone. Probably not an essential feature but I'd like to know if my phone has been handshaking with others.

As for it draining the battery, I turn the Contract Tracing bit off when I'm at home or otherwise segregated from the great unwashed.

Better to charge your phone when at home so you don't have to remember to turn the app on every time you go out.

That does have the drawback of putting more stress on your battery.

[1] According to the BBC

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has confirmed officers are being told not to install the NHS Covid-19 app on their work smartphones.

The app detects when users have been in proximity to someone with the virus.

Some officers have also been told they may not need to obey self-isolate alerts generated by the app when downloaded to their personal phones.

Lancashire Constabulary has told staff to call the force's own Covid-19 helpline instead.

Read the linked article before letting slip the dogs of war ;-)

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54328644

Typical - one law for them and one for the plebs.

I think they're anticipating a load of false positives what could easily leave the entire force self-isolating.

If they have access to enhanced testing or other protocols specific to critical services, it is a perfectly reasonable action to not add noise from the app.

The app is meant for the public without Ppe, face masks, socially distant contact (well.. in principle) The threshold parameters of the app would be chosen accordingly to balance false positives.

I should be staggered that they can install any app to their WORK smartphones, but I'm not.

NHS staff are not meant to install it either because they wear PPE at work and so could be falsely flagged as being in close contact when not appropraite.

I don't have the app myself (being one of the handful of Windows Phone 8.1 users) but when I saw someone using it at our church yesterday I asked them about the features. They could not work out how to check out at the end of the service, so I wonder if this is just a lack of user training or if there really is no way to say "I am NOT here now". Last thing you want is to be told to isolate because someone who tests positive turned up after you had gone!

You can’t check out.. I’ve created a qr code for my home to mitigate the false data.

I think this is a flaw, but if positive results are always qualified with proximity it should matter less..

But then the venue data would be pointless?

This is not the NHS’ app. It is from the private sector; Serco last time I looked. Can you not abet the government’s insurance policy of blaming the NHS when any of these shady schemes (primarily designed to fill Cummings & pals coffers) goes TITSUP.

Toilette Deloitte are involved too, I think, although that may only be on the actual physical testing side.

The whole 'NHS Test/Track and Trace' thing is a handy bit of branding to make sure that there's something that can be thrown under a bus[*] when it goes even more TITSUP than it currently is, but thrown under a bus in such a way that Tory donors and their ilk don't get kicked in the bank balance.

[*] Probably a red one promising £350m a week for the NHS - where is that, by the way? Enquiring minds etc.

Try "The Pie in the Sky" but not after 10:00pm.

I think Dear Nigel has a lot to answer for but where is he these days?

Perhaps the App can find him? (Always assuming that he's not done a bunk now that his job is done)

Did people miss the bit in the news today that if you don't self isolate when the app tells you to you get a £1000 fine rising to £10,000? That kind of makes sense but the next part where police have power to stop and check people in high risk areas is a bit of a worry. How long before this app becomes mandatory? What if I work in a shop? I'm going to be self isolating every week.

Did people miss the bit in the news today that if you don't self isolate when the app tells you to you get a £1000 fine rising to £10,000?

Source?

Make of it what you will, but Coco the clown Hancock stated that notifications from the app were advisory (which kind-of makes sense from a false positive point of view) whereas if you get an actual call from Serco Track and Trace then you _have_ to self-isolate.

What if I work in a shop?

If it's anything like the place where my partner works, you won't have your phone on you during working hours anyway.

Mandatory app? Yeah, good luck with that one.

Agreed. They can't even make people wear masks in shops, let alone demand people install an app on a device they may not own. I walked around most of a Co-Op the other day before realising my mask was round my neck and nobody said anything.

"However, it is unable to recognise negative test results performed outside of the app."

I would have called that a major bug. You're told to self-isolate because you've been too near somebody who is positive, but then you get a negative result from the ONS random scan, or from a hospital, and you still can't stop self-isolating. I'd call that a major bug.