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Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:58 pm
by AMS
sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:59 pm
It was pointed out that (a) a lot of people (
circa 20% of the UK adult population; I was surprised it was that high tbh) don't have a smartphone at all, whether for cost or disability reasons or just because their life is complete without one, and (b) a reconditioned Android phone can be had for less than £40. Several iPhone users seemed to regard the latter suggestion as akin to telling a hungry vegan Muslim that there's plenty of pork chops on the grill.
But *which* 20% of the population don't have a smartphone? Some demographics are more important for the app than others, eg people who use public transport to get to work and people who are still going to pubs and restaurants.
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:51 am
by Hunting Dog
sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:59 pm
It was pointed out that (a) a lot of people (
circa 20% of the UK adult population; I was surprised it was that high tbh) don't have a smartphone at all, whether for cost or disability reasons or just because their life is complete without one, and (b) a reconditioned Android phone can be had for less than £40. Several iPhone users seemed to regard the latter suggestion as akin to telling a hungry vegan Muslim that there's plenty of pork chops on the grill.
For me it's pockets. My text only nokia thing fit's in female jeans / running leggings pockets. Smartphones don't. I did contemplate getting a smartphone to replace my ageing tablet, but that would have been for mainly home browsing use instead of the tablet, I'd have taken it out if I was going to a pub* and had to use the app ordering thing, but have zero intention of carrying a bag so I can carry a smart phone around with me the rest of the time.
*decided the better idea is not going to a pub
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:29 am
by murmur
sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:59 pm
murmur wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:30 pm
Hunting Dog wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:19 pm
I don't own a smart phone
Me neither.
There was some complaining on That There Twitter earlier from people who only have an iPhone 6 or something and how this was the evil Tories plotting to force poor people to buy a new iPhone, then dunk on "chavs who spaff all their money up the wall on a new iPhone".
It was pointed out that (a) a lot of people (
circa 20% of the UK adult population; I was surprised it was that high tbh) don't have a smartphone at all, whether for cost or disability reasons or just because their life is complete without one, and (b) a reconditioned Android phone can be had for less than £40. Several iPhone users seemed to regard the latter suggestion as akin to telling a hungry vegan Muslim that there's plenty of pork chops on the grill.
I am now trying to imagine Niece considering having to use an old Android phone...Her face would definitely be worth seeing. She thinks "phone" only means new i-Phone.
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:55 am
by discovolante
discovolante wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:41 am
discovolante wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:07 pm
I've got the Scotland one which was released a few weeks ago, mainly out of nosiness to see how many other people have it tbh...1,152,435 so far.
1,170,189 so far this morning. I wonder if the England and Wales one released yesterday will boost registration because it reminds people to do it, or slow it down because people will get all worried about the shitness of the England and Wales one and/or get exposed to more anti-government tracking stuff.
I forgot to note the exact figure the Scotland one reached after the first day of release - it was over 600,000, so I'm not sure of the exact uptake rate but it seems to have been somewhere around 40-45k a day, I think. Roughly.
1,222,015 now, so about 51,000 downloads in 24 hours. Not sure if this is a significant increase or not.
I can't seem to find any info at all as to how well this app is working 2 weeks on. We're on about 22% of the population which doesn't seem bad if you exclude kids and whatnot. But surely it would be good to be able to compare apps to try and work out what works and what doesn't within 2 groups of countries that are broadly similar rather than comparing against say, other european countries?
I'm not actually sure what the main differences are between this E&W one compared to the Scotland one, I havent seen similar issues regarding compatibility being reported on but is it an issue?
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:29 am
by FlammableFlower
veravista wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:47 pm
Just had a beer with a mate* who has downloaded the app and he reckons it won't work on Huawei phones. Can't be right, surely.
* He is very tech savvy BTW, not a conspiracy nut job
It seems to be working on my P9... well at least it's claiming to be doing stuff
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:31 am
by shpalman
This graph from
the beginning of September shows what percentage of the population in each region has downloaded the Italian app
Immuni with the average for the whole country being 9.9%.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:08 am
by Bird on a Fire
Edited the thread title to be plural, reflecting the fact that two UK apps are being discussed, the newer England and Wales one and the older Scottish one.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:17 am
by Grumble
There’s a separate NI one too.
Incidentally I can’t quote the post above because of the mod tags.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:39 am
by discovolante
Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:08 am
Edited the thread title to be plural, reflecting the fact that two UK apps are being discussed, the newer England and Wales one and the older Scottish one.
Lol thanks, does that mean I have to stop being passive aggressive now?
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:40 am
by discovolante
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:17 am
There’s a separate NI one too.
Incidentally I can’t quote the post above because of the mod tags.
How is that one doing?
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:49 am
by Bird on a Fire
discovolante wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:39 am
Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:08 am
Edited the thread title to be plural, reflecting the fact that two UK apps are being discussed, the newer England and Wales one and the older Scottish one.
Lol thanks, does that mean I have to stop being passive aggressive now?
The new title behoves you to continue posting about the Scottish one! Daily updates plz.
And we're now up to 3 apps (don't think the NI one had been mentioned before? Thanks Grumble), debatably 4 if the earlier IoW one is considered a separate effort.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:50 am
by Grumble
discovolante wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:40 am
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:17 am
There’s a separate NI one too.
Incidentally I can’t quote the post above because of the mod tags.
How is that one doing?
Not a clue, just wanted to point out there are 3 apps covering the U.K.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:56 am
by discovolante
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:50 am
discovolante wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:40 am
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:17 am
There’s a separate NI one too.
Incidentally I can’t quote the post above because of the mod tags.
How is that one doing?
Not a clue, just wanted to point out there are 3 apps covering the U.K.
Fair enough. I'm only posting about the Scottish one because that's where I am, I welcome comment on all pandemic apps available in this fair nation.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:05 pm
by Grumble
How can you find out how many people have installed the app? The E&W app is top of the section in the App Store, but it doesn't say how many downloads that is.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:07 pm
by discovolante
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:05 pm
How can you find out how many people have installed the app? The E&W app is top of the section in the App Store, but it doesn't say how many downloads that is.
I'm not sure, the Scotland one just has the number on the app itself. There is a button/menu to 'share' the app and on that screen it has the number of downloads (although come to think of it, it might not know how many have uninstalled?).
I'm briefly travelling to England this evening so might get it anyway.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:40 pm
by bagpuss
Grumble wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:05 pm
How can you find out how many people have installed the app? The E&W app is top of the section in the App Store, but it doesn't say how many downloads that is.
Google Play is reporting 1M+ Installs of the E&W app. Last time I looked, yesterday, it was 100k+.
It doesn't get much more granular than that. I imagine if it ever gets to 10M+ it will change to that but in the meantime, there's no way that I can see of knowing whether it's been installed by 1,000,000 people or 9,999,999 or where in between.
ETA: I'm not sure if it's fair to assume that a similar number of iphone users will have downloaded it, or not, given the number of iphones that can't use a compatible version of iOS.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:24 pm
by Beaker
I used it last night to log into a mountain bike park. The QR code is massive - you could probably encode the address of every particle in the observable universe. Tried it again today in a cafe with a more regular looking QR code - no luck.
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:54 pm
by sTeamTraen
shpalman wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:31 am
This graph from
the beginning of September shows what percentage of the population in each region has downloaded the Italian app
Immuni with the average for the whole country being 9.9%.
I'll give it three days before the "Herd Immunity" crowd start claiming that that graphic represents immunity percentages.
Re: UK Track and Trace App
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:56 pm
by sTeamTraen
AMS wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:58 pm
sTeamTraen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:59 pm
It was pointed out that (a) a lot of people (
circa 20% of the UK adult population; I was surprised it was that high tbh) don't have a smartphone at all, whether for cost or disability reasons or just because their life is complete without one, and (b) a reconditioned Android phone can be had for less than £40. Several iPhone users seemed to regard the latter suggestion as akin to telling a hungry vegan Muslim that there's plenty of pork chops on the grill.
But *which* 20% of the population don't have a smartphone? Some demographics are more important for the app than others, eg people who use public transport to get to work and people who are still going to pubs and restaurants.
I imagine that the 20% who don't will be a lot older than average, but some will be younger and poorer. In one sense they are those who most need to know if they have been in contact with an infected person because they are the most vulnerable, in another they maybe don't because they will be less mobile/mingly than those who do have a smartphone. In terms of QALYs at risk, etc, I suspect it may come out rather even.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:07 am
by Bird on a Fire
Folks on Twitter this morning getting very angry about the fact that NHS test results can't be entered into the "NHS" track and trace app, only the private test centres' can.
https://twitter.com/NHSCOVID19app/statu ... 02689?s=19
Is this UK-wide, or only E&W?
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:24 am
by sTeamTraen
I really hope that this is a question of "We haven't turned on the switch for the NHS tests because we wanted to get the app out there, but it's coming on Monday" (and not "in May 2021"). Otherwise the credibility of the app will be f.cked.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:29 pm
by JQH
I tried downloading it via Google Play. Entered my gmail address as requested but was then told my phone needs to be linked to my computer.
Two questions:
1. How?
2. Why?
If the government want people to co-operate they shouldn't make extra difficulties.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:44 pm
by Fishnut
JQH wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:29 pm
I tried downloading it via Google Play. Entered my gmail address as requested but was then told my phone needs to be linked to my computer.
Two questions:
1. How?
2. Why?
If the government want people to co-operate they shouldn't make extra difficulties.
I just had to give it the first part of my postcode, no email address, and the only permissions it asked for were to use my camera so I could scan the QR codes for registered locations.
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:52 pm
by shpalman
JQH wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:29 pm
I tried downloading it via Google Play. Entered my gmail address as requested but was then told my phone needs to be linked to my computer.
Two questions:
1. How?
2. Why?
If the government want people to co-operate they shouldn't make extra difficulties.
Have you not downloaded anything from Google Play before?
Re: UK Track and Trace Apps
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 1:37 pm
by bagpuss
shpalman wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:52 pm
JQH wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:29 pm
I tried downloading it via Google Play. Entered my gmail address as requested but was then told my phone needs to be linked to my computer.
Two questions:
1. How?
2. Why?
If the government want people to co-operate they shouldn't make extra difficulties.
Have you not downloaded anything from Google Play before?
That's my thought too.
Easiest way is to download from Google Play directly on your phone.