Why you see fewer risk contacts after the update

 

Those who have updated their warning app will often see fewer risk contacts in one fell swoop. That causes criticism - even if there is actually an important innovation behind it.

Where yesterday there were warnings about several potentially dangerous contacts, today there is suddenly “no risk encounters”. Numerous iPhone users are likely to have had this experience when they looked at their Corona warning app after a current update.

The background is version 1.9.1 of the warning app, which has been available on iOS since Wednesday evening. With the update, SAP and Deutsche Telekom have adjusted and refined the risk calculation within the app they developed . If a user tests positive for the coronavirus, the app calculates the risk of infection for all other users who have previously met the infected person.

SPIEGEL was able to understand for several devices that the number of low-risk encounters, highlighted in green in the app, fell from a handful to zero after the warning app was updated. On Twitter , users also report that red risk contacts - i.e. encounters with a high risk of infection - have turned into green risk contacts.

Users are not informed about the reason for the sudden decrease in their risk contacts in the app. Only a general, technical sentence in the App Store indicates the change in the risk calculation. It says that "the app has been converted to version 2.0 of the Exposure Notification Framework (ENF) provided by Apple".

Warn-App now uses an update that has been available since summer

What is meant is a framework program made available by Apple and Google that uses the warning app to calculate risk. This framework program was made available in an improved version by Apple and Google at the end of July. This updated version of the framework, which among other things is intended to improve the Bluetooth calibration of many devices used for distance measurement, has only now been adopted for the warning app with the current update.

For users who are not familiar with the details of the warning app, it should not be clear what this means. Accordingly, the computer scientist Henning Tillmann criticized on Twitter that the innovations “are not clearly communicated in the app.” The update creates unnecessary confusion, which could have been avoided with a pop-up in the app, for example.

So far, the update can only be installed on iOS devices, but will soon also be available on Android devices. The warning app is gradually updated automatically, but it can also be brought up to date manually as an update via the App Store.

More information about the timing of risk contacts

With the update to version 1.9.1. some bugs should also be fixed and texts updated. What is also new is that in the case of red risk contacts, it should be displayed on which day and on how many days such contacts with an increased risk took place. This could help users to better assess their risk of infection.

In addition, the function has been revised, with which users can share their results with the app after a positive corona test. Because not everyone has done this so far, not all other users who the infected person has encountered can be warned by the app.

iOS 14.4 Beta is available - this is new

 

Just two days after the release of iOS 14.3 with some significant new features like ProRAW Photos and Fitness + (Germany is still excluded from the new service), Apple is starting the beta testing process for iOS 14.4. Since this is a whole point release number and not a minor one (e.g. iOS 14.3.1), we expect there will be some user-oriented changes.

Apple has released the first developer beta; the public beta usually follows within about a day.

What's new in iOS 14.4

Improved handoff feature

With iOS 14.4, the improved handoff feature already presented in the last keynote is used for the first time. All devices with a built-in U1 chip benefit from this, for example the new Homepod Mini or the iPhones of this and last year's generation. The U1 chip is able to spatially locate other Apple devices with the same chip and can thus control the device. For example, you can point your iPhone in the direction of your Homepod Mini and then pass the music playback with one tap.

Shortcuts app: Perspective zoom

If you change your background image with a shortcut, you can also activate the perspective zoom directly since iOS 14.4. To do this, open the app and press an on / off switch in the shortcut to change the background image, which sets the perspective zoom.

VoiceOver simplified

With the first beta of iOS 14.4, Apple introduced a way for VoiceOver users to operate the apps with just one tap, the function is called Direct Touch Apps. Normally when VoiceOver is activated, the device reads the name of the element in an app with the first tap, in order to operate it, the user has to tap twice. If the visually impaired user is so familiar with the app that they don't even need to read the elements, they can activate Direct Touch from iOS 14.4 and operate the app as if they were without VoiceOver - with just one tap. The function can be switched on and off in individual apps.

How to get the iOS 14.4 beta

Registered developers can download the beta profile to their iPhone or iPad by visiting developer.apple.com/download on the device they want to run the beta on . Log in there, download the beta profile and activate it under "Settings> General> Profile". You need your iPhone or iPad restart and then open "Settings> Software Update" to download and install the new version of iOS.

If you are not a developer and want to take part in the public beta test, go to beta.apple.com on the iPhone or iPad that you want to run the beta on. Tap "Sign In" to sign in with your Apple ID and follow the instructions to load the beta profile.

You need to make sure it's enabled by going to Settings> General> Profile and tapping on the beta profile and then making sure it's enabled. You can then download the beta via the software update

Facebook versus Apple: allegations about iOS 14 data protection function

 Facebook has now initiated the next offensive against Apple and its agenda in the long conflict about tracking options for user behavior. They responded promptly to the allegations.

This dispute began in spring 2020. It began with the announcement that Apple would like to bring out a new data protection function for the iOS 14 system software . With the help of the innovation, users will in future have the option of preventing apps and advertising services from collecting information about their behavior. To do this, the programs need the identification number of the iOS device. With the innovation, the apps and services must first obtain permission for this. Facebook didn't like it at all and published a "declaration of war" on Apple on December 16, 2020 in the renowned daily newspapers New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. The user "@DaveStangis" shared the newspaper article on Twitter.

To the newspaper article on Twitter

Facebook: Apple destroys smaller businesses

CEO Mark Zuckerberg's company explains in the post that Apple's "forced software update" restricts smaller companies from displaying personalized ads. As a result, the companies are no longer reaching their customers as effectively and this has major consequences, according to Facebook. Thus, the companies would be forced to absorb lost revenue with in-app purchases, of which Apple then collects a portion. The iOS 14 change was originally supposed to appear in autumn 2020. However, Apple postponed the release period to 2021.

Apple: Protecting the user

Apple's counterattack was not long in coming. According to a media report , Apple is behind the data protection function and explains that users should know which services collect how much data and with whom they then share the information. However, Apple responded to the criticism from Facebook and made it clear that developers could explain within the approval process what they are using the data for. However, Apple does not simply leave the allegation of moneymaking uncommented: The company assured that the change would not earn anything.