Corona warning app
What else does the app have to offer?
The function of the Corona-Warn-App will be significantly restricted after April 30th.
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From May 1st, users of the Corona-Warn-App will no longer be able to warn others, and a “silent mode” will soon follow. What else does the application bring to users?
Today, April 30, ends a short era that has helped shape the smartphone world in Germany in recent years. The Corona-Warn-App loses significantly in functionality from May 1st. An overview of what users can still use the app for in the future.
Corona warning app one of the free top apps of recent years
First published in the summer of 2020, the Corona-Warn-App was an integral part of the smartphones of many German citizens a few months later. “Support us in the fight against Corona”, the federal government asked at the time and many actually followed the request. Even though there were increased doubts about the effectiveness of the application, which users could use to report infections, right from the start, the app was downloaded 15 million times on Android and iOS devices within the first three weeks or so.
At the beginning of December 2020, the Corona-Warn-App led the list of the most loaded free apps of the year for the iPhone in Apple’s App Store. At the end of the following year, it was ranked fourth in the top ten – behind the “CovPass” app for managing vaccination certificates, which was published in the summer, in first place and the contact tracing app “Luca”, which was also published in 2021, in second place. In 2022, the Corona warning app was able to fight its way back to second place behind the “CovPass” app in the free applications. The “Luca” app had completely disappeared from the list after it was discontinued in terms of tracking restaurant visitors.
Why is the Corona warning app now on the verge of extinction?
The Corona-Warn-App is more than 48 million times according to the German government downloaded in the past months and years, the Germans shared nine million positive test results. Nevertheless, the application is now saying goodbye, at least for the time being. “The reason for the imminent rest mode is the increased immunity of the population, a stable infection situation and the return to public life without corona measures. This currently eliminates the need for an app for contact tracing,” says the government website.
What happens on April 30th? And what happens on June 1st?
Today, April 30th, is the last day on which the main function of the Corona-Warn-App can be used. This means that users with a positive test result can warn others that there is an increased risk of infection. From May 1st this is no longer possible. On June 1st, the already mentioned “sleep mode” will follow for the time being.
But what does it exactly mean? From June there will be no more updates for the Corona-Warn-App, so it will no longer be developed. The application is also only available in the Google and Apple stores until May 31st. After that, the team will no longer answer any user questions.
What’s next?
If the app is already on a smartphone, it stays there and is not automatically deleted. After June 1st, users can still access their stored vaccination certificates or view their contact diary. However, you cannot add new certificates or update existing ones. In the “CovPass” app this will continue to be possible for the time being. If you no longer need the Corona-Warn-App, you have to delete it manually. Users can back up their certificates and entries beforehand. The developers explain how this works in each case on the project homepage.
Do I still need Corona apps?
In recent months, the vaccination certificate on the smartphone has become less important. In many cases, even those who travel abroad for a holiday no longer have to present proof of vaccination. But there are exceptions: The The US authority CDC points out about this, that non-US citizens currently still have to prove that they are fully vaccinated before entering the country. Not applicable for Japan according to the Foreign Office for example, on May 8th, the corresponding obligation to provide proof. The websites of the respective national representations usually provide information about the applicable regulations.