Covid app question

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020.

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  1. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    a couple of weeks ago against my better judgement I downloaded the covid app

    This morning I got an alert from it on the lock screen of my iphone - I clicked on it and it took me to the app but there is nothing I can see on there its all normal and everything is green

    I didnt read the alert properly as it was small print and I assumed clicking would open it to something I could read, but I think it may have been one saying there has been a proximity event.

    If it was, from reading the help pages it seems I should get a second alert saying either I should isolate or giving an all clear.

    2 questions - does anyone know how to view the alerts once they disappear from the lock screen - I would like to be able to read it and confirm what exactly it said. There is nothing I can see in the app or iphone that brings it back
    and second - whats the point - now I am going to be concerned until I get a second alert and I have no idea how long that is going to be - assuming one comes in at all if I misread the original. Surely you send an alert when there is something to say and the app should also store the alerts so you can read them again if you need to

    Has anyone else seen similar and does anyone know how long between the warning alert and the second one which tells you to isolate or you are all clear?

    Im also struggling to work out where it can have come from - in the last week or so I can only think of one place I have been in proximity with someone outside my house for 15 mins or greater and I am sure he would call me if he had gone down with Covid
     
    Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  2. Burgundy Red

    Burgundy Red Well-Known Member

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    Burgundy Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  3. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I think it almost certainly was one of those thanks for that
    So its Apples fault then not Sercos

    Despite the fact I dont get that with any other apps hmm
     
    Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  4. Archey

    Archey Well-Known Member

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    Essentially the app is broken.

    I've had 3 alerts in the past 3 weeks telling me I've just come into contact with someone who has had a covid test. Each time it has been whilst I've been sat at my desk at home, with nobody with the app within at least 20 metres of me. When I have clicked the alerts, they just take me to the app.

    My partner tells me that genuine alerts are meant to give you guidance on how to proceed next.

    Martin Lewis I believe is currently in the process of directing people to compensation you can claim if you've taken time off work due to the fault in the app.

    So the long and short of it, like everything else with this government, it doesn't work.
     
    Archey, Oct 13, 2020
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  5. Win

    Winchester Tyke Well-Known Member

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    Got the same this morning while I was sat at home having my breakfast. Not t been out since going for a walk on Friday.
     
    Winchester Tyke, Oct 13, 2020
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  6. Redstone

    Redstone Well-Known Member

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    Uninstall the app. Problem solved.
     
    Redstone, Oct 13, 2020
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  7. Mid

    Mido Well-Known Member

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    Between us me and my wife have had about 10 of these notifications. It’s a joke.
     
    Mido, Oct 13, 2020
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  8. dreamboy3000

    dreamboy3000 Well-Known Member

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    dreamboy3000, Oct 13, 2020
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  9. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I believe this to be the case. If it's a genuine alert you're also given a countdown I think for when you can come out of isolation.
     
    Loko the Tyke, Oct 13, 2020
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  10. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Not how I would define sorted - but it does explain why when I looked it up I saw the stuff about the second message but havent received one
    I guess you need to download an update for the "fix" which if its only been sneaked out today I havent done
     
    Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  11. Air

    Airon c redscue Well-Known Member

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    Not only is it giving false notifications. It also doesn't allow anyone like me who did test positive to report a positive test. It asks for a reference number from your positive text SMS/email. But there was no code supplied. It does state that you don't need this if test was booked through the app but it never showed me as registered positive, so it makes me doubt if at the time I was classed as a risk. I have stuck to the rules with reference to the isolation period but I really don't know that if I hadn't done and I had spent time with uneffected people, if it would have notified them. It's pretty poor to say they have had many months to develop and get this right.
     
    Airon c redscue, Oct 13, 2020
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  12. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Thats because you didnt book your test through Serco. It can only handle positive tests from there so if you were tested at an actual NHS hospital or independently some other way there is no way to get your results in.
    Its what happens when you bung your mates a fortune to develop and app but dont define it properly and they dont care as they are going to be paid
     
    Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  13. Shy Talk

    Shy Talk Well-Known Member

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    World beating
     
    Shy Talk, Oct 13, 2020
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  14. Air

    Airon c redscue Well-Known Member

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    I booked it through the app. So I don't know if that is run by Serco or not. But no matter what it's not at all clear and pretty basic that if you have a system that is supposed to warn people about covid contact risk, then surely you need clear and concise methods of inputting the data for positive users. It's crazy to have a system that not only gives false contacts but also makes it difficult for positive tests to be input/reported. Like with the application and enforcement of the various rules for the pandemic, people will just lose confidence in the app and like another poster said just delete it.
     
    Airon c redscue, Oct 13, 2020
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  15. wak

    wakeyred Well-Known Member

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    Another flaw in the world beating app is that if you log yourself into a venue with the app it leaves you logged in until midnight, unless you then login somewhere else. So you could go for a bite to eat in the pub at lunchtime and then you’re to all intents and purposes there until midnight. So if someone goes into the pub later that night who later gets a positive test and you’r tucked up in bed You’ll get told to isolate for two weeks!
     
    wakeyred, Oct 13, 2020
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  16. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Yes I had wondered about that one and haven't found any satisfactory explanation- I cant believe its hard to have a checkout option
    the only workaround I saw is you can get yourself a QR code for your house so check out of the pub by checking back in at home when you leave - I dont know if that really is possible though.
    Also how does it know about walls, for example if I check into a hotel and leave my phone on the bedside table overnight and the person in the next room does the same so the phones are probably less than 1m apart all night ...
     
    Farnham_Red, Oct 13, 2020
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  17. Jack Tatty

    Jack Tatty Well-Known Member

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    Maybe the app has a virus.
     
    Jack Tatty, Oct 13, 2020
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  18. Brush

    Brush Well-Known Member

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    It's a world-beating heap of steaming poo by the sound of it.

    Whatever happened to software testing? I used to spend about 5 times as long testing my software as I did actually writing it and then it was tested again by one of my colleagues before it then went on to user acceptance testing. It seems nowadays with these mobile device apps, 90% of the testing is done by the poor users themselves - often after they've shelled out to get the sodding app in the first place. Rant over.
     
    Brush, Oct 13, 2020
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  19. Jam

    Jamo Well-Known Member

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    I had those notifications too. Ignored them after repeatedly clicking on them to no avail.
     
    Jamo, Oct 13, 2020
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  20. Aus

    Aussie Ade Active Member

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    Went to pick up a rescue dog just outside Milton Keynes. Went in a pub to use the toilets, they had a QR code that they said didn't work with the NHS app, you had to open your camera which read the QR code and opened a link to the pubs website where you left your name & number. Think it was a Marston's pub chain.

    I stopped off at MOTO services on the M18 last week to grab a coffee, tried to scan their QR code and the app didn't recognise it, same thing as Marston's.

    They said it was because they had created their codes before the NHS app was developed. You would have thought that the NHS app would have the capability to read all codes but then I'm not a software engineer so don't know how hard/ easy that is.
     
    Aussie Ade, Oct 13, 2020
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