Latvia is ready to release its contact tracing app based on the API created by Apple & Google. The country just like others is looking towards technology to solve major hurdles in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
It has been reported that Latvia’s app which is expected to release soon will be the first app to use the fruit of Apple & Google’s fusion in a time of crisis. AppleInsider also adds that the app created by Latvia “may also work in tandem” with the apps that other European countries are reported to release.
The country has named the app “Apturi COVID” which means “Stop COVID” in the local Latvian language. The app will help people stay away from areas which are likely to be largely affected by the pandemic and also it will notify users if they have come in contact with any potentially coronavirus positive people.
“The developers believe that reliance on this standard will ensure widespread adoption and also compatibility over time with contact tracing apps around the world that are also expected to adopt the same exposure notification framework,” said the developers of the app in a statement obtained by Reuters.
Latvia’s goal is not just to create the app for the people living in the country. Its grand plans include “conversing” with the apps of other countries to allow people travelling to other European countries to continue using the app. If Latvia is able to pull it off, its contact tracing app will be usable even when its users are not in the country.
India is one of the countries which released a contract tracing app almost two months ago. The country named its app “Aarogya Setu”, however it’s not based on the API created by Apple & Google. The app uses bluetooth and location services to do perform similar tasks as that of the contact tracing API provided by Apple & Google.
