Norwegian contact tracing app blames Apple design for centralised GPS location database

The Norwegian contact tracing app, Infection Stop, relies on a centralised database to store users' GPS locations for 30 days, like its Chinese counterpart. Sumula, the company that developed the app, claims is necessary because of technical limitations in Apple's smartphone operating system iOS. Simula has rejected using Bluetooth, like Singapore's TraceTogether, because to work on Apple's iPhones the tracker app would have to be in the forefront in order to be able to use Bluetooth to send, every minute, its location along with a list of other nearby phones. As Apple's market share in Norway is over 50%, the risk of large gaps in coverage would be substantial. 

Source:

https://nrkbeta.no/2020/04/09/simula-om-sporingsapp-omstridt-beslutning-skyldes-begrensninger-i-apple-produkter/
https://twitter.com/je5perl/status/1248230776287776769?s=20

Writer: Øyvind Bye Skille
Publication: NRK