Apple updates COVID-19 app with state-level guidance, self-care tips

AppleInsider

Apple on Thursday updated its first-party COVID-19 app with new state-level information, as well as tips related to the ongoing pandemic.

Apple's first-party COVID-19 app. Credit: Apple

The app update's primary change is a new feature that lets users select a U.S. state of residence to get easy access to their health department's dedicatedcoronavirus page. The section will send users to their local state health department website, such as the covid19.ca.gov site in California.

Additionally, a "Support Yourself" section offers tips on maintaining physical and mental wellbeing during the pandemic. Beyond health-related tips, Apple has also included recommendations for working, shopping for groceries, creating a household emergency plan, and what users should do if they get sick.

All of the aforementioned features and tips have also been added to Apple's COVID-19 website.

Previously, the app was limited to a screening tool that walked users through assessing their risk factors, symptoms, and possible recent exposures to the coronavirus. It also contained information about social distancing, COVID-19 testing and the 2019 Novel Coronavirus itself.

The app was developed by Apple in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the White House's Coronavirus Task Force.

Users can download the Apple COVID-19 app from the iOS or iPadOS App Store.

sjworld

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

fastasleep

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

Of course. Apple would definitely need an optional app planted in the App Store under the guise of an informational pandemic resource that a small percentage of iOS owners would download in order to take control of an iOS device. That makes perfect sense.

sjworld

fastasleep said:

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

Of course. Apple would definitely need an optional app planted in the App Store under the guise of an informational pandemic resource that a small percentage of iOS owners would download in order to take control of an iOS device. That makes perfect sense.

Exactly what I said.

StrangeDays

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

What the fuck are you even talking about?

StrangeDays

sjworld said:

fastasleep said:

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

Of course. Apple would definitely need an optional app planted in the App Store under the guise of an informational pandemic resource that a small percentage of iOS owners would download in order to take control of an iOS device. That makes perfect sense.

Exactly what I said.

Then why don't you explain what otherwise looks like paranoid nonsense at best.

sjworld

StrangeDays said:

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

What the fuck are you even talking about?

StrangeDays said:

sjworld said:

fastasleep said:

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

Of course. Apple would definitely need an optional app planted in the App Store under the guise of an informational pandemic resource that a small percentage of iOS owners would download in order to take control of an iOS device. That makes perfect sense.

Exactly what I said.

Then why don't you explain what otherwise looks like paranoid nonsense at best.

Someone appears to be upset. Simmer down and take your meds.

fastasleep

sjworld said:

fastasleep said:

sjworld said:

Useless app. Smells like a Trojan horse.

Of course. Apple would definitely need an optional app planted in the App Store under the guise of an informational pandemic resource that a small percentage of iOS owners would download in order to take control of an iOS device. That makes perfect sense.

Exactly what I said.

Okay, just clarifying that your comment makes zero sense. Thanks for confirming.

chasm

Thanks, Apple.

sjworld said:

Someone appears to be upset. Simmer down and take your meds.

Someone appears to be a tinfoil hat-wearing loon. Stop posting and call your mental health provider.

alterbentzion

The app's only available for devices running iOS 13. No love for those of us on older devices. Cynicism aside, any idea why it would have to be that way?