Govt to roll out COVID-19 app for JioPhone in bid to increase reach of system; testing underway, says official

New Delhi: India will within days roll out a version of its coronavirus contact-tracing application that can run on mobile carrier Reliance Jio’s cheap phones, as it looks to increase the reach of the system, a senior government official said on Thursday.

India, which has imposed the world’s biggest shutdown to battle the spread of the coronavirus, last month launched the Aarogya Setu (health bridge) app — a Bluetooth and GPS-based application which alerts users who may have come in contact with people who later test positive for COVID-19.

Representational image. Reuters.

The app, which has been downloaded more than 83 million times so far, was initially available to India’s roughly 500 million smartphone users on Google’s Android and Apple devices, but not to around 400 million users of more basic feature phones.

Within a week, a version of the app will be rolled out to more than 100 million users of the $9 JioPhone - a cheap, internet-enabled feature phone that runs on a mobile operating system named KaiOS, a senior government official told Reuters.

Launched by Reliance Industries’ telecoms unit in 2017, the phone gives users access to 4G mobile data and apps including Facebook Inc’s popular WhatsApp messenger.

“We are pushing it ... the testing is going on,” said the official who declined to be identified as the plan is not public.

India’s technology ministry and Reliance Jio did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Contact tracing apps such as Aarogya Setu are being used in an attempt to speed up the process of identifying, testing and isolating people exposed to the virus before they spread it to others.

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While many countries around the world are using similar apps, some such as Australia and Colombia are turning to technology from Apple and Alphabet’s Google amid citizens’ privacy concerns and glitchy state-backed systems.

The Indian government has also launched a toll-free number that connects feature phone and fixed-line phone users to the Aarogya Setu platform, allowing them to self-assess for COVID-19 via an interactive voice response system.

(Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost)