Google, Apple launch coronavirus exposure notifications to phones

Contributing in the fight against COVID-19, Apple and Google are launching a new auto-generated software framework to help states deploy their own contact tracing apps.

According to The Verge, the app developed as an extension of the earlier exposure notification framework, allows public health authorities to avoid the broader development work of launching a standalone app, simply configuring the basic framework to their state's needs.

"As the next step in our work with public health authorities on Exposure Notifications, we are making it easier and faster for them to use the Exposure Notifications System without the need for them to build and maintain an app," The Verge quoted Apple and Google's statement.

"Exposure Notifications Express provides another option for public health authorities to supplement their existing contact tracing operations with technology without compromising on the project's core tenets of user privacy and security," the statement further read.

However, the existing applications will not be affected by the new framework, and adopting the framework will not prevent states from launching more involved apps in the future.