Apple’s Bluetooth Restrictions Is Hindering France’s Contact Tracing App

One of the problems with developing for Apple devices is that the company has a walled garden approach to outsiders. This usually means a lot of restrictions that developers tend to face when trying to create apps for the iOS platform. Unfortunately for the French government, it seems that Apple’s restrictions surrounding Bluetooth is hindering their efforts at creating a contact tracing app.

With the coronavirus outbreak spreading around the world, contact tracing is of extreme importance as it allows health officials to quickly identify who the infected person might have come into contact with. France is developing an app of their own, but Apple’s Bluetooth restrictions are making it difficult to proceed.

Speaking to Bloomberg, France’s Digital Minister Cedric O said, “We’re asking Apple to lift the technical hurdle to allow us to develop a sovereign European health solution that will be tied our health system.” Unfortunately, it seems that Apple isn’t budging as talks are apparently not progressing.

That being said, it should be noted that Apple and Google have recently announced that they will be working together to develop contact tracing APIs that will be built into iOS and Android, allowing developers to take advantage of it. However, there have been some concerns raised about this and we imagine that governments will probably want to develop these apps themselves.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Apps, Coronavirus, covid-19, iOS