A tracking app designed to help Australia ease social distancing rules may prove a huge drain on mobile phone battery, experts warned.
The government based its app off one used in , TraceTogether, where the biggest issue was not privacy – but battery life.
When Australians download the app, they are prompted to give it certain permissions, including turning Bluetooth on and enabling location sharing – which are proven to drain battery life.
Just 12 per cent of people in Singapore have downloaded the app, after many discovered it drained their charge within hours – with users unable to use their phones while it was in use.
Both the Singaporean version and Australia’s own COVIDSafe use Bluetooth to connect with nearby phones to determine who a person has been into close contact with.
It means that if a user later tests positive for COVID-19, officials can easily find out who else may be at risk.
To run the COVIDSafe app, users have to agree to turn their battery optimization off – meaning they cannot try and use a power saving mode