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Alberta's ABTraceTogether and Canada's COVID Alert app are similar in the basic way they operate, but have some significant differences. But the most important difference to me is that ABTraceTogether still doesn't function between two iOS devices. https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/kenney-rejects-federal-covid-alert-app-urges-albertans-to-download-provincial-version
Claims that ABTraceTogether is fully functional after a September update are inaccurate. ABTraceTogether is based off TraceTogether; w/ this limitation: "iOS apps are still unable to exchange signals with other iOS apps if both apps are in the background" https://support.tracetogether.gov.sg/hc/en-sg/articles/360050556334-I-see-COVID-19-Exposure-Notifications-in-my-phone-s-operating-system-Do-I-need-to-turn-it-on-for-my-TraceTogether-App-to-work-in-the-background-
The core reason for this is the design of Apple's sandboxes around iOS apps. Apple wants phones to have long battery life. To do this, they limit the capabilities of apps running in the background. This is very unlikely to change.
Google and Apple developed and incorporated "Exposure Notifications" into Android & iOS in order to standardize COVID apps, and, as Apple was doing the development, they allowed themselves to flex their own rules. This is why COVID Alert works in the background on iOS devices.
To be fair, are there advantages to ABTraceTogether? Well, it shares more information with AHS. This allows AHS contact tracers to call people who have been exposed to you, rather than just getting a popup on their phone.
If Alberta's contact tracers weren't understaffed... and if the app actually worked on the single most popular devices... and if the extra data uploads didn't make less people use the app... maybe there would be a solid argument that it is better.
But it's not.
But it's not.
Ah well, I've been skeptical of the entire idea of app-based contact tracing anyway. I worry that the concept makes people feel safe, and that could be more harmful than the benefit it provides.
It is mostly disappointing to me that this is a politicized decision. When MLAs are calling COVID Alert "Trudeau's app", it's pretty clear that they're not evaluating the objective reality and making informed public health decisions.
