Today, April 30, ends a short era that has helped shape the smartphone world in Germany in recent years. The Corona-Warn-App loses significantly in functionality from May 1st. An overview of what users can still use the app for in the future.
First published in the summer of 2020, the Corona-Warn-App was an integral part of the smartphones of many German citizens a few months later. “Support us in the fight against Corona”, the federal government asked at the time and many actually followed the request. Even though there were increased doubts about the effectiveness of the application, which users could use to report infections, right from the start, the app was downloaded 15 million times on Android and iOS devices within the first three weeks or so.
At the beginning of December 2020, the Corona-Warn-App led the list of the most loaded free apps of the year for the iPhone in Apple’s App Store. At the end of the following year, it was ranked fourth in the top ten – behind the “CovPass” app for managing vaccination certificates, which was published in the summer, in first place and the contact tracing app “Luca”, which was also published in 2021, in second place. In 2022, the Corona warning app was able to fight its way back to second place behind the “CovPass” app in the free applications. The “Luca” app had completely disappeared from the list after it was discontinued in terms of tracking restaurant visitors.
According to the German federal government, the Corona warning app has been downloaded more than 48 million times in the past few months and years, and the Germans shared nine million positive test results. Nevertheless, the application is now saying goodbye, at least for the time being. “The reason for the imminent rest mode is the increased immunity of the population, a stable infection situation and the return to public life without corona measures. This currently eliminates the need for an app for contact tracing,” says the government website.
Today, April 30th, is the last day on which the main function of the Corona-Warn-App can be used. This means that users with a positive test result can warn others that there is an increased risk of infection. From May 1st this is no longer possible. On June 1st, the already mentioned “sleep mode” will follow for the time being.
But what does it exactly mean? From June there will be no more updates for the Corona-Warn-App, so it will no longer be developed. The application is also only available in the Google and Apple stores until May 31st. After that, the team will no longer answer any user questions.
If the app is already on a smartphone, it stays there and is not automatically deleted. After June 1st, users can still access their stored vaccination certificates or view their contact diary. However, you cannot add new certificates or update existing ones. In the “CovPass” app this will still be possible for the time being. If you no longer need the Corona-Warn-App, you have to delete it manually. Users can back up their certificates and entries beforehand. The developers explain how this works on the project’s homepage.
In recent months, the vaccination certificate on the smartphone has become less important. In many cases, even those who travel abroad for a holiday no longer have to present proof of vaccination. But there are exceptions: The US authority CDC points out, for example, that non-US citizens still have to prove that they are fully vaccinated before entering the country. According to the Federal Foreign Office, for example, the corresponding obligation to provide evidence will no longer apply to Japan on May 8th. The websites of the respective national representations usually provide information about the applicable regulations.
