While all Kiwis want to keep a COVID-19-free summer going full-steam ahead by using the NZ COVID Tracer app, there is one downfall many can agree on.
Yep, the awkward fumble and pause while entering a store, trying to open and find that damn app so you can scan and get on with your day without holding everyone up.
Well, fear no more! Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, has shared the ultimate phone hack - allowing you to open the tracer app in just two taps.
The engineer, nanotechnologist and science educator shared how to change your settings so that tapping the back of your iPhone twice will immediately open the tracer app in a video posted to Twitter.
"We know scanning in with the COVID Tracer app is really important," Dickinson says.
"But it can be a bit of a chore actually opening it manually."
"So I've got a little iPhone hack that I use which means you can open the app just by tapping the back of your phone twice."
She then explains the process that takes less than a minute to complete and shows viewers how to complete it step by step.
The back-tap feature is available on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and iPhone 12. Be sure to have the latest version of IOS which is IOS 14.
The shortcut can be added in four simple steps as follows:
- Go to shortcuts and select 'add a new shortcut', select 'add action' and then go to scripting.
- Select 'open app' and choose the app you want the shortcut for - in this case, the 'NZ COVID Tracer' app. Now select next and give it a name such as COVID-19, COVID, COVID Tracer.
- Now head to the Settings app and open the accessibility section.
- Once in accessibility select 'touch' and scroll to the bottom of the page where you'll find 'back tap'. Now select double-tap and scroll to the bottom where you will find your Tracer app shortcut called 'COVID' (or whatever you named it), select it and you're good to go!
Now the Tracer app will open by double-tapping the back of your phone.
The tip comes after the Ministry of Health revealed on Monday that poster scans dropped by a third over the Christmas break.
Over the past two weeks, there have been five million scans recorded, which sounds like a lot. But with 2.4 million users, that's on average just once a week each.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins would like to see scanning numbers upped to prevent a potential outbreak.
"I would like to see New Zealanders using the QR code system, turning on their Bluetooth contact tracing functionality so that we can stamp out any cases that may get into the community, should that happen," Hipkins says.
