PIERRE, S.D. — A new app that lets some people in the Dakotas use mobile phones to privately track where they’ve been for 10 minutes or longer works on iPhones that are version 6.0 or newer, a North Dakota official said Monday.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem announced last week the Care19 app was available and referred people to the state Department of Health covid.sd.gov website.
She said the app is the same as what North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum arranged for use in his state, where the privately developed app is known as the “Bison Tracker.”
Noem has promoted its use at several news conferences including Monday in Sioux Falls.
She said it would save time for health officials when they need to trace contacts for people who have tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19.
Mike Nowatzki is communications director for Governor Burgum. “Any iPhone that can run iOS 13 will be able to use the app,” Nowatzki said Monday.
He listed versions of phones compatible with iOS 13:
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
Nowatzki said an Android version of the Care19 app is in development. He said the app is on his iPhone and he hasn’t experienced any inaccuracies.
Noem said Monday she expected the Android version this week. She said more features would be added as more people download the app.
