Some U.K. iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro users in the UK are reporting that their new devices are showing an error message in their NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app, telling them, “Unfortunately, You Can’t Run This App,” rendering the app unusable.
Users in other regions have reported similar errors and issues in their contact tracing apps that also use Apple’s Exposure Notification API. BBC News reports the issue arises if apps are transferred from an older iPhone via an iCloud Backup data transfer, which is common practice.
To fix the issue, users are being told to do the following:
- Open Settings.
- Select Notifications.
- Tap on Exposure Notifications.
- Turn on the Allow Notifications option.
The issue seems to be rooted in an omission by iOS of not asking users to enable the Allow Notifications permission when transferring the app to a new device. It is not clear why iOS is requiring this. This means the app doesn’t have permission to enable the Bluetooth-based technology that it requires for proper functionality.
Although deleting and reinstalling the app also resolves the issue, users should not do this, as this method wipes all of the information previously gathered by the app, including all of the locations that users had been checked into.
Users can verify their exposure notification locations history by going into Settings, then tapping: Exposure Notifications -> Exposure Logging Status -> Exposure Checks.
While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have not yet been added to the NHS’s list of compatible devices, both devices are capable of running the contact-tracing software.
Macrumors reports that around 18 million Brits have installed the NHS COVID-19 app so far.
