Checking your U.K. NHS COVID-19 App is working on iOS / iPhone (or Android)

Like a good responsible citizen I downloaded the app when it first became available in the Autumn. I set it to have contact tracing on and in the app the green glowing logo looked just fine! It told me “Your app is active and scanning” – Jolly good!

It was only when a contact mentioned they had a “match” that I began to realise the app had never been working properly. When I asked them what they meant by “match”, it turned out they didn’t mean a notification from the app itself telling them they had had a contact requiring isolation. Their app itself hadn’t told them anything.