TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An app designed to help users maintain a safe distance from people confirmed to have coronavirus launched an English language version on Tuesday (May 18).

The app, which is titled Taiwan Social Distancing, was created by Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Taiwan AI Labs. It uses Bluetooth technology to sense whether a user has come within two meters of a confirmed COVID-19 case for more than two minutes over the past 14 days. With over 1 million downloads, 11,000 users have given it an average rating of 4.1 stars on Android and 4.3 stars on iOS.

However, many users have complained that it only came in Chinese and did not support English. In response to the complaints, the app's designers announced on Tuesday that they had created an English version.

Users with their operating systems set on English who have already installed the app need only accept an automatic update and the interface will switch to English. Those who have yet to download the app can find it under "Taiwan Social Distancing" on Android and iOS app stores.

To encourage more people to download the app, the CECC on Friday (May 14) announced the start of a lucky draw in which winners are awarded PX Mart vouchers worth NT$500 (US$16). In addition, confirmed cases who are willing to upload their travel history to the app will automatically qualify for NT$5,000 in vouchers.

English message displayed on Android phone when no confirmed cases have come near. (Taiwan News screenshot)