NHS Covid-19 app won't work unless I update Google Play Services

Post #17 was what I followed. It installs lots of unwanted crap. I can live with it until the next official /e/ update as the tracing app does seem to be working.

Seems like TWRP on my Fairphone 3 refuses to install Nanodroid. Just says “failed to mount system”. Strange, cause flashing other things has worked in the past.

I only know the FP3 by reading user postings. A Samsung Galaxy S5 and S5+ is in my opinion much easier to handle.

Try to mount the partition /system manually in TWRP before the NanoDroid-microG installation (activate the checkbox).

Little report from my attempt to follow the steps in #17 on FP3:

In one word: Don’t. After I had managed to flash it via TWRP (thanks for the hint @SuzieQ) it broke the system. Luckily I had a backup so apart from a “your device is corrupt”-message, which I will take care of later, everything is back to it’s contact-tracing-phobic normal.

This means I will either wait for the promised solution (even though after now more than a month of waiting for the microG update I am close to giving up hope) or re-install the stock rom. Which would be sad indeed.

One limitation: I did not wipe the device before attemtping to flash. This is “recommended but not required” accoding to the documentations, so I can’t say, whether this would make a difference. Also: Installing only the microG part of Nanodroid had the same effect for my phone. System dead --> restore.

Once again it has proven itself: Making a backup before every (elementary) new installation saves your nerves and makes it easier to experiment.

The FB3 is a special Android Phone - in original condition or with CustomROM. The FairPhone user community is large and their concerns are, in my opinion, given preferential treatment by /e/. So as often with /e/ it is only a matter of time when a microG update or upgrade will be released.

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There’s an official partnership between Fairphone and the e foundation.
Preferential treatment could well come with that to nobody’s surprise.

https://www.fairphone.com/de/2020/04/30/keeping-your-data-safe-with-e-os

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Just how good a business partnership is can be seen in how well it handles the little things.

It’s pretty easy to change the default installation - see this explanation

Thanks for the tip but I don’t have time to go through it all over again. I’ll just wait for the next /e/ build.

Does the ‘Venue check-in’ functionality work on your installation?
It doesn’t work in mine (on Havoc-OS 3.9) - I get a dialog saying `Sorry, your phone doesn’t support venue check-in’. I guess it’s an issue with the camera, as it is meant to work by scanning a QR code.

I have the same problem.

@petefoth
@Vaughan

First: There is an update to the UK NHS Covid-19 app version 3.6.1 (70).70 from 25.09.2020

And: Yes, I also get the message “Sorry, your phone doesn’t support venue check-in” but I’m not surprised because I’m at home and I don’t have an authorized QR barcode.

How will the venue check-in process work?

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54250736

Tried the updated version and that doesn’t support it either.
It’s a phone issue, not the ROM: I’ve tried it on the stock ROM and I get the same message.

You don’t need to have a barcode: the idea is that the venue you are visiting displays a QR code, you use the app to scan it, and the app checks you in. For people who don’t - for whatever reason - have the app, venues are supposed to provide an alternative way of checking in, presumably the ‘paper and pen’ methods they were using before the app was available.

Now I have extended my tests to two more phones - with varying degrees of success.

[- nagativ] Galaxy S7 with LineageOS17.1-for-microG

[+ positive] Pixel with Official Android 11
The camera reacts immediately, a valid QR code is recognized immediately.

nhs1 nhs2 nhs3

What does this tell us?!

That the ‘Check-in’ functionality only works on some phones? :wink:

Seriously, given that the app uses the phone’s camera to scan the QR code, and that I know there were issues getting the camera to work for some of the XZ1 Compact ROMs I looked at on XDA, I would guess that it is to do with the camera hardware or binary blobs.

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Yes, I can understand that. With the S7 it didn’t work with the Standard Camera app or with the Open Camera app.

But at least we were able to shed some light on the whole thing. It was worth it, because now we know a little more …

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New experiment with the well-known Galaxy S7 (herolte) but a new CustomROM: PixelExperience_Plus_herolte-10.0-20200927-1516-OFFICIAL

PixelExperience customROMs are known for being coded very close to the original model and for working with pre-installed GApps.

Well, I can only say astonished - it also works with a customROM
The camera reacts immediately, a valid QR code is recognized immediately.

nhs7 nhs8nhs9

I gave my old Samsung Galaxy S5 (klte) a once over again and installed five different custom ROMs. From crDroidAndroid 10.0, over Havoc-OS-v3.7 to LineageOS-for-mircoG and RROS-Q-8.5.9. the result was always negative: “Sorry, your phone doesn’t support venue check-in”.

Last I tried a one year old unofficial PixelExperience 9.0 (Pie)customROM version including GApps and G-Camera - and the result is positive. The “venue check-in” via QR code works.
.
kltepx9pie1 kltepx9pie2 kltepx9pie3

My S5 ‘klte’ tests indicate that it depends more on the software (customROM) than on the hardware (Android Phone) to make the venue check-in service work.

No comment

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Fine. Here are two from the article …

“we have recommended that officers and staff download the app to their personal, as opposed to work devices, rather than any suggestion of security implications.”

"The NPCC had previously raised concerns about officers sharing information with human contact tracers on the grounds it could compromise undercover work and other sensitive operations.

But since the app is designed to keep people’s identities secret, this should not be a problem in this case."

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