We have been listening to feedback from the community and today we have improved access to the app. It is now available on Android 5.1 devices as well as users with non-Australian Apple App Store and Google Play Store accounts.   

We have improved the sequencing of the registration process to improve accessibility to the app for people who use text to speech technology. 

We strongly encourage all Australians using the COVIDSafe application to update the app and benefit from the new changes. 

We also encourage all Australians to ensure that they are running the latest version of their operating system on their devices to maximise security and functionality. We recommend you upgrade your operating system before downloading the app.

Details of COVIDSafe update 

Increased adoption 

Today’s release improves the backwards compatibility so that users with Android 5.1 operating systems are able to use the app.

This will enable a further 2% of Australian users to download and use the app, making it available to 98% of Android users within Australia.

We have also made the app available to those users with non-Australian Apple App Store or Google Play Store accounts.

Enhanced accessibility  

Today’s release improves accessibility for people who use text to speech technology, which helps them navigate and use the COVIDSafe application. 

Improvements include better descriptions of fields within the app, such as the age range selection when registering, and better recognition of back arrows. 

Source code update and next release 

The application source code, which is available to the public, continues to be updated in line with today’s release. We are already working on the next update to the COVIDSafe application, which we plan to release in the next two weeks. 

Visit the COVIDSafe website for more information or to access the source code for the COVIDSafe application.