This app can help you perform social distancing

How to perform social distancing? This app aims to teach you just that.

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1point5 is a social distancing app that is quite easy to use.

Health experts around the world have been advising everyone to practice social distancing in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. We are repeatedly reminded to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from one another to minimise the chances of contracting the infection. Given its a very new practice, it often gets difficult to maintain social distancing. But what if there was an app that could alert you when someone enters your zone and ask you to move away?

Well, interestingly there’s an app called 1point5 made by the United Nations, which notifies users when someone enters their 1.5 metres radius. The app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

How to use 1point5

Developed by the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs (UNTIL), 1point5 app helps you maintain social distancing. The app scans for nearby mobile devices via Bluetooth and warns users when a device enters the 1.5-meter perimeter.

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Here’s how you can use the 1point5 app.

Using the 1point5 social distancing app is quite easy as it doesn’t require you to register. Just install the app > Tap on ‘Get Started’ > Turn on Bluetooth > Set a minimum distance between 1.5 metres and 2 metres > Tap ‘Start Monitoring’.

1point5 app tracks Bluetooth signal of nearby devices and alerts you when a device enters your minimum distance mark. Others do not need to have the app installed but their Bluetooth needs to be turned on or else the app will not pick up the presence of that person.

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1point5 also lets you select the nature of the notification. You can turn on or off Sound and Vibrations for proximity alerts. The application notifies about close proximity when it is turned on and doesn’t send alerts when it is closed. You can also set up the app to exclude the devices of family members and those with whom you live.

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UNTIL says that 1point5 does not collect or store any personal data. Unlike the Aarogya Setu app this app does not aim to provide health information or track your contact history but only acts as a social distancing reminder.

Such an app is very crucial at this crucial time when maintaining social distancing is the key to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic. India has been under lockdown since March 14 which is supposed to lift on May 17 — the day when the third phase of lockdown will end.