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India's Aarogya Setu becomes world's highest downloaded app in just 13 days

2 min read . Updated: 15 Apr 2020, 06:50 PM IST Edited By Aparna Banerjea

Aarogya Setu app has reached 50 million users in just 13 days-fastest ever globally for an app, tweeted NITI Aayog CEO
Developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Aarogya Setu tracking app is already available on both Android and iOS smartphones

With the country entering the second phase of lockdown from today to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus spread in India, the government's recently launched Aarogya Setu application that tracks Covid-19 cases around and helps in fighting the virus on an individual level, reached 50 million downloads just 13 days, making it the word's fastest downloaded app, said NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant.

"AarogyaSetu, India's app to fight COVID-19 has reached 50 mn users in just 13 days-fastest ever globally for an App," Kant tweeted.

Telephone took 75 years to reach 50 milion users, radio 38 yrs,television 13 yrs,Internet 4 yrs, Facebook 19 months, Pokemon Go 19 days. #AarogyaSetu,India’s app to fight COVID-19 has reached 50 mn users in just 13 days-fastest ever globally for an App
Salute the spirit of India! pic.twitter.com/xKqt3Tmj4f
— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) April 14, 2020

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also urged the citizens to download the application in order to keep themselves safe during the pandemic outbreak. Modi also said that the tracking app is an essential tool in Covid-19 fight and is possible to use it as an e-pass to facilitate travel from one place to another, according to Press Trust of India report.

Developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the 'Aarogya Setu' tracking app, which is already available on Google Play Store on Android smartphones and App Store for iPhones, will help track the coronavirus infection by using the smartphone's GPS system and Bluetooth and provide information that will help in determining if you have been near a Covid-19 infected person or not.

Ensuring the data is encrypted, the app uses your location to know of the area you are around comes under the infected areas of the database and also needs an activated Bluetooth to determine if you have been within six feet from the infected person.

The Aarogya Setu app supports 11 languages. Once you have downloaded the app, you need to register with your mobile number. Later, the app will has an option to enter your health stats and other credentials. To enable tracking, you need to keep your location and Bluetooth services on.

District administration has been asking all educational institutions, departments etc to push downloading of the app.

Furthermore, citing sources, PTI reported that Tata Consultancy Services is also working on testing and some of the other aspects while Tech Mahindra and the Mahindra group is working with the committee on the next version of this application and leveraging next generation technologies like AI, machine learning, data science to expand the reach of the app on all types of phones apart from only smartphones.

Meanwhile, with the confirmed coronavirus cases in India breaching 1, 100-mark in last 24 hours, the total Covid-19 cases in the country have surged to 11,933, according to the Union Health Ministry data. As many as 392 deaths have been reported in the country so far.

With inputs from PTI