Corona-Warn-App 2.21 available – that’s new now

Panagiotis Kolokythas

After Easter, Tuesday (May 19, 2022) is the

Corona warning app

(CWA) in the

Version 2.21

published. There is one important change that plays a role in the administration of corona testing in families. In addition, the texts on the vaccination status have been adjusted (more information on this at the end of the article).

For iOS, the new version (2.21.1 to be precise) is available here in the Apple App Store. The Android version should soon be available here in the Google Play Store, currently version 2.20.4 is still available for installation. It usually takes up to 48 hours for the Android version to be available after the iOS version has been published.

CWA 2.21 with test administration for family members

As of the Corona-Warn-App 2.21, all users can also register the tests for family members in their app, as the responsible project team from the Robert Koch Institute, Deutsche Telekom and SAP announced. With this, parents can receive their children’s test results on their smartphone and request digital Covid test certificates for the children. This comes in handy when a family is traveling together or wants to attend an event where Covid test certificates need to be presented.

However, it is expressly pointed out that in the event of a positive test result, other users of the Corona-Warn-App

cannot be warned.

This is only possible with the tests that the smartphone user has registered for himself in the app.

The reason for this is the way CWA works: IDs that are stored locally on the devices are exchanged. Every day, the smartphone downloads a list of keys with positive test results, which are then matched against the IDs stored in the app. This means that a user can only be warned of contact with a person who has tested positive if they have actually met this person themselves and had their smartphone with the Corona warning app installed with them.

“If you were to share the positive test result of a person who was not where the smartphone was, users who had contact with the person who tested positive might not be warned,” the developers explain.

This is how it works: Store tests from family members in the Corona-Warn-App

As of Corona-Warn-App version 2.21, users can add tests for family members to their app as follows: You tap on “Are you getting tested?” and then “Scan QR code”.

After scanning the QR code received from the test center, a window will now appear in which users can indicate whether they want to register the test for themselves (“For me”) or for a family member (“For others”). If you select “For others”, you can save the name of the tested person. You can then also request a digital test certificate, which many test centers issue in the event of a negative test result.

The Corona-Warn-App shows the new area “Tests from family members” on the start page, where you can view the test results as soon as they are available. You can simply delete test results that are no longer required. They first end up in the app’s recycle bin and are then permanently deleted after 30 days.

Changed texts on vaccination status

Another change from version 2.21 of the Corona-Warn-App affects the texts that the app displays on the vaccination status under the digital Covid certificates. According to the developers, these have been adapted to the various scenarios.

This gives the user in the Corona-Warn-App more detailed information about whether they are considered basic immunization because they have had an infection, whether they have received all the recommended vaccinations or whether they should find out about a recommended booster vaccination.