Mobile phone users, mainly those with the Android operating system, are reporting issues with the NHS coronavirus app. Overnight, many have received a notification to their phone, which says the app is “loading”. This has understandably made users worried, who have questioned whether the app works usually as it is meant to do.
One person wrote on Twitter: “NHS Covid-19 app #loading notification appearing on android mobiles. Some concern that contact tracing may not be operational.”
Another said: “Has anyone else’s NHS Covid app got stuck such that it’s showing a permanent ‘Loading’ notification in the notifications tray?”
A third said: “My android phone is displaying a notification from 1am this morning that says ‘NHS Covid-19 Loading…’.
“Nothing is happening and I can’t remove the notification. My wife has deleted the app to get rid of it.”
How can I fix this?
The first, and most cliche answer, is to simply reset the app.
Simply click on the app, and go to the settings section.
There you will find ‘General’, which will lead you to the ‘Reset’ option.
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User SarahBarberUK said: “I tried turning off the Background Activities notification then a few minutes later (10 minutes) I tried turning back on (as was not sure if they were required for app to work properly) and the persistent notification has disappeared (on Moto G8 Plus).
“This allowed me to get rid of the eight hour long notification without long term changing behaviour of the app.”
Nonetheless, there is nothing to suggest the app is not doing its job as suggested.
So it is important, for track and tracing, that users do not fully uninstall the app and not re-download it.
The NHS app operator has been contacted for comment.
