COVID-19 layer on Google Maps and some new apps to prevent its spread

· 4 min read

Google Maps released a new COVID-19 layer to more users in September. You may see it in the list of layers on the map view. It is called "COVID-19" view and it shows you the sources of its data as soon as you open it. This view will hover your region with the colour and show the pandemic index and its dynamic status. The data is not very precise and it will only show you an aggregated result among the area but this already should give you a good idea about the current situation.

It appears to be another step towards anti-corona activities in which Google takes a very active part. In the past, you could notice that if you search for "COVID" or "corona" queries on Google Play you will only see a bunch of pre-approved apps that are marked as trusted by Google.

Along with this, there were a lot of hackathons during this summer where devs were building anti-corona apps.

In this regard, we found some new beta apps that are available for beta testing but hard to find via the search on Google Play.

Busted Beta

This app has a Tinder-like UI and it can help you to diagnose your symptoms.

Busted - Apps on Google Play
Busted is an app that wants to help you in understanding your symptoms and build a personal health history. It’s easy: 1) Swipe your symptoms 2) Get instant results 3) Build your health history. Do all of this in total privacy (we do not store, see or share any kind of info). - - Busted (website…

SoloCoin - Location-based Rewards Beta

This app helps you to get benefits for staying at home based on your location data. You can earn points and spend them on different rewards.

SoloCoin - Location-based Rewards - Apps on Google Play
SoloCoin rewards you in SoloCoins to beat challenges based on location like grocery shopping at nearby stores, watching movies in a theatre, Doing yoga at a park, playing games at home, purchase medicines from the nearby stores, etc. We also have quizzes, daily and weekly challenges to get you eng…

STOME - Stay Home Challenge Beta

Another app that helps you to stay at home by tracking the time of how long did you manage to stay at home.

STOME - Stay Home Challenge - Apps on Google Play
Join the STOME (STay hOME) Challenge and earn points for staying at home. Set your “home zone” and see how many hours you “stome” daily, weekly and cumulatively. Earn as many points as you can and challenge your friends to see who can earn the most points. Living mindfully and stoming more than we…

Corona-Warn-App (Stable)

Not a beta app but worth checking if you haven't already. This app is one of those which are officially recommended to use for tracking your location data (at least in Germany). It can also notify you in case if you had a contact with a person who was tested positive.

Corona-Warn-App - Apps on Google Play
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as the national public health institute publishes the Corona-Warn-App on behalf of the German Federal Government for Germany. The app serves as a digital complement to distancing, hygiene and wearing masks. It uses Bluetooth technology and the Apple/Google Exposure No…

You can become a beta tester for all these apps (Including Google Maps) via our TestingCatalog app for Android.

TestingCatalog: Apps for Beta Testing - Apps on Google Play
TestingCatalog is a database of the best Android apps available for beta testing curated manually since 2016 🔥 We list all the popular apps that have a beta release track as well as new unreleased apps from indie devs. If you want to add an app to TestingCatalog you can submit it via this form https://forms.gle/AyQcC7bTDYKJ9p1n8…

Did you find any other interesting anti-corona apps as well? Let us know comments!