Apple's COVID-19 App Gains Updated CDC Symptoms, Cloth Mask Tips

Apple today updated its COVID-19 screening app, which was created to help people stay informed and take the proper steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

applecovid19appmask
The new version of the app includes updated symptoms and recommended actions that align with the CDC guidelines. The CDC this week added several new symptoms that can be signs of the coronavirus, including chills, shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of smell or taste.

Apple's updated COVID-19 app also includes tips for wearing a cloth mask to protect yourself and others from the coronavirus. The mask section includes tips on creating a mask, how to wear it, where to wear it, and how to sanitize it.

Apple has also updated its accompanying COVID-19 website to provide the same information.

Apple developed the COVID-19 app and website in partnership with the CDC, White House Coronavirus Task Force, and FEMA. Along with the features introduced today, the tools provided by Apple let users answer a series of questions on risk factors, recent exposure, and symptoms to receive CDC recommendations on the next steps that they need to take.

The screening tool is available to anyone who is 18 years or older in the United States. Data provided in the COVID-19 app and on the website is not shared with Apple, the CDC, or other government agencies.

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...

Top Rated Comments

lkrupp Avatar
74 months ago

Dreadful that so much poorly thought-out virtue-signalling nonsense is costing more lives than the virus itself. The misleading manipulation of people into senseless hysteria is sickening.

You know, two nearby hospitals in Central Europe have been following different paths. One has been treating patients according to virtue-signalling centralised edicts; the other has been treating on personalised patient needs. The first has a 60 per cent death rate. The second has zero per cent.

Panic, hysteria, poor management, misinformation, virtue signalling, and a total lack of leadership are doing so much avoidable harm.
As for virtue signaling I’m sick and tired of the ads corporations are putting out about how they care for their customers more than anything, are here for us, and we’ll get through this together all the while syrupy music is playing in the background. I want to vomit
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacHiavelli Avatar
74 months ago
Dreadful that so much poorly thought-out virtue-signalling nonsense is costing more lives than the virus itself. The misleading manipulation of people into senseless hysteria is sickening.

You know, two nearby hospitals in Central Europe have been following different paths. One has been treating patients according to virtue-signalling centralised edicts; the other has been treating on personalised patient needs. The first has a 60 per cent death rate. The second has zero per cent.

Panic, hysteria, poor management, misinformation, virtue signalling, and a total lack of leadership are doing so much avoidable harm.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
74 months ago
Nothing says "COVID-19 infected cell" quite like a cartoon ship steering wheel.



Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rigby Avatar
74 months ago

Well-said. The entire point of closing up was to slow the spread and prevent the healthcare system from being overloaded. Well, that's done, so we should be free to live our lives, right?
It's not done. The restrictions are the only thing that keep the case numbers from growing exponentially again and overwhelming the healthcare system. Think about it: nothing has changed from earlier this year when the virus first started cirulating. We have no vaccine, no cure, and are far away from "herd immunity". Why would you think the result would be any different now if all restrictions were lifted?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rocko99991 Avatar
74 months ago
Who's mask recommendation is this citing? WHO said there was no evidence that wearing a mask in the community prevented healthy people from picking up the virus.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rigby Avatar
74 months ago

We don't know precisely, but all indications are (once you rule out unreliable testing) is that people are not getting reinfected. Long enough to generate herd immunity and kill this thing.
This is just empty speculation.
Lots of things.
1. We know with a high degree of certainty who the most vulnerable are. They should be quarantined and protected to the best of our ability, which will significantly limit deaths.
Not really. The doctors who are actually treating patients still discover new aspects every day, such as that young people may be at a risk of stroke even if they escape lung infection.
2. We know that heat also slows this thing down considerably, well guess what season we're heading towards? It's already warming up in NYC significantly, which should improve things a good deal.
Actually, we don't know that at all. The virus is spreading rapidly in some countries with warm climates.
3. Individually we have all learned to benefits of social distancing, washing our hands, and wearing masks (gloves don't really help). That too will significantly slow down the spread.
We still don't know exactly how much masks actually help, for example.
You make a lot of assumptions, and clearly suffer from a lack of faith in the average human. The average human, completely voluntarily shut themselves indoors, to their detriment in many cases. The average human is going to social distance. The average human won't be sitting shoulder to shoulder in a movie theater.
You didn't get the point. If you want to open up the economy fully, the average human does not have a choice in many cases. For example, in normal times here in the Bay Area, hundreds of thousands of people per day are dependent on crowded public transport to get to work since roads and highways don't have have the capacity for everyone to use their own car. It's the same in many major cities around the world. And movie theaters were troubled economically before the crisis, many won't survive if they have to cut the number of seats in half or less. The same goes for air travel if the number of passengers per flight has to be cut because middle seats can no longer be used. And so on.
Now, if NYC wasn't run by a buffoon, the logical solution to your bus and train problem would be to run extra trains to keep the density in the trains and buses low, and that would allow some social distancing.
Have you even been on the NYC subway? The trains already run back to back during rush hour. The capacity of any transport system is limited.
"The experts"

You mean the ones you listen to.
I mean the ones who have spent their lives studying the issues. What qualification do you have to know better?
We live in a fascist country today, largely because of those tech giants. There is only one correct viewpoint. While we all admit that we don't have all the information, somehow many have come to the conclusion that there is only one possible answer. A strange contradiction.
:rolleyes:
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)