Apple Tweaks Exposure Notification Toggle in iOS 13.5 Beta 4 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Tweaks Exposure Notification Toggle in iOS 13.5 Beta 4

Apple in the third iOS 13.5 beta introduced support for the Exposure Notification API it's developing with Google along with a toggle to enable it, and in the fourth beta of iOS 13.5 introduced today, Apple has tweaked the interface to make it more clear how exposure notification logging works.

exposurenotificationprivacy1

Image via 9to5Mac

In this beta, when accessing the ‌Exposure Notification‌ toggle located in the Health section of the Privacy part of the Settings app, Apple now makes it clear that the exposure notification logging feature can't be turned out without an accompanying app installed.

In a country where exposure notification is available, the new Exposure Logging toggle is grayed out and cannot be activated without an authorized app installed, as seen in the screenshot above.

You cannot turn on Exposure Logging without an authorized app installed that can send Exposure Notifications.

When enabled iPhone can exchange random IDs with other devices using Bluetooth.

The random IDs your device collects are stored in an exposure log for 14 days. This exposure log allows an app you authorize to notify you if you may have been exposed to COVID-19.

If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 you can choose to share your own device's random IDs with the authorized app so it can notify others anonymously.

In a country where there are no apps that take advantage of ‌Exposure Notification‌, there's different wording letting you know the feature is not available and no toggle to turn on at all.

exposurenotificationprivacy2
Beta users in the United States and other countries will see the warning about ‌Exposure Notification‌ not being available in the country as of yet because there are no apps that take advantage of ‌Exposure Notification‌ that can be downloaded at this time.

When health apps that use the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API are released, the Privacy section of the Settings app will also list the active ‌Exposure Notification‌ app that's installed.

Related Forum: iOS 13

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...

Top Rated Comments

81 months ago

Will never work. People will will toggle that they are infected (for a laugh or maliciously) and set off a ripple effect. You just KNOW that will happen.
You need a code from a testing center to kick off the "I tested positive" aspect of the tracing.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago

Will never work. People will will toggle that they are infected (for a laugh or maliciously) and set off a ripple effect. You just KNOW that will happen.
It doesn't work like that.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago

If you are potentially infected and/or asymptomatic, you wouldn’t report that you have COVID, so therefore the existence of the contact-tracing schema in your scenario is utterly pointless.
Completely and totally missing the point of all of this.

[LIST=1]
* Someone gets tested and confirmed sick.
* They send out the alert to others that they’ve been in contact with through a contact tracing app.
* Those people that receive the alert might not know they could be sick and highly contagious, because they aren’t symptomatic (yet).
* Those people then get tested.
* If they find out that they are sick, they can isolate themselves until they are well, instead of continuing to unknowingly spread the disease.


Not sure what is bad about any of that.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago

Will never work. People will will toggle that they are infected (for a laugh or maliciously) and set off a ripple effect. You just KNOW that will happen.
Nope. Can't happen. As an aside, that's quite a projection on your part!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Awesome Avatar
81 months ago
Nice that they clarified how it works in the Settings app itself. There’s a lot of misinformation regarding Exposure Notifications.
(A lot of people haven’t read the specification but insist they know everything about it.)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago
Well some of you got your wish, this only works if you have an app installed, worried that really cripples the functionality. You have to opt in before you ever know you're sick. And judging from the responses I've seen here, I worry a large portion of the population is never going to do that.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)