Faced with the intensification of Russian bombardments on the main Ukrainian cities, Google announced the deployment of bombing alerts on Android. Taken in consultation with the local authorities, this measure could help people to find shelter more quickly.
Google wants to help Ukrainians get to safety faster during Russian air raids // Source: Max Kukurudziak – Unsplash
In a context of daily bombardments carried out in Ukraine by Russia, in particular on cities having a strategic dimension for Vladimir Putin’s troops, such as Kiev, Kharkiv or Mariupol, Google is making a move. At the request of the Ukrainian authorities, the American giant announced at the end of last week to deploy bombing alerts on Android smartphones in Ukraine.
This system comes in addition to the alert system already in place in the large urban areas targeted by the Russian aviation, explains Google, which also specifies that it has developed its system with the help of the Ukrainian government.
Google wants to help Ukrainian populations find shelter faster
“Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on air raid warnings to try to get to safety. At the request and with the help of the Ukrainian government, we have started to roll out a rapid alert system (…) for Android phones in Ukraine“, announces Google.
“This work complements the bombing warning systems already existing in the country, and is based on the warnings already issued by the Ukrainian government.“, continues the firm in a blog post entitled “Helping Ukraine” and updated on March 10.
The system starts rolling out today and will ramp up to target all Android phones in Ukraine over the next few days. Thankful to our eng/product/UX teams for racing to get to a soln in short order. 3/3
—Dave Burke (@davey_burke) March 10, 2022
In a Twitter post the same day, Dave Burke, VP of Engineering for Android, tells us more about the technology used to make these bombing alerts viable and useful. We learn in particular that for this device, Google takes advantage of its low latency alert mechanism, initially developed for seismic events. Android’s air raid warning system, however, is “complementary to existing alert systems [en Ukraine] and share the same triggers“Nevertheless recalls Dave Burke, too.
The person concerned explains for the rest that the deployment of this new smartphone alert system has been in progress since March 10. Currently, the device is normally available on a majority of Android mobiles in Ukraine.
To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.