France has accused Apple of undermining its effort to fight the coronavirus by refusing to help make its iPhones more compatible with a planned “StopCovid” contact-tracing app, Reuters reported.

The app would use the Bluetooth feature that allows phones to interact with nearby devices to help detect when users come into contact with people who potentially carry the virus.

Apple's iPhones normally block access to Bluetooth unless the user is actively running an app. French officials want Apple to change the settings to let their app access Bluetooth in the background, so it is always on. So far, they say, Apple has refused.

“Apple could have helped us make the application work even better on the iPhone. They have not wished to do so,” France's minister for digital technology, Cedric O, told BFM Business TV.