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Australians are divided on their reaction to the government's coronavirus tracking app in the first day after it was launched.

COVIDSafe went live at 6pm on Sunday and was downloaded two million times in its first 36 hours, holding a 4.6 out of five Android app rating.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 40 per cent of the population needed to install the app for it to be effective.

COVIDSafe went live at 6pm on Sunday and was downloaded two million times in its first 36 hours, holding a 4.6 out of five Android app rating 

Reaction to the app was hampered in the hours after its release by technical problems that prevented many people from signing up.

'My phone number has been deemed invalid so I can't sign up,' was a regular theme in a deluge of one-star reviews on Sunday night.

Many of the users had simply installed the app too early and needed wait until after 6pm before the registration would work.

Reviews improved when more people were able to get the app working, with the rating jumping from 3.7 to 4.6 out of five.

However, many people were on Monday still saying the app thought their number was invalid and wouldn't let them register.

The government began a full-throated charm offensive, spruiking it as a prerequisite to swiftly end strict lockdown measures.

Dozens of MPs on all sides of politics took to social media to show they had installed COVIDSafe and implored their followers to do the same.

Protesters in Perth this weekend demand the lockdowns end but that may be tied to everyone signing up to the app

Many people were on Monday still saying the app thought their number was invalid and wouldn't let them register 

Reviews improved when more people were able to get the app working, with the rating jumping from 3.7 to 4.6 out of five

Social media was soon filled with everyday Australians showing off screenshots proving they had signed up, or posting positive reviews in app pages

Celebrities eager to look like team players made similar pleas to their millions of fans and media figures used their platforms to urge compliance.

Even ACTU secretary Sally McManus wrote: 'I downloaded the COVIDSafe app because I just assume they track everything I do anyway and at least this might save lives.' 

Social media was soon filled with everyday Australians showing off screenshots proving they had signed up, or posting positive reviews in app pages.  

'Very happy to download this app. If needed by medical personnel, the information gathered will help to assist with contacting people that may have come into contact with a coronavirus carrier, and that can only be a good thing,' one wrote.

'The naysayers and scaremongers need to grow up and download this app to help out their fellow Australians during this pandemic.'

However, not everyone was convinced - primary because they didn't want the government potentially having access to any of their data.

Even ACTU secretary Sally McManus was on board with the app and promoting its use

This image was soon plastered all over social media by politicians, celebrities, and everyday Australians advertising that they had signed up

Billionaire chief executive of software firm Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brooks, urged fellow IT gurus to be positive about the app

Mr Morrison, health chiefs, and others have promised no one can access any data unless the user tests positive to coronavirus.

It is then only accessible to health authorities who will contact all the app users who were a close contact to have them tested.

Otherwise, the data is stored securely on the user's phone and deleted after three weeks never to be seen again. 

The Australian Council for Civil Liberties, unusually for it, favours the app, provided police are barred from accessing the data, as the government has promised. 

'Manual contact tracing is far too slow and far too resource intensive,' its president Terry O'Gorman told Daily Mail Australia.

'It does have the potential to aid significantly in controlling this pandemic - we support it but only with significant privacy protections.' 

Law enforcement and all non-health government agencies will be legally banned from accessing it, but legislation to enforce this won't be in effect until after parliament sits again on May 12.

But many Australians simply don't trust the government to be honest with how it will use any data collected, or competent enough to prevent it being hacked.

Much was said about its record on data breaches, privacy, and abuses of power since it came to office under Tony Abbott in 2013.

'Regardless of if the COVIDSafe app is technically secure, the Australian government has botched public trust in data sharing so badly over the past decade that the uptake of the app is likely to be low,' Cryptoparty founder Asher Wolf wrote.

Others were sceptical of the main drawcard for the app - that it will actually help end lockdowns sooner so people can get back to normal life.

Mr Morrison pledged the app was voluntary, but some people were concerned he would go back on this, or would hold the country to ransom if the 40 per cent target was not achieved. 

'It won't be so much a threat as pure emotional blackmail or a trade off for our lives back,' one wrote.

The tech community, who within minutes of the app launching were analysing its code, is also divided over whether it is safe to use.

But many Australians simply don't trust the government to be honest with how it will use any data collected, or competent enough to prevent it being hacked

Others were sceptical of the main drawcard for the app - that it will actually help end lockdowns sooner so people can get back to normal life

Australians who sign on to the app receive a screen message promising their privacy will be protected. Pictured is a sign-in message

Billionaire chief executive of software firm Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brooks, urged fellow IT gurus to be positive about the app. 

'When asked by non technical people 'Should I install this app? Is my data / privacy safe? Is it true it doesn't track my location?' - say 'Yes' and help them understand,' he said on a developer forum.

'Fight the misinformation. Remind them how little time they think before they download dozens of free, adware crap games that are likely far worse for their data & privacy than this ever would be!'

Mr Cannon-Brooks said the tech community should help the government find and remove bugs and vulnerabilities from the app, not tear it down.

Others created a collaborative Google doc to pool resources and analyse the various technical aspects of the app.

But other IT experts had reservations like Jim Mussared who posted a technical review of the app on Facebook.

Another found several security and privacy holes and warned against downloading the app.

'Vulnerabilities discovered so far: High risk to man in the middle attacks. File references are only deleted, not the file itself,' they wrote.

'Potential that if you delete the app, it will remain on your phone. Likely can be backdoor-ed by the government.'

They also wrote that the app was too easy to clone and create one that looked similar enough to scam people into downloading it and stealing their data. 

Some technology experts said they could not support downloading the app until they looked at the source code, which the government has promised to release. 

The app uses Bluetooth technology to track users who come in close contact with people who have tested positive to coronavirus.

Some people who tried to download the app reported there were issues getting confirmation emails, in having their phone numbers recognised, and that the app ceased sending a Bluetooth signal when the phone went into low power mode. 

Many Australians were horrified and confused when they were confronted with a screen telling them they had tested positive to coronavirus

The button is below text reading 'has a health worker asked you to upload your information?' and is the most obvious call to action on the front page of the app

Some Australians were also alarmed and confused by a message telling them that they had contracted coronavirus, despite not being tested. 

'You have tested positive for COVID-19,' the message read.

'Unless you consent, your contact information will not be uploaded.

'If you consent, your contact information will be uploaded and shared with State or Territory health officials for contact tracing purposes.'

The message flashes up if the user hits the button which ways 'Upload my Information' on the home screen of the app.

However that button is below text which reads 'Has a health worker asked you to upload your information?' and should only be pressed if the user has actually been diagnosed with coronavirus.

A spokesman for Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said the message was not a flaw, and the app was working as intended.

'You don't upload if you haven't tested positive, that's the whole point of the app,' they told Daily Mail Australia.

'You're only supposed to push that button if you've been asked to by a health official if you've tested positive.'

However, users said they were concerned at receiving the alarming message after having mistakenly pressed the 'Upload my Information' button. 

'There was a split second of panic before I realised I hadn't even been tested and couldn't be sick,' one alarmed user said.

Another shocked user said that feature of the app could have been designed better.

'Nowhere does it say 'click if you've been diagnosed with coronavirus' or 'have you tested positive for COVID-19?',' they said.

'Even a first-year computer science student could have worked that out.' 

CovidSafe went live at 6pm on Sunday and has been downloaded 500,000 times as Australians hope to further flatten the infection curve

Once a user agrees to share their information they are required to input a code given to them by the health official to continue the process.

A survey by Newspoll indicated the government was likely to get the requisite 40 percent of the population downloading the app.

The survey showed 54 per cent of respondents intended to sign up against 39 per cent who vowed they would not, chiefly on privacy grounds.

'Australians will rise to the challenge because they have risen to the challenge of distancing, they have risen to the challenged of testing,' chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said.

If the 54 per cent download rate is borne out in coming days, it would give the Australian app a far higher acceptance than similar apps used overseas, where numbers had not risen above a quarter of the population.

Part of that acceptance could stem from government assurance about privacy provisions, with collected data only able to be accessed by health professionals and will not be made available to police or intelligence services.