In a press briefing, health secretary Matt Hancock, said the app "will help us deliver test, track and trace on the mass scale that we need across the country."
The app will initially be available to NHS staff and from Thursday the island’s 80,000 households will receive letters asking them to install the app.
Hancock added that it took "full consideration of privacy and security" and had already been tested in closed conditions at an RAF base.
The app uses low energy bluetooth to alert users if they are within 6ft of somebody with the virus for at least 15 minutes.
If a user become unwell with COVID-19 symptoms they inform the NHS via the app and other app users who they have had contact with, will be sent an alert and advice about what to do. It is also planned to include a test ordering function.
"I’m grateful to the huge enthusiasm showed by islanders who know that by participating in this pilot, they are at the forefront of getting Britain back on her feet. Where the Isle of Wight goes, Britain follows," Hancock said.
It was reported in HSJ, that the app had failed NHS clinical safety and cyber security tests that would allow it be included in the NHS app library. However, a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told Healthcare IT News this was "factually untrue"
'Smell test' has obvious downsides. Technology really is the key.