Yeah, but they ran into the most basic and expected issues and that's where it gets embarrassing. Lets take the App as an example

The App has the following requirements in order to work

- You need the App installed (iOS/Android only, not feature phones)

- You need an active internet connection (given the bad mobile coverage, that's not a given)

- You need to have your location services on if you're traveling

Using cell broadcasts, which were designed for such an exact scenario, reduces the requirements to

- Have a phone that supports cell broadcasts

Don't get me wrong, the NINA app is fine when it comes to more local alarms such as fire hazards or other accidents, but its really not suitable for a nationwide alarm.

Yes, this is disappointing. Take the Nokia 8114 4G feature-phone [1] for example: it does even have "Wireless Emergency Alert" (WEA) [2] configuration in its connectivity configuration screen. However Germany does not implement a WEA compliant notification scheme, and there is no way to install any of the warning apps on the Nokia 8114.

And then you forgot another requirement for the App to work

- the server that serves those messages needs to actually work (it failed during the test AFAIK)

"Embarrassing" is really the only word that adequately describes the current state of affairs.

[1] https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-8110-4g

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Emergency_Alerts