Smartphone sensing.

BackgroundIn the app stores of mobile platforms, consumers are confronted with an enormous number of mobile apps. Over the past few years, considerable research has been undertaken into to identifying, characterizing, and evaluating apps, be it in health-related or other contexts. However, many of these projects are restricted to specific areas of application and offer little flexibility in adapting the applied criteria.ObjectiveThis paper presents an adaptable method for selecting and characterizing mobile apps listed in a mobile App Store (the Apple App Store). The method is based on filtering processes using predefined criteria, through a semiautomated retrospective App Store analysis (SARASA).MethodsTo illustrate the SARASA process, keyword-based filtering and metadata-based description, review, and ranking steps were applied to a dataset, more specifically, an April 2018 readout of the Medical category of the German App Store, with the aim of obtaining a list of cardiology-related apps.ResultsFrom the original list of 39,427 apps within the “Medical” category of the App Store on April 14, 2018, 34,382 apps with store descriptions in languages other than German were removed. For the remaining 5045 apps, keywords related to cardiology were applied to filter the output, obtaining a final total of 335 subject-specific apps for further analysis and description.ConclusionsSARASA provides an easy to use method for applying filtering processes to identify apps matching predefined, formal criteria from app stores. The criteria can be well adapted to the needs of users. Automatic and manual analyses are easily combined when using SARASA. In the future, additional features, such as algorithmic topic analyses, may supplement the process. Although the area of application is currently limited to Apple’s App Store, expansion to other stores is planned. The method stands or falls with the transparency of the app store providers and the manufacturers to make relevant meta-information available. It is up to them to liberalize information and restrict censorship to provide clients, customers, and users truly fair circumstances finding their way around the app market.

Parents learning about their children with medical complexity often use numerous health-related resources, including mobile health applications (mHealth apps). mHealth apps could provide broad access to key information and support, lower healthcare costs, and improve care. The quality of mHealth apps for this population has been a concern, but is currently unknown. The objective of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate the quality of publicly available mHealth apps designed for parents who are preparing or caring for medically complex infants. A systematic search strategy was applied to identify mHealth apps in the Apple and Google Play app stores in November 2022 and replicated in August 2024. Apps with no cost, in English, designed for parents of infants with perinatal medical complexity requiring hospitalization were included. Apps for healthy pregnancies, children >1 year, non-parental caregivers or healthcare professionals, primarily for tracking/monitoring, or unrelated activities/products were excluded. Independent raters used the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) subscales of Engagement, Functionality, Aesthetics, and Information to evaluate quality for each app. Mean ratings were calculated by subscale and for overall app quality. From 1,917 identified apps, 32 apps were downloaded and fully screened. The final sample of 15 unique apps were available on the Apple App Store, with six also available on the Google Play Store. Most apps focused on prematurity (n=6), followed by the neonatal intensive care experience (n=4), congenital heart disease (n=4), and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (n=1). MARS ratings of the overall sample (mean =3.61, median =3.58; range, 2.65-4.68) indicated 20% (3/15) were of good quality and 67% (10/15) were of acceptable quality. Apps showed strengths in Functionality and Information and performed worst in Engagement. The poorest quality found in Engagement suggests that most of these apps do not effectively target users' interests or needs. Notably, many suffered from a lack of recent updates or became unavailable. This decline appears to parallel the increasing integration of digital health technologies within healthcare systems, which could prompt testing of mHealth apps on health outcomes. High-quality mHealth apps that are valued by parents and offer evidence-based information and support are needed to extend care.

BackgroundSmartphone mobile health (mHealth) apps have the potential to enhance access to health care services and address health care disparities, especially in low-resource settings. However, when developed without attention to equity and inclusivity, mHealth apps can also exacerbate health disparities. Understanding and creating solutions for the disparities caused by mHealth apps is crucial for achieving health equity. There is a noticeable gap in research that comprehensively assesses the entire spectrum of existing health apps and extensively explores apps for specific health priorities from a health care and public health perspective. In this context, with its vast and diverse population, India presents a unique context for studying the landscape of mHealth apps.ObjectiveThis study aimed to create a comprehensive dataset of mHealth apps available in India with an initial focus on heart disease (HD)–related apps.MethodsWe collected individual app data from apps in the “medical” and “health and fitness” categories from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in December 2022 and July 2023, respectively. Using natural language processing techniques, we selected HD apps, performed statistical analysis, and applied latent Dirichlet allocation for clustering and topic modeling to categorize the resulting HD apps.ResultsWe collected 118,555 health apps from the Apple App Store and 108,945 health apps from the Google Play Store. Within these datasets, we found that approximately 1.7% (1990/118,555) of apps on the Apple App Store and 0.5% (548/108,945) on the Google Play Store included support for Indian languages. Using monograms and bigrams related to HD, we identified 1681 HD apps from the Apple App Store and 588 HD apps from the Google Play Store. HD apps make up only a small fraction of the total number of health apps available in India. About 90% (1496/1681 on Apple App Store and 548/588 on Google Play Store) of the HD apps were free of cost. However, more than 70% (1329/1681, 79.1% on Apple App Store and 423/588, 71.9% on Google Play Store) of HD apps had no reviews and rating-scores, indicating low overall use.ConclusionsOur study proposed a robust method for collecting and analyzing metadata from a wide array of mHealth apps available in India through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. We revealed the limited representation of India’s linguistic diversity within the health and medical app landscape, evident from the negligible presence of Indian-language apps. We observed a scarcity of mHealth apps dedicated to HD, along with a lower level of user engagement, as indicated by reviews and app ratings. While most HD apps are financially accessible, uptake remains a challenge. Further research should focus on app quality assessment and factors influencing user adoption.

Mobile application (app) stores have lowered the barriers to app market entry, leading to an accelerated and unprecedented pace of mobile software production. To survive in such a highly competitive and vibrant market, release engineering decisions should be driven by a systematic analysis of the complex interplay between the user, system, and market components of the mobile app ecosystem. To demonstrate the feasibility and value of such analysis, in this paper, we present a case study on the rise and fall of Yik Yak, one of the most popular social networking apps at its peak. In particular, we identify and analyze the design decisions that led to the downfall of Yik Yak and track rival apps' attempts to take advantage of this failure. We further perform a systematic in-depth analysis to identify the main user concerns in the domain of anonymous social networking apps and model their relations to the core features of the domain. Such a model can be utilized by app developers to devise sustainable release engineering strategies that can address urgent user concerns and maintain market viability.

This paper studies the availability of apps and app stores across countries. Our research finds that users in specific countries do not have access to popular app stores due to local laws, financial reasons, or because countries are on a sanctions list that prohibit foreign businesses to operate within its jurisdiction. Furthermore, this paper presents a novel methodology for querying the public search engines and APIs of major app stores (Google Play Store, Apple App Store, Tencent MyApp Store) that is cross-verified by network measurements. This allows us to investigate which apps are available in which country. We primarily focused on the availability of VPN apps in Russia and China. Our results show that despite both countries having restrictive VPN laws, there are still many VPN apps available in Russia and only a handful in China. In addition, we have included findings of a global search for the availability of privacy-enhancing and other apps that are known to be censored. Finally, we observe that it is difficult to find out which apps have been removed or are unavailable on the examined app stores. As a consequence, we urge all app store providers to introduce app store transparency reports, which would include when apps were removed and for what reasons.

Study question Does mobile applications (apps) developed for infertile couples have a holistic and utility characteristic? Summary answer Many mobil apps developed in the field of fertility have limited features and very few relevant, understandable, and holistic apps were present for infertile individuals. What is known already In an increasingly technological world, mobile apps offer promising alternatives to support couples’ fertility treatment. Infertile couples can use these apps with aim to manage lifestyle, learn about fertility, follow clinical appointments, receive psychological support, or to seek peer support. For increasing efficiency of this applications, holistic approach should be considered. Human is a whole with biological, physiological, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions and in fertility treatment process all dimensions are highly crucial. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility and holistic perspectives of apps developed for infertile couples by using “APPLICATIONS” mobile app scoring system. Study design, size, duration The study was a systematic evaluation of apps related to fertility and it was conducted via mobile applications platform. To determine relevant apps search was conducted on Google Play and Apple App Store by using “infertility”, “fertility”, “in vitro fertilization”, “IVF”, “sterility” and “fecundity” key words.The search was conducted twice in 1-year intervals, in February 2021 and March 2022. In total from 1917 reached apps; 1841 apps were excluded, and 76 eligible app were evaluated. Participants/materials, setting, methods Mobile apps were independently evaluated by two authors via using APPLICATIONS scoring system. The APPLICATIONS scoring system consists objective criteria such as comprehensiveness (holistic approach), fee, subscription, use of evidence-based information, purchasing, connection, advertising, text search area, interplatform suitability, use of images/shapes or videos, and app-specific features are objective scoring criteria and subjective criteria for instance subjective presentation and ease of navigation in the app. Consequently the maximum score of APPLICATIONS scoring system is 17. Main results and the role of chance The study reached 1917 applications from the search with its keywords. Seventy-six mobile applications meeting the inclusion criteria were analyzed according to the “APPLICATIONS” scoring system. Of the 76 applications in the analysis, 18 were available only in the Apple App Store (23%), 28 were available only in the Google Play Store (36%), and 30 were available on both platforms (41%). Among analyzed app, we determined that one app received 16 points out of maximum 17 points, and two apps received 15 points each. Also, the lowest scoring app earned 4 points. According to overall composite scores, evaluable apps in our study showed scores in the middle range of possible scores with an average score of 9 out of 17, indicating insufficient quality in mobile apps. Besides that, only six apps (%7.8) meet all holistic comprehensiveness criteria and received full scores. Of 76 mobile applications, 31.5% were developed by a healthcare professional, 31.5% by a software company, and 38% by an unknown entity. In addition, 48% of the applications evaluated were specific to infertile couples, 45% were specific to infertile women, and 7% were specific to infertile men. Limitations, reasons for caution Because of the nature of the digital environment, mobile apps are in a continuously changing and rapidly developing internet environment, and currently, newly developed mobile apps were not present in the analysis. This was the limitation of our study. Wider implications of the findings Using mobile health apps can help infertile couples to improve treatment outcomes. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the widespread use of apps and correct the faulty practice recommendations that patients may encounter, and couples should be guided to the correct practices. Trial registration number not applicable

The market for Welsh language mobile applications – A developers’ perspective

Background: In the context of a recovery-oriented approach to mental healthcare, the role of psychotropic medication over extended or indefinite periods is increasingly being called into question. To minimise the risks of withdrawal symptoms and relapse, it is crucial that service users who want to discontinue psychotropic medication are supported throughout the tapering process. However, in the absence of effective interventions and supports, service users are increasingly relying on online resources for guidance and support. To date, the evidence base for mobile phone applications ('apps') and app-based interventions supporting discontinuation of psychotropic use has not been examined. This scoping review aims to examine the content, underpinning evidence base and impact of available mobile phone apps and app-based interventions to support psychotropic tapering. Methods : A scoping review will be conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance and results will be reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guideline. Several electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ACM and IEEE Xplore) will be searched from 2008 onwards. Searches of the major app stores will also be conducted, specifically Apple's App Store (iOS) and Google Play Store (Android). Following screening, key information will be extracted from the included studies and apps. Identified apps will be coded using the Behaviour Change Technique (BCT) Taxonomy. The findings will be described using narrative synthesis. Conclusions : This scoping review will provide a broad overview of available apps to support psychotropic tapering, including a summary of their content using the BCT Taxonomy. The review findings will guide future research relating to the development, implementation and evaluation of app-based interventions to support the tapering of psychotropic medication.

The Apple App Store is the only channel through which app developers may distribute their apps on iOS. First launched in 2008, the App Store has evolved into a highly profitable marketplace, with overall consumer spend exceeding $50 billion in 2019. However, concerns are being increasingly expressed on both sides of the Atlantic that various practices of Apple with regard to the App Store may breach competition law. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether this is indeed the case and, if so, how these concerns can be addressed. With these aims in mind, the paper first introduces the reader to the app ecosystem and the Apple App Store, with a focus on Apple’s in-app payment policies and the 30 percent commission charged for in-app purchases. After engaging critically with the distinction between apps selling “digital” and apps selling “physical” goods or services, we consider such distinction is unclear, artificial, and unprincipled. The paper then critically reviews several practices of Apple that appear to be at odds with competition law and in particular Article 102 TFEU. We first analyze the issue of market definition and dominance with regard to the App Store. We find that Apple is a monopolist in the market for app distribution on iOS, as it is not subject to any meaningful competitive constraint from alternative distribution channels, such as Android app stores. The result is that Apple is the gateway through which app developers have to go to reach the valuable audience of iOS users. This bottleneck position affords Apple the power to engage in several prima facie anticompetitive practices. A first concern is that Apple may exploit app developers by charging excessive fees for the services it provides and by imposing unfair trading conditions. Second, based on four case studies, the paper illustrates how Apple may use its control of the App Store or iOS to engage in exclusionary behavior to the detriment of rival apps. These practices should be investigated by competition authorities, as they are likely to result in considerable consumer harm, be it in the form of higher app prices, worse user experience or reduced consumer choice. The paper finally proposes a combination of concrete remedies that would address the competition concerns identified.

COVID-19 quarantine showed an increase in opioid-related deaths partially due to the limited capacity of clinics and treatment centers. Digital health interventions (DHIs) such as telehealth have improved access to treatment, reduced psychosocial barriers, and helped patients with substance use disorder (SUD). An in-depth literature review was conducted to gauge the efficacy and usefulness of DHIs on substance use disorder. PubMed was used with string search terms to identify studies analyzing telehealth for substance use disorders. Studies were eligible and selected if they used health interventions (HIs) and reported outcomes on the efficacy of DHIs, benefits of DHIs, and limitations of DHIs. The Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was used to analyze the impact of DHIs on SUD. Lastly, Apple's App Store was used to identify the current DHI available.The analysis indicated that mobile phone apps were the most appropriate sources to use for patients with substance use disorders. The search also found 36 mobile applications available on the market for patients, containing mainly pain medication diaries and trackers. The study did not find any apps for clinical usage that met the standards necessary for adequate healthcare in the opioid crisis, largely due to a lack of clinician involvement in using applications. Developing adequate DHIs has the potential to improve outcomes in patients with SUD and aid in recovery time.The research concluded that physicians looking to develop DHIs should take into consideration the mode of delivery of DHI, the aim to produce specific health outcomes as opposed to multiple outcomes, and clinician involvement in DHI development. DHIs can become a vital tool for medical professionals, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, as the use of healthcare technology has limited in-person contact, maintained current doctor-patient relationships, and allowed for contact tracing of the disease.

Introduction: As the number of mobile healthcare applications expand, the task of choosing the best one becomes increasingly difficult for users and clinicians. To streamline this process, we developed a novel mobile app characterization tool that allows users and clinicians to make better-informed decisions. We use cancer as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of our classification system. Methods: Mobile apps were identified by two key methods. First, we searched Apple's App Store and the Android Market for eight key terms. From these hits we included apps that were: (a) cancer-focused, (b) publicly available (c) targeted consumers (d) had a user rating of at least ⅗ and (e) focused on disease prevention, disease diagnosis or disease management. Second, each app was characterized according to 20 relevant features. Non-binomial variables (e.g. cost of the app) were recorded when appropriate. Results: Out of over 1200 mobile cancer apps evaluated, 25 met our inclusion criteria. Of these, only five focused on disease management and only one contained personalized user feedback. The highest scoring application overall, Cancer.net Mobile, only contained 14 of 20 relevant features. Also notably, nine of 25 cancer apps focused exclusively on breast cancer while only one focused on prostate cancer. Discussion: Thus, our system represents: (1) the first systematic approach to characterizing smartphone mobile apps related to chronic disease, (2) the first clinician and user reference tool to choosing the appropriate cancer app (3) the first systematic approach to identifying areas in need of app development. We aim to apply this system to other chronic diseases, generating a comprehensive guide for clinical decision making for mobile applications. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2011;4(10 Suppl):A99.

Mobile applications (apps) have exploded in popularity, with billions of smartphone users using millions of apps available through markets such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. While these apps have rich and useful functionality that is publicly exposed to end users, they also contain hidden behaviors that are not disclosed, such as backdoors and blacklists designed to block unwanted content. In this paper, we show that the input validation behavior—the way the mobile apps process and respond to data entered by users—can serve as a powerful tool for uncovering such hidden functionality. We therefore have developed a tool, InputScope, that automatically detects both the execution context of user input validation and also the content involved in the validation, to automatically expose the secrets of interest. We have tested InputScope with over 150,000 mobile apps, including popular apps from major app stores and preinstalled apps shipped with the phone, and found 12,706 mobile apps with backdoor secrets and 4,028 mobile apps containing blacklist secrets.

There has been a surge in mental health apps over the past few years. While these have great potential to address the unmet mental health needs of the population, the recent proliferation of mental health apps in the commercial marketplace has raised several concerns, such as privacy, evidence-based, and quality. Although there is mounting research on the effectiveness of mental health apps, the majority of these are not accessible to the public and most of those available have not been researched. Despite the rapid growth of the digital health market in India, there are no comprehensive reviews of publicly available mental health apps for Indian users. Hence it becomes important to review mental health apps freely available to potential end users in terms of their scope, functions, and quality. This study aims to systematically evaluate mental health apps available to Indian users in app stores. This systematic review of mental health apps will be performed following the Target user, Evaluation focus, Connectedness and Health domain approach and the PASSR (Protocol for App Store Systematic Reviews) checklist. Fifteen key search terms covering various mental health conditions and therapies will be used on the Android and iOS stores. The identified apps will be further screened and reviewed based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pool of eligible apps will be downloaded for detailed review. The following steps will be adopted to streamline the review process and interrater consistency. Six apps will be randomly selected from the downloaded apps, for joint discussion and review by a team of 4 primary reviewers and 2 mentors. Following this, a new set of 6 randomly selected apps will be rated independently by the primary reviewers and the differences in ratings will be jointly discussed for generating consensus. Subsequently, the primary reviewers will individually review the remaining apps in the list. Data will be extracted based on predecided parameters such as privacy policy, basic purpose, type of developer, nature of intervention strategies, and guided versus unguided nature. Additionally, the apps will be reviewed for quality using the Mobile Application Rating Scale. The data analysis and synthesis strategy will incorporate descriptive statistics based on quality evaluation using the Mobile Application Rating Scale and examining the content of the apps for generating descriptive information. The initial screening of mental health apps available for Indian users on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store was initiated in October 2024. We expect to complete the detailed systematic review by April 2025. This study will offer a comprehensive review of mental health apps available in digital marketplaces for Indian users and has implications for end users, policy makers, developers, and mental health professionals. International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols INPLASY2024100035; https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2024-10-0035/. DERR1-10.2196/71071.

PurposeThe objective of this paper was to review the functionalities and effectiveness of the free mobile health applications available in the Google Play and App stores used in Saudi Arabia, Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom, USA, and India during the COVID-19 outbreak.MethodsThis study adopted a systematic search strategy to identify the free mobile applications available in the App and Google Play stores related to the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the PRISMA flowchart of the search, only 12 applications met the inclusion criterion.ResultsThe 12 mobile applications that met the inclusion criterion were: Mawid, Tabaud, Tawakkalna, Sehha, Aarogya setu, TraceTogether, COVID safe, Immuni, COVID symptom study, COVID watch, NHS COVID-19, and PathCheck. The following features and functionalities of the apps were described: app overview (price, ratings, android, iOS, developer/owner, country, status), health tools (user status-risk assessment, self-assessment, E-pass integration, test results reporting, online consultation, contact tracing), learning options (personalized notes, educational resources, COVID-19 information), communication tools (query resolution, appointments, social network, notifications), app design (data visualization, program plan), networking tools (location mapping – GPS, connectivity with other devices), and safety and security options (alerts, data protection). Also, the effectiveness of the apps was analyzed.ConclusionThe analysis revealed that various applications have been developed for different functions like contact tracing, awareness building, appointment booking, online consultation, etc. However, only a few applications have integrated various functions and features such as self-assessment, consultation, support and access to information. Also, most of the apps are focused on contact tracing, while very few are dedicated to raising awareness and sharing information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the majority of applications rely on GPS and Bluetooth technologies for relevant functions. No apps were identified that had built-in social media features. It is suggested to design and develop an integrated mobile health application with most of the features and functionalities analyzed in this study.

Mobile devices and applications (apps) that act as access tools for health care management aid in the improvement of clinical decision making and patient outcomes. However, the tremendous amount of mobile health (mHealth) apps available in commercial app stores makes it hard for the lay users as well as health care professionals to choose the right one for their individual needs. The contents and features of these apps have not been systematically reviewed and compared. This study aims to assess the contents and features of mHealth apps for caring of older people. A review and comparison of mHealth apps for caring of older people available in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. Systematic review of previous relevant literature were conducted. The assessment criteria used for comparison were requirement for Internet connection, information of disease, size of app, diagnostics and assessment tools, medical calculator, dosage recommendations and indications, clinical updates, drugs interaction checker, and information on disease management. Twenty-five mHealth apps were assessed. Medscape and Skyscape Medical Library are the most comprehensive mHealth apps for general drug information, medical references, clinical score, and medical calculator. Alzheimer's Disease Pocketcard and Confusion: Delirium & Dementia: A Bedside Guide apps are recommended for clinical assessment, diagnosis, drug information, and management of geriatric patients with Alzheimer disease, delirium, and dementia. More studies about mHealth apps for caring of older people are warranted to ensure the quality and reliability of the mHealth apps.