Contextual Requirements for Mobile Native Applications

Objectives: This research study provides an analysis model which is used to analyze the requirements of mobile native apps contextually under any domain. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Based on the background study, the research process have taken three research approaches and also have identified various activities which are performed among a native mobile app user and mobile native apps and formed them into questionnaires which are sent to different mobile native app developers of different software industries. This research process has determined the requirements based on four contexts in mobile domain such as device context, mobility contexts, user context and social contexts. Findings: These activities are mapped into attributes and contexts for modeling the requirements under mobile domain and for developing the sub models of the analysis model. Finally the analysis model is built and composed of four sub models. These sub models are content analysis model, interaction analysis model, functional analysis model and configuration analysis model. Application/Improvements: This research study provides the analysis model where the requirements are analyzed in a mobile native app under any domain such as agriculture, learning or healthcare applications. This analysis model is significant as it determines the contexts and models the contexts which are not specified in any frameworks or process models. Keywords: Configuration Analysis, Content Analysis, Functional Analysis, Interaction Analysis

With over a billion mobile devices in use worldwide and nearly half a billion mobile applications on offer, software developers must make choices between developing one or more versions of native, hybrid or mobile web applications. This paper compares development approaches across these three options and compiles a set of criteria on platforms and devices that can be used in critical development decisions. Key issues for each application development approach are discussed, and a comparative analysis highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Keywords: App, mobile application, native mobile app, hybrid mobile app, web mobile app, mobile application development

BackgroundGiven the effective role of a mobile applications in disease management, disease monitoring, and self-care in patients with COVID-19 disease, we aimed to design, development and evaluation of a self-care Mobile app for COVID-19 patients not requiring hospitalization.MethodsThe design, development and evaluation the usability of the self-care and education mobile app for patients with COVID-19 disease were conducted in two main phases at 2021 in Northwest of IRAN; (1) Determine the features and capabilities and (2) Design, development and evaluation of self-care mobile App. JAVA programming languages and Android Operating System were used and selected to design and development of a mobile app. There were 25 participants who conducted evaluations of the mobile app’s usability and impact using the mobile health app usability a Questionnaire of User Interface Satisfaction was administered to assess the usability of the developed application. The results were analyzed via Excel 2013.ResultsThe model of developing a mobile app as an Information System was the Waterfall model. The smartphone application based on a set of capabilities and features was designed and consists of two main parts: the login screen for user registration, and the main home menu. The user interface includes three main pages or activities; (a) Main Menu for quick access to all of the pages, (b) Symptom management and monitoring to monitor the signs and symptoms during the illness, and (c) Set Reminders and Alarms to notify patients. The users’ mean score of the application usability was calculated as 7.91 out of 9 indicating a good level of satisfaction.ConclusionThis app can be a guideline and a useful tools for managing and monitoring symptoms, reminding medications, and implementing self-care instructions in outpatients. The authors suggest evaluating the efficacy and functionality test of mobile-based applications for COVID-19 in clinical trial studies.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder. People living with MS (plwMS) require long-term, multidisciplinary care in both clinical and community settings. MS-specific mHealth interventions have advanced in the form of clinical treatments, rehabilitation, disease monitoring and self-management of disease. However, mHealth interventions for plwMS appear to have limited proof of clinical efficacy. As native mobile apps target specific mobile operating systems, they tend to have better interactive designs leveraging platform-specific guidelines. Thus, to improve such efficacy, it is pivotal to explore the design characteristics of native mobile apps used for plwMS. This study aimed to explore the design characteristics of native mobile apps used for adults living with MS in academic settings. A scoping review of studies was conducted. A literature search was performed through PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library. Per native mobile apps, characteristics, persuasive technology elements and evaluations were summarized. A total of 14 native mobile apps were identified and 43% of the identified apps were used for data collection (n=6). Approximately 70% of the included apps involved users (plwMS) whilst developing (n=10). A total of three apps utilized embedded sensors. Videos or photos were used for physical activity interventions (n=2) and gamification principles were applied for cognitive and/or motor rehabilitation interventions (n=3). Behavior change theories were integrated into the design of the apps for fatigue management and physical activity. Regarding persuasive technology, the design principles of primary support were applied across all identified apps. The elements of dialogue support and social support were the least applied. The methods for evaluating the identified apps were varied. The findings suggest that the identified apps were in the early stages of development and had a user-centered design. By applying the persuasive systems design model, interaction design qualities and features of the identified mobile apps in academic settings were systematically evaluated at a deeper level. Identifying the digital functionality and interface design of mobile apps for plwMS will help researchers to better understand interactive design and how to incorporate these concepts in mHealth interventions for improvement of clinical efficacy.

PurposeMobile devices (smartphones, tables etc.) have become the de facto means of accessing the internet. While traditional Web browsing is still quite popular, significant interaction takes place via native mobile apps that can be downloaded either freely or at a cost. This has opened the door to a number of issues related to privacy protection since the smartphone stores and processes personal data. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of access to personal data, required by the most popular mobile apps available in Google Play store. In addition, it is examined whether the relevant procedure is in accordance with the provisions of the new EU Regulation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines more than a thousand mobile apps, available from the Google Play store, with respect to the extent of the requests for access to personal data. In particular, for each available category in Google Play store, the most popular mobile apps have been examined both for free and paid apps. In addition, the permissions required by free and paid mobile apps are compared. Furthermore, a correlation analysis is carried out aiming to reveal any correlation between the extent of required access to personal data and the popularity and the rating of each mobile app.FindingsThe findings of this paper suggest that the majority of examined mobile apps require access to personal data to a high extent. In addition, it is found that free mobile apps request access to personal data in a higher extent compared to the relevant requests by paid apps, which indicates strongly that the business model of free mobile apps is based on personal data exploitation. The most popular types of access permissions are revealed for both free and paid apps. In addition, important questions are raised in relation to user awareness and behavior, data minimization and purpose limitation for free and paid mobile apps.Originality/valueIn this study, the process and the extent of access to personal data through mobile apps are analyzed. Although several studies analyzed relevant issues in the past, the originality of this research is mainly based on the following facts: first, this work took into account the recent Regulation of the EU in relation to personal data (GDPR); second, the authors analyzed a high number of the most popular mobile apps (more than a thousand); and third, the authors compare and analyze the different approaches followed between free and paid mobile apps.

Mobile Applications Development with Android: Technologies and Algorithms presents advanced techniques for mobile app development, and addresses recent developments in mobile technologies and wireless networks. The book covers advanced algorithms, embedded systems, novel mobile app architecture, and mobile cloud computing paradigms. Divided into three sections, the book explores three major dimensions in the current mobile app development domain. The first section describes mobile app design and development skills, including a quick start on using Java to run an Android application on a real phone. It also introduces 2D graphics and UI design, as well as multimedia in Android mobile apps. The second part of the book delves into advanced mobile app optimization, including an overview of mobile embedded systems and architecture. Data storage in Android, mobile optimization by dynamic programming, and mobile optimization by loop scheduling are also covered. The last section of the book looks at emerging technologies, including mobile cloud computing, advanced techniques using Big Data, and mobile Big Data storage. About the Authors Meikang Qiu is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Pace University, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He is an IEEE/ACM Senior Member, as well as Chair of the IEEE STC (Special Technical Community) on Smart Computing. He is an Associate Editor of a dozen of journals including IEEE Transactions on Computers and IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing. He has published 320+ peer-reviewed journal/conference papers and won 10+ Best Paper Awards. Wenyun Dai is pursuing his PhD at Pace University. His research interests include high performance computing, mobile data privacy, resource management optimization, cloud computing, and mobile networking. His paper about mobile app privacy has been published in IEEE Transactions on Computers. Keke Gai is pursuing his PhD at Pace University. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal or conference papers, and has received three IEEE Best Paper Awards. His research interests include cloud computing, cyber security, combinatorial optimization, business process modeling, enterprise architecture, and Internet computing. .

The implementation of system development methodologies (SDMs) in mobile applications (mobile apps) development has a positive effect on companies and their respective software projects. SDMs provide a framework for planning, executing, and managing the process of developing software systems. In this paper, we investigate the worthiness of using of SDMs in the development of mobile applications. A survey was conducted among software developers in various organizations. The organizations included software development companies, financial institutions, telecommunication companies, engineering companies and educational institutions. A total of 152 out of 392 questionnaires distributed, were returned, giving a response rate of 38.8%. Furthermore, the responses were categorized into two groups (users/non-users of SDMs) and T-test analysis was performed to determine the differences between the means of the two groups. The findings indicate that SDMs are effectively used in developing mobile apps and there are significant practical differences between the users and non-users of SDMs in mobile apps development in areas of organizational size, the number of developers in the organization, years of experience, the number of applications developed and application success. The users (companies and individuals) are larger, more experienced and more productive. Furthermore, the use of SDMs in mobile apps development leads to more successful mobile apps. We conclude that SDMs are indeed worthy of use in mobile apps development.

We can notice that security problems of inappropriate integration of native and web technologies in hybrid mobile applications (apps) have been covered in the related state-of-the-art research. However, analyzing hybrid mobile apps' unique behaviors has been seldom addressed. In this paper, we explore the influence of native and web technologies integration in hybrid mobile apps on the generated profile of mobile applications. Specifically, we analyze the type of Security Sensitive APIs (SS-APIs) exposed to web content and identify the corresponding usage patterns by systematically tracking function-call-graphs of a large number of hybrid and native mobile apps. Our investigations indicate that the generated profiles for hybrid and native mobile apps are considerably different. Using our proposed tool, called Hybrid-scanner, for tracking and analyzing internal behaviors of hybrid mobile apps, we show that there is more trace of API calling for triggering a specific SS-API in a hybrid mobile app in comparison with Android native mobile apps. In addition, we have found that almost 40% of SS-APIs in hybrid mobile apps are invoked by third-party libraries, e.g. advertisement libraries. This knowledge, however, is crucial for designing appropriate malware detection or vulnerability mitigation strategies. Based on our results, we discuss two main approaches in Android malware analysis field and enumerate some suggestions which should be considered in order to successfully detect malicious behaviors in such new type of apps.

BackgroundA personal health record (PHR) system encourages patients to engage with their own health care by giving them the ability to manage and keep track of their own health data. Of the numerous PHR systems available in the market, many are Web-based patient portals and a few are mobile apps. They have mainly been created by hospitals and electronic health record (EHR) vendors. One major limitation of these hospital-created PHR systems is that patients can only view specific health data extracted from their EHR. Patients do not have the freedom to add important personal health data they collect in their daily lives into their PHR. Therefore, there is an information gap between clinical visits.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a new mobile PHR app that can be easily used to manage various types of personal health data to fill the information gap.MethodsA user-centered approach was used to guide the development and evaluation of the new mobile PHR app. There were three steps in this study: needs assessment, app design and development, and conducting a usability study. First, a large-scale questionnaire study was conducted with the general population to gain an understanding of their needs and expectations with regard to a mobile PHR app. A mobile PHR app for personal medical data tracking and management was then created based on the results of the questionnaire study. End users were actively involved in all stages of the app development. Finally, a usability study was performed with participants to evaluate the usability of the mobile PHR app, which involved asking participants to finish a set of tasks and to respond to a usability questionnaire.ResultsIn the questionnaire study for needs assessment, there were 609 participants in total. The answers from these participants revealed that they wanted to manage various types of personal health data in a mobile PHR app. Participants also reported some features they desired to have in the app. On the basis of the needs assessment findings, a new mobile PHR app (PittPHR) was created with 6 major modules: health records, history, trackers, contacts, appointments, and resources. This app allows users to customize the trackers according to their needs. In the usability study, there were 15 participants. The usability study participants expressed satisfaction with the app and provided comments and suggestions for further development.ConclusionsThis new mobile PHR app provides options for users to manage a wide range of personal health data conveniently in one place. The app fills the information gap between clinical visits. The study results indicated that this new mobile PHR app meets the need of users and that users welcome this app.

BackgroundMobile phones and tablets currently represent a significant presence in people’s everyday lives. They enable access to different information and services independent of current place and time. Such widespread connectivity offers significant potential in different app areas including health care.ObjectiveOur goal was to evaluate the usability of the Connect Mobile app. The mobile app enables mobile access to the Connect system, an online system that supports cancer patients in managing health-related issues. Along with symptom management, the system promotes better patient-provider communication, collaboration, and shared decision making. The Connect Mobile app enables access to the Connect system over both mobile phones and tablets.MethodsThe study consisted of usability tests of a high fidelity prototype with 7 cancer patients where the objectives were to identify existing design and functionality issues and to provide patients with a real look-and-feel of the mobile system. In addition, we conducted semistructured interviews to obtain participants’ feedback about app usefulness, identify the need for new system features and design requirements, and measure the acceptance of the mobile app and its features within everyday health management.ResultsThe study revealed a total of 27 design issues (13 for mobile apps and 14 for tablet apps), which were mapped to source events (ie, errors, requests for help, participants' concurrent feedback, and moderator observation). We also applied usability heuristics to identify violations of usability principles. The majority of violations were related to enabling ease of input, screen readability, and glanceability (15 issues), as well as supporting an appropriate match between systems and the real world (7 issues) and consistent mapping of system functions and interactions (4 issues). Feedback from participants also showed the cancer patients’ requirements for support systems and how these needs are influenced by different context-related factors, such as type of access terminal (eg, desktop computer, tablet, mobile phone) and phases of illness. Based on the observed results, we proposed design and functionality recommendations that can be used for the development of mobile apps for cancer patients to support their health management process.ConclusionsUnderstanding and addressing users’ requirements is one of the main prerequisites for developing useful and effective technology-based health interventions. The results of this study outline different user requirements related to the design of the mobile patient support app for cancer patients. The results will be used in the iterative development of the Connect Mobile app and can also inform other developers and researchers in development, integration, and evaluation of mobile health apps and services that support cancer patients in managing their health-related issues.

The increasing demand for mobile apps is out the current capability of mobile app developers. In addition, the growing trend in smartphone ownership and the time people spend on mobile apps has raised several opportunities and risks for users and developers. The average time everyday a user spend on smartphones to use mobile apps is more than two hours. The worldwide mobile app revenue increase is estimated to grow 33%, $19 billion. Three quarter of the time used on mobile apps is solely for using game and social networking apps. To provide more customized services and function to users, mobile apps need to access to personal information. However, 80% of mobile apps put people's information privacy at risk. There is a major gap in the literature about the privacy concerns of mobile device users in the context of mobile apps. This dissertation addresses one fundamental research question: how does individuals' privacy change in the context of mobile apps? More precisely, the focus of this dissertation is on information privacy role in individuals' and mobile app developers' protective behaviors. We investigate the information sensitivity level influence on mobile app developers' emphasis on privacy across mobile app categories. The results show information sensitivity level has a significant impact on developers' emphasis on secondary usage of information. Moreover, we analyze the privacy trade-off dynamism in using a new social networking app and how it could result in emotional attachment. Results show initial use and initial disclosure influence the privacy trade-off from pre-use to initial-use period. Finally, the effect of privacy concern and engagement on emotional attachment is demonstrated. This dissertation addresses one fundamental research question: how does individuals' privacy change in the context of mobile apps? More precisely, the focus of this dissertation is on information privacy role in individuals' and mobile app developers' protective behaviors. We investigate the information sensitivity level influence on mobile app developers' emphasis on privacy across mobile app categories. The results show information sensitivity level has a significant impact on developers' emphasis on secondary usage of information. Moreover, we analyze the privacy trade-off dynamism in using a new social networking app and how it could result in emotional attachment. Results show initial use and initial disclosure influence the privacy trade-off from pre-use to initial-use period. Finally, the effect of privacy concern and engagement on emotional attachment is demonstrated.

Service providers usually maintain multiple kinds of service clients, such as desktop Web pages, mobile Web pages, and mobile native apps, to satisfy different user requirements. Understanding how users consume services via these heterogeneous clients is important for service providers to efficiently manage back-end resources. However, little has been known about such facts. To bridge the knowledge gap, in this paper, we conduct the first empirical study on service access patterns via heterogeneous clients. Our study is based on two large-scale real-world datasets of launching events from both app and Web clients of 986 services, involving a sample of 60 million users within 7 days. We analyze the characteristics of service access patterns from both spatial view and temporal view. We explore how users consume online services through different service clients, and to what extent their usage behavior patterns vary when consuming the same service. Our findings provide better understandings for heterogeneous service clients that can facilitate the development, configuration, deployment and maintenance of service back-end.

Mobile medical apps (MMAs) work in close loop with human physiology through sensing and control. As such it is essential for them to achieve intended functionality, without having harmful effects on human physiology, affecting the availability of the service and compromising the privacy of health data. However for a mobile app manufacturer, generating evidences regarding safety, sustainability and security (S3) of MMAs can be time consuming. To accelerate the development of S3 assured MMAs, we propose Health-Dev β tool that takes high level description of MMAs and automatically generates validated code and evidences of safety, security, and sustainability. Using the mobile artificial pancreas medical control application we show that Health-Dev s tool can generate code that satisfies requirements and reduce development time by a factor of 1.8.

This research is about the development, testing and application of mobile app for optimum location spot of a single facility. The approach is to use Center of Gravity Method to locate the central locations of the facility. This equality would reflect balance and minimum time and cost. The main variables to be considered in the systems are customer's distance, customer's demands and transportation rates. In general, firms which apply technologies will perform significantly better than those that do not. This leads to the development of a mobile app to identify best location for a single facility which will serve several demand centers. After the development of a mobile app, this undergoes testing which includes verification whether the mobile app will provide the same result in theoretical computations. The study confirms that the mobile app is consistent with the theoretical computations for location planning. This mobile app becomes a decision support system suggesting that they can access this mobile app to improve the firm's performance on decision making. A faster and effective decision making since instead of manual computation which will take time, the computation will be in a few seconds plus you could visualize the geographic areas being investigated. Moreover, the mobile app is practical to implement because it is flexible and easy to use. The data needed is easy to gather. The mobile app can generate up to 100 iterations to ensure that global maxima is obtained.

Most existing research on usage behaviour of mobile book-reading applications (apps) has focused on exploring users’ initial acceptance; there has been a lack of understanding of the factors that affect user loyalty towards mobile book-reading apps that would reveal Chinese undergraduates’ behaviour patterns in using mobile apps. This study was designed to fill this gap by investigating Chinese undergraduates’ continuance intentions towards mobile book-reading apps. The study employed the expectation-confirmation model and technology acceptance model in conjunction with the perception of experiential value to derive an integrated model, followed by an empirical study to validate the model and better understand usage intention of the users of mobile book-reading apps. Survey data were collected from 390 Chinese undergraduates who had previous experience with mobile book-reading apps. The research model was examined using the SmartPLS 2.0 software. Structural equation modelling was used for hypotheses testing and path analysis was used to present the analytical results. The results of this study suggest that perceived usefulness and satisfaction directly influence continuance intention. User satisfaction plays a crucial intervening role in continuance intention from perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and confirmation of users’ expectations. User satisfaction is significantly influenced by expectation confirmation and perceived usefulness, as well as the perceived experiential values. The integrated model in this study successfully establishes the key factors that contribute to continuance intention towards mobile book-reading apps; the model offers a lens for understanding Chinese undergraduates’ apps use behaviour that has practical applications for developing better and more sustainable mobile book-reading apps among this user group.