Abstract
BackgroundSince the COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea has been engaged in various efforts to overcome the pandemic. One of them is to provide app-based COVID-19–related services to the public. As the pandemic continues, a need for various apps has emerged, including COVID-19 apps that can support activities aimed at overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveWe aimed to determine which apps were considered the most necessary according to users and evaluate the current status of the development of COVID-19–related apps in South Korea. We also aimed to determine users’ acceptance and concerns related to using apps to support activities to combat COVID-19.MethodsWe collected data from 1148 users from a web-based survey conducted between November 11 and December 6, 2020. Basic statistical analysis, multiple response analysis, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test were performed using R software. We then manually classified the current status of the development of COVID-19–related apps.ResultsIn total, 68.4% (785/1148) of the respondents showed high willingness to protect themselves from COVID-19 by using related apps. Users considered the epidemiological investigation app to be the most necessary app (709/1148, 61.8%) overall, followed by the self-management app for self-isolation (613/1148, 53.4%), self-route management app (605/1148, 52.7%), COVID-19 symptom management app (483/1148, 42.1%), COVID-19–related information provision app (339/1148, 29.5%), and mental health management app (270/1148, 23.5%). Despite the high intention to use these apps, users were also concerned about privacy issues and media exposure. Those who had an underlying disease and had experience using COVID-19–related apps showed significantly higher intentions to use those apps (P=.05 and P=.01, respectively).ConclusionsTargeting users is very important in order to design and develop the most necessary apps. Furthermore, to gain the public’s trust and make the apps available to as many people as possible, it is vital to develop diverse apps in which privacy protection is maximized.
Highlights
BackgroundSince the outbreak of COVID-19, countries worldwide have been engaging in various efforts to overcome the challenges associated with it
The results indicated whether there were any differences in the intention to use these four apps according to the COVID-19–related characteristics of the respondents
This study aimed to determine users’ acceptance of and concerns related to the use of these apps
Summary
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, countries worldwide have been engaging in various efforts to overcome the challenges associated with it One of these efforts include providing app-based services, such as COVID-19 contact tracing apps, to support activities aimed at combating COVID-19 [1,2,3,4]. Several COVID-19–related apps have been developed and are currently being used, including the Self-Quarantine Safety Protection app [7] and apps for COVID-19 symptom management app and self-isolation These apps have greatly helped South Korea in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Objective: We aimed to determine which apps were considered the most necessary according to users and evaluate the current status of the development of COVID-19–related apps in South Korea. To gain the public’s trust and make the apps available to as many people as possible, it is vital to develop diverse apps in which privacy protection is maximized
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