Quality Of Mobile Apps Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Mobile App Quality on consumers' Online Intention to Transact

ABSTRACTThis study constructed a research framework for exploring the relationship between the three dimensions of app quality (system quality, information quality, and service quality), flow experience, brand trust, and intention to transact based on the business‐to‐consumer e‐commerce platform. The proposed model was tested by analyzing questionnaire survey data from a sample of 503 consumers with experience of mobile online shopping using the variance‐based structural equation modeling technique. The results showed that all three dimensions of app quality were positively associated with flow experience and brand trust. Flow experience was positively associated with intention to transact. The effect of brand trust on consumers' intention to transact was greater than that of flow experience, suggesting that when shopping on a mobile app platform, consumers may be more concerned about trusting the brand than about pleasure in making a purchase decision. The results enrich business‐to‐consumer e‐commerce theory and provide meaningful managerial implications.

Quality of mobile apps for toddler parenting: Search in google play store and content analysis

Quality of mobile apps for toddler parenting: Search in google play store and content analysis

DinoDroid: Testing Android Apps Using Deep Q-Networks

The large demand of mobile devices creates significant concerns about the quality of mobile applications (apps). Developers need to guarantee the quality of mobile apps before it is released to the market. There have been many approaches using different strategies to test the GUI of mobile apps. However, they still need improvement due to their limited effectiveness. In this article, we propose DinoDroid, an approach based on deep Q-networks to automate testing of Android apps. DinoDroid learns a behavior model from a set of existing apps and the learned model can be used to explore and generate tests for new apps. DinoDroid is able to capture the fine-grained details of GUI events (e.g., the content of GUI widgets) and use them as features that are fed into deep neural network, which acts as the agent to guide app exploration. DinoDroid automatically adapts the learned model during the exploration without the need of any modeling strategies or pre-defined rules. We conduct experiments on 64 open-source Android apps. The results showed that DinoDroid outperforms existing Android testing tools in terms of code coverage and bug detection.

Insights into mobile learning continuance intention among school students and teachers via a hermeneutic phenomenological study during COVID-19

PurposeThis study aims to describe the m-learning experience of school students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the factors influencing the continuance intention of m-learning.Design/methodology/approachSemistructured interviews of 24 students and 09 teachers of schools in national capital territory (NCT) Delhi, India were conducted over 03 months and transcribed verbatim. A hermeneutic phenomenological design was used to interpret the text and bring out the “lived experiences” of m-learning.FindingsThe following 15 themes or factors influencing continuance intention emerged through the hermeneutic circle: (1) actual usage, (2) attitude, (3) context, (4) extrinsic motivation, (5) facilitating conditions, (6) intrinsic motivation, (7) perceived compatibility, (8) perceived content quality, (9) perceived mobile app quality, (10) perceived teaching quality, (11) perceived usefulness, (12) satisfaction, (13) self-efficacy, (14) self-management of learning and (15) social influence.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offers insightful recommendations for school administrators, mobile device developers and app designers. In addition, suggestions for effectively using m-learning during disasters such as COVID-19 have been provided. Several future research directions, including a nuanced understanding of m-assessment and online discussions, are suggested to enhance the literature on m-learning continuance.Originality/valueThe study enriches the literature on m-learning continuance. A qualitative approach has been used to identify relevant factors influencing m-learning continuance intention among secondary and higher secondary level (Grades 9 to 12) school students and teachers in India. In addition, a conceptual framework of the relationships among the factors has been proposed. Further, an analysis of the lived experiences of m-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated several issues and challenges in using m-learning during disasters.

Application of Information System Model on Users’ Continuous Intention with Food Delivery Mobile Applications in Sustainable Business

This research investigates the variables affecting Malaysian consumers' continuous intention to utilise food delivery mobile applications. The target population is Malaysian mobile app users 18 years old and above with an online food ordering experience. The Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) and SPSS were used to scrutinise the data collected. Through the Google form URLs posted on social media, 275 complete survey surveys were gathered. The study's findings showed that system quality, service quality, and information quality significantly affect customer satisfaction. Subsequently, customer satisfaction greatly impacts how likely people are to use mobile applications for food delivery. Better consumer loyalty and higher customer repurchase intent would follow from this outcome. The IS success model was used in this research to analyse the continuous intention to utilise food delivery mobile applications since similar studies from the emerging country view remain underexplored. This research will help corporate executives create more effective marketing plans for targeting their market and expanding established consumer loyalty expertise in mobile app quality and customer demand.

Identification and Evaluation of Mobile Applications for Self-Management of Diet and Lifestyle for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Mobile health applications (apps) providing diet and lifestyle self-management programs to patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are emerging. The objective of this study was to evaluate current apps available in the US and Canada based on app quality, perceived impact on diet and mental health and comprehensiveness to support self-management. The Apple iOS and Google Play app stores were searched for terms related to IBD. Apps were included if they targeted diet and lifestyle behaviours for patients living with IBD and were available to the general public. Apps were excluded if they were not specific to IBD, not available in English, did not target diet or lifestyle therapy, were not available in the US and Canada, or did not offer stand-alone self-management programs. The Mobile App Rating Scale was used to assess mobile app quality. A total of 1,512 apps were identified through the app stores. Six apps met inclusion criteria. My IBD Care: Crohn's and Colitis received the highest quality rating and LyfeMD received the highest overall app rating. Only these two apps provided behaviour tracking over time, and three (50 percent) apps provided good-quality information. While many IBD-related apps exist, few support self-management of diet and lifestyle behaviours. The My IBD Care and LyfeMD apps had the highest ratings and can be used to track lifestyle behaviours. The effectiveness of these apps to improve behaviours, and subsequently impact the disease course and quality of life, should be explored in future studies.

Content and Quality of Mobile Apps for the Monitoring of Musculoskeletal or Neuropathic Pain in Australia: Systematic Evaluation.

Mobile apps offer a potential mechanism for people with persistent pain to monitor pain levels conveniently within their own environment and for clinicians to remotely monitor their patients' pain. However, the quality of currently available apps and the usefulness of included features from a clinical perspective are not known. The aim of this study was to examine the content and quality of currently available smartphone apps designed for monitoring the intensity or presence of musculoskeletal or neuropathic pain. A systematic search was performed in the Australian Apple and Google Play stores. Apps were included if they were designed to monitor the intensity or presence of musculoskeletal or neuropathic pain and were available in the English language within the Australian app stores. Data pertaining to the intended use of the app and clinical population were extracted by using a custom-designed data extraction form, and app quality was assessed by using the 23-item Mobile App Rating Scale. Of the 2190 apps screened, 49 met the inclusion criteria. Apps were primarily designed for adult users (36/49, 73%) with nonspecific musculoskeletal or neuropathic pain conditions, arthritis, and joint pain. All apps monitored pain intensity, with almost half (23/49, 47%) also specifying pain location. Overall, the mean quality scores from the Mobile App Rating Scale ranged from 1.5 to 4.4 (out of 5.0). Between 20% (10/49) and 22% (11/49) of apps involved clinicians, consumers, or both in their development, and 20% (10/49) had published literature related to the development or use of the app in clinical scenarios. Although 71% (35/49) had data sharing features, only 5 apps enabled client-clinician communication through the app. The overall quality of mobile apps that are currently available for monitoring pain intensity is acceptable. Presently, mobile apps for remote pain monitoring lack functionality for clinicians to view data between consults. Both users and clinicians should be aware of the limitations of these apps and make informed choices in using or recommending apps that best suit the clinical need.

Availability, Quality, and Evidence-Based Content of mHealth Apps for the Treatment of Nonspecific Low Back Pain in the German Language: Systematic Assessment.

Nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP) carries significant socioeconomic relevance and leads to substantial difficulties for those who are affected by it. The effectiveness of app-based treatments has been confirmed, and clinicians are recommended to use such interventions. As 88.8% of the German population uses smartphones, apps could support therapy. The available apps in mobile app stores are poorly regulated, and their quality can vary. Overviews of the availability and quality of mobile apps for Australia, Great Britain, and Spain have been compiled, but this has not yet been done for Germany. We aimed to provide an overview of the availability and content-related quality of apps for the treatment of NSLBP in the German language. A systematic search for apps on iOS and Android was conducted on July 6, 2022, in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined before the search. Apps in the German language that were available in both stores were eligible. To check for evidence, the apps found were assessed using checklists based on the German national guideline for NSLBP and the British equivalent of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The quality of the apps was measured using the Mobile Application Rating Scale. To control potential inaccuracies, a second reviewer resurveyed the outcomes for 30% (3/8) of the apps and checked the inclusion and exclusion criteria for these apps. The outcomes, measured using the assessment tools, are presented in tables with descriptive statistics. Furthermore, the characteristics of the included apps were summarized. In total, 8 apps were included for assessment. Features provided with different frequencies were exercise tracking of prefabricated or adaptable workout programs, educational aspects, artificial intelligence-based therapy or workout programs, and motion detection. All apps met some recommendations by the German national guideline and used forms of exercises as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline. The mean value of items rated as "Yes" was 5.75 (SD 2.71) out of 16. The best-rated app received an answer of "Yes" for 11 items. The mean Mobile Application Rating Scale quality score was 3.61 (SD 0.55). The highest mean score was obtained in "Section B-Functionality" (mean 3.81, SD 0.54). Available apps in the German language meet guideline recommendations and are mostly of acceptable or good quality. Their use as a therapy supplement could help promote the implementation of home-based exercise protocols. A new assessment tool to obtain ratings on apps for the treatment of NSLBP, combining aspects of quality and evidence-based best practices, could be useful. Open Science Framework Registries sq435; https://osf.io/sq435.

Utilization of patient portals: a cross-sectional study investigating associations with mobile app quality

BackgroundMobile apps facilitate patients’ access to portals and interaction with their healthcare providers. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend globally, but little evidence exists on patient portal usage in the Middle East, where internet access and digital literacy are limited. Our study aimed to explore how users utilize a patient portal through its related mobile app (MyChart by EPIC).MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of MyChart users, recruited from a tertiary care center in Lebanon. We collected MyChart usage patterns, perceived outcomes, and app quality, based on the Mobile Application Rating Scale (user version, uMARS), and sociodemographic factors. We examined associations between app usage, app quality, and sociodemographic factors using Pearson’s correlations, Chi-square, ANOVA, and t-tests.Results428 users completed the survey; they were primarily female (63%), aged 41.3 ± 15.6 years, with a higher education level (87%) and a relatively high crowding index of 1.4 ± 0.6. Most of the sample was in good and very good health (78%) and had no chronic illnesses (67%), and accessed the portal through MyChart once a month or less (76%). The most frequently used features were accessing health records (98%), scheduling appointments (67%), and messaging physicians (56%). According to uMARS completers (n = 200), the objective quality score was 3.8 ± 0.5, and the subjective quality was 3.6 ± 0.7. No significant association was found between overall app usage and the mobile app quality measured via uMARS. Moreover, app use frequency was negatively associated with education, socioeconomic status, and perceived health status. On the other hand, app use was positively related to having chronic conditions, the number of physician visits and subjective app quality.ConclusionThe patient portal usage was not associated with app quality but with some of the participants’ demographic factors. The app offers a user-friendly, good-quality interface to patient health records and physicians, appreciated chiefly by users with relatively low socioeconomic status and education. While this is encouraging, more research is needed to capture the usage patterns and perceptions of male patients and those with even lower education and socioeconomic status, to make patient portals more inclusive.

The Nexus Among Mobile-App Quality (M-app-QUAL), Brand Relationship, Brand Advocacy, and Brand Equity in the Retail Industry

Consumers increasingly use mobile applications for purchasing decisions; uncovering the dimensions of service quality relevant to these apps is essential. Existing research has extensively studied online service quality in e-commerce settings, and some studies focused on mobile shopping. However, these scales do not capture all aspects relevant to mobile apps. By administering surveys, we propose and validate the dimensions of the M-app-QUAL scale using a nomological network linking the service quality dimensions to consumer outcomes. Our results demonstrate that proposed constructs have varying impacts on relational constructs- brand identification and brand attachment, which in turn, influence brand advocacy and brand equity. Moreover, theoretical and managerial contributions are detailed.

The Impact of Mobile Banking Services on the Customer Satisfaction of 
 Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka

The primary focus of this study is to identify the decisive factors that affect customer satisfaction with Mobile Banking Services. The identified independent variables of the study are reliability, efficiency, flexibility, easy-to-navigate, and trust. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire from 120 mobile bank users of Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka. The study population was mobile banking users of commercial banks in the Colombo District of Sri Lanka. The hypotheses have been tested through multiple linear regression and the correlation coefficient has been used to identify the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. The findings of the study show that there is a statistically significant impact of the reliability, efficiency, easy-to-navigate, and trust dimensions of mobile banking services on customer satisfaction whereas flexibility has a statistically insignificant impact. Easy to navigate and reliability were the most influential dimensions compared to the rest of the mobile banking dimensions and the researcher recommended that commercial banks should expand the web and mobile app quality in order to achieve higher customer satisfaction with mobile banking services.

Combatting Energy Issues for Mobile Applications

Energy efficiency is an important criterion to judge the quality of mobile apps, but one third of our arbitrarily sampled apps suffer from energy issues that can quickly drain battery power. To understand these issues, we conduct an empirical study on 36 well-maintained apps such as Chrome and Firefox, whose issue tracking systems are publicly accessible. Our study involves issue causes, manifestation, fixing efforts, detection techniques, reasons of no-fixes, and debugging techniques. Inspired by the empirical study, we propose a novel testing framework for detecting energy issues in real-world mobile apps. Our framework examines apps with well-designed input sequences and runtime context. We develop leading edge technologies, e.g., pre-designing input sequences with potential energy overuse and tuning tests on-the-fly, to achieve high efficacy in detecting energy issues. A large-scale evaluation shows that 90.4% of the detected issues in our experiments were previously unknown to developers. On average, these issues can double the energy consumption of the test cases where the issues were detected. And our test achieves a low number of false positives. Finally, we show how our test reports can help developers fix the issues.

The Persian Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS-Fa): Translation and Validation Study.

Approximately 110 million Farsi speakers worldwide have access to a growing mobile app market. Despite restrictions and international sanctions, Iran's internal mobile health app market is growing, especially for Android-based apps. However, there is a need for guidelines for developing health apps that meet international quality standards. There are also no tools in Farsi that assess health app quality. Developers and researchers who operate in Farsi could benefit from such quality assessment tools to improve their outputs. This study aims to translate and culturally adapt the Mobile Application Rating Scale in Farsi (MARS-Fa). This study also evaluates the validity and reliability of the newly developed MARS-Fa tool. We used a well-established method to translate and back translate the MARS-Fa tool with a group of Iranian and international experts in Health Information Technology and Psychology. The final translated version of the tool was tested on a sample of 92 apps addressing smartphone addiction. Two trained reviewers completed an independent assessment of each app in Farsi and English. We reported reliability and construct validity estimates for the objective scales (engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information quality). Reliability was based on the evaluation of intraclass correlation coefficients, Cronbach α and Spearman-Brown split-half reliability indicators (for internal consistency), as well as Pearson correlations for test-retest reliability. Construct validity included convergent and discriminant validity (through item-total correlations within the objective scales) and concurrent validity using Pearson correlations between the objective and subjective scores. After completing the translation and cultural adaptation, the MARS-Fa tool was used to assess the selected apps for smartphone addiction. The MARS-Fa total scale showed good interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.89) and good internal consistency (Cronbach α=.84); Spearman-Brown split-half reliability for both raters was 0.79 to 0.93. The instrument showed excellent test-retest reliability (r=0.94). The correlations among the MARS-Fa subdomains and the total score were all significant and above r=0.40, suggesting good convergent and discriminant validity. The MARS-Fa was positively and significantly correlated with subjective quality (r=0.90, P<.001), and so were the objective subdomains of engagement (r=0.85, P<.001), information quality (r=0.80, P<.001), aesthetics (r=0.79, P<.001), and functionality (r=0.57, P<.001), indicating concurrent validity. The MARS-Fa is a reliable and valid instrument to assess mobile health apps. This instrument could be adopted by Farsi-speaking researchers and developers who want to evaluate the quality of mobile apps. While we tested the tool with a sample of apps addressing smartphone addiction, the MARS-Fa could assess other domains or issues since the Mobile App Rating Scale has been used to rate apps in different contexts and languages.

On a City Guide App Model

For the travel industry, technology, digitalization, and connectivity are factors of significant importance. We proposed a city guide app (CGA) model in this research. The general city tourist information is enormous, but it is essential to know the information of interest for travelers and useful for mobile applications. We used an online survey to detect this kind of information. The interviewees were young people aged 20 to 24 from Romania who used at least a CGA while travelling in different cities, especially abroad. We kept forty questions for the proposed model—sixteen from the previous research on app quality, user habits, travel agency app usage, behavioral intention, twenty-four questions on touristic information proposed by us. We used the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method. We concluded which touristic information influences mobile app quality and behavioral intention. Given the age and location of our interviewees, this information could be different, considering the respondent age, location, and habits. Whether we are talking about passionate information technology (IT) developers, city halls, or travel agencies, this study is helpful for those who want to develop a CGA.

Environmental scan of mobile apps for promoting sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.

Adolescence is a period of emotional, mental, and physical change. To increase health seeking behaviors, reduce risky sexual behavior, and improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge, adolescents require support and access to SRH services. Providing evidence-informed SRH knowledge to adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be a challenge as they face unique barriers such as lack of confidentiality, fear of refusal, and stigma from cultural norms. Increasing availability of mobile apps necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of the quality and classification of these SRH mobile applications so that accurate and evidence-based information is reaching its users. Failure to provide SRH services can have damaging effects throughout their development. Provide an overview of current adolescent SRH (ASRH) mobile applications targeting adolescents in LMICs by evaluating their quality and classifying their characteristics. 21 search terms related to ASRH mobile apps was developed. These terms were searched in the Apple IOS store and Google Play stores. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to screen these apps. Resulting apps were assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tool. Data extracted was used to rank order each app and identify any gaps in quality. Search strategy yielded 2,165 mobile apps. Of these, only 8 were assessed using the MARS tool. Functionality subdomain scored highest at 4.6, while Information scored lowest at 2.5. None of the assessed apps contained information on the MARS items: Evidence base and Goals. Too Shy to Ask had the highest individual app mean score of 4.1, while e-SRHR scored lowest at 2.3. The goal of this study is to classify and rate the quality of mobile apps designed to promote ASRH behaviors and knowledge in LMICs. Numerous apps were reviewed and all of them failed to provide evidence-based and goal oriented SRH information. Strengths include ease of use, navigation, and gestural designs. Weaknesses include evidence base, goals, willingness to pay, customization, and interactivity. These findings can be potentially used to guide future app development and educate decision makers responsible for policy changes.

Co-creation of mobile app quality in a two-platform supply chain when platforms are asymmetric

Mobile app development is a fast-growing industry, with Google Play and App Store being the two largest platforms, which provide app developers with a global audience. While each platform has its own captive app users, developers have the freedom to distribute their app via either a single platform or both. In the latter case, developers need to create two versions of the app, which differ in terms of their conformance quality (dictated by the platform), but share the same design quality (defined by the developer). We demonstrate that the cross-platform design quality results in a fee-allocation mechanism, according to which when one platform increases the developer's revenue share, it pushes the other platform to reduce the revenue share that it offers to the developer. The innovation of this work lies in considering the co-creation of app quality in a two-platform supply chain operating under a revenue-sharing contract. We analyze a stylized model with two asymmetric platforms, where the developer may be either profit-driven or market-expansion driven. In the former case, the inferior platform is at risk of losing the contract and therefore has to adjust it. Equilibrium analysis is provided for two market-power structures — balanced and imbalanced. Several counterintuitive properties of the equilibrium are obtained: (i) by becoming less efficient in the apps’ approval process, the platforms may coordinate the supply chain; (ii) an increase in the market size of a platform may degrade its profit; and (iii) a low price of the in-app product is not necessarily linked to a poor-quality app.

Quality of Mobile Apps for Child Development Support: Search in App Stores and Content Analysis.

Following increases in smartphone access, more parents seek parenting advice through internet sources, including blogs, web-based forums, or mobile apps. However, identifying quality apps (ones that respond to the diverse experiences of families) for guidance on child development can be challenging. This review of mobile health apps aimed to document the landscape, design, and content of apps in the United States available to parents as they promote their child's developmental health. To understand the availability and quality of apps for early childhood health promotion, we completed a content analysis of apps in 2 major app stores (Google Play and Apple App stores). We found that most apps do not provide tailored experiences to parents, including cultural considerations, and instead promote generic guidance that may be useful to parents in some contexts. We discuss the need for an evaluative framework to assess apps aimed to support parents on child development topics. Future work is needed on how to support designers in this area, specifically related to avoiding potential burdens on users and providing culturally informed and equity-driven experiences.

MHealth and telemedicine utility in the monitoring of allergic diseases.

This literature review discusses the use of mHealth technologies and telemedicine for monitoring various allergic diseases both in everyday life and in the context of COVID-19. Telemedicine, whose popularity, and demand has skyrocketed during the pandemic, rely on mHealth technologies, video calls and websites as a resource-saving and safe way of consulting patients. The incorporation of new mHealth technologies into telemedicine practice may not only be relevant in the context of pandemic restrictions but can also be applied in everyday medical practice as an effective method of patient counseling. The mobile healthcare applications include a wide range of mobile apps for patients' education, monitoring, and disease management. However, applications for the people with food allergies lack relevant information about allergies and, like most other applications, are developed without the contribution of healthcare specialists. During the COVID-19 pandemic, low-risk food-allergic patients were able to rely on telemedicine services where they could get the help, they needed without increasing risk of contracting COVID-19 while saving time. Meanwhile, some applications for allergic rhinitis and asthma patients are showing practical benefits in clinical trials by allowing an efficient assessment of treatment regimens and efficacy. The use of digital symptom diaries further facilitates the implementation of real-life studies. However, for respiratory allergic diseases, the often insufficient quality of pollen prediction needs to be taken into account. Even though studies have shown that asthma is better controlled with mHealth technologies, the quality of mobile apps for asthma patients varies widely, as many products provide information that has not been scientifically proven. Inhaler sensors – have been shown to improve the course of asthma and its monitoring, while push notifications prompting people to take their medication double the likelihood of treatment adherence. Teledermatology has a high level of patient satisfaction – as it is perceived as a more time-saving method of consultation. However, the diagnostic accuracy of contact consultations remains higher. mHealth technologies provide a patient's health data from his/her daily life, which enables insights into behavioral patterns. This closer look at the daily routine can have a significant impact on developing individualized treatment and care guidelines.

Quality of Mobile Apps for Care Partners of People With Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias: Mobile App Rating Scale Evaluation.

BackgroundOver 11 million care partners in the United States who provide care to people living with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) cite persistent and pervasive unmet needs related to their caregiving role. The proliferation of mobile apps for care partners has the potential to meet care partners’ needs, but the quality of apps is unknown.ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the quality of publicly available apps for care partners of people living with ADRD and identify design features of low- and high-quality apps to guide future research and user-centered app development.MethodsWe searched the US Apple App and Google Play stores with the criteria that included apps needed to be available in the US Google Play or Apple App stores, accessible to users out of the box, and primarily intended for use by an informal (family or friend) care partner of a person living with ADRD. We classified and tabulated app functionalities. The included apps were then evaluated using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) using 23 items across 5 dimensions: engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information, and subjective quality. We computed descriptive statistics for each rating. To identify recommendations for future research and app development, we categorized rater comments on score-driving factors for each MARS rating item and what the app could have done to improve the item score.ResultsWe evaluated 17 apps. We found that, on average, apps are of minimally acceptable quality. Functionalities supported by apps included education (12/17, 71%), interactive training (3/17, 18%), documentation (3/17, 18%), tracking symptoms (2/17, 12%), care partner community (3/17, 18%), interaction with clinical experts (1/17, 6%), care coordination (2/17, 12%), and activities for the person living with ADRD (2/17, 12%). Of the 17 apps, 8 (47%) had only 1 feature, 6 (35%) had 2 features, and 3 (18%) had 3 features. The MARS quality mean score across apps was 3.08 (SD 0.83) on the 5-point rating scale (1=inadequate to 5=excellent), with apps scoring highest on average on functionality (mean 3.37, SD 0.99) and aesthetics (mean 3.24, SD 0.92) and lowest on average on information (mean 2.95, SD 0.95) and engagement (mean 2.76, SD 0.89). The MARS subjective quality mean score across apps was 2.26 (SD 1.02).ConclusionsWe identified apps whose mean scores were more than 1 point below minimally acceptable quality, whereas some were more than 1 point above. Many apps had broken features and were rated as below acceptable for engagement and information. Minimally acceptable quality is likely to be insufficient to meet care partner needs. Future research should establish minimum quality standards across dimensions for care partner mobile apps. Design features of high-quality apps identified in this study can provide the foundation for benchmarking these standards.

Assessment of the quality of mobile apps for food allergy

IgE-mediated food allergies are common, affecting 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 12 children, and can be life-threatening and detrimental to quality of life.1 Digital technology has great potential for helping patients prevent, identify, and manage food allergy reactions. The Food and Drug Administration defines a mobile application (app) as a software app that can be executed on or is tailored to a mobile platform.2 Health is one of the most common subjects searched on mobile phones,3 and currently, more than 300,000 health apps are available.