The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic introduced a crisis of safety and relevance for dating apps, as their affordances for facilitating in-person encounters posed the risk of viral transmission. This ...article examines how eight apps primarily catering to heterosexual markets responded to the pandemic through changes to socio-technical arrangements, new user prescriptions, and the curation of corporate data and success stories. By analyzing corporate social media and promotional materials alongside in-app developments, we find that these companies reimagined app affordances to promote “virtual dating,” a set of practices and symbolic meanings that prioritize visual, synchronous digital interaction as the most responsible, reliable, and successful dating approach to the pandemic. Virtual dating centers apps as databases of potential partners while prescribing modes of use aimed toward affective relief, displays of authenticity, and romantic courtship. This reimagining counters moral panics about digitally mediated relationships by resorting to heteronormative dating scripts while overlooking alternative app uses.
The high global prevalence of depression, together with the recent acceleration of remote care owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted increased interest in the efficacy of digital interventions ...for the treatment of depression. We provide a summary of the latest evidence base for digital interventions in the treatment of depression based on the largest study sample to date. A systematic literature search identified 83 studies (N = 15,530) that randomly allocated participants to a digital intervention for depression versus an active or inactive control condition. Overall heterogeneity was very high (I2 = 84%). Using a random-effects multilevel metaregression model, we found a significant medium overall effect size of digital interventions compared with all control conditions (g = .52). Subgroup analyses revealed significant differences between interventions and different control conditions (WLC: g = .70; attention: g = .36; TAU: g = .31), significantly higher effect sizes in interventions that involved human therapeutic guidance (g = .63) compared with self-help interventions (g = .34), and significantly lower effect sizes for effectiveness trials (g = .30) compared with efficacy trials (g = .59). We found no significant difference in outcomes between smartphone-based apps and computer- and Internet-based interventions and no significant difference between human-guided digital interventions and face-to-face psychotherapy for depression, although the number of studies in both comparisons was low. Findings from the current meta-analysis provide evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of digital interventions for the treatment of depression for a variety of populations. However, reported effect sizes may be exaggerated because of publication bias, and compliance with digital interventions outside of highly controlled settings remains a significant challenge.
Public Significance StatementThis meta-analysis demonstrates the efficacy of digital interventions in the treatment of depression for a variety of populations. Additionally, it highlights that digital interventions may have a valuable role to play in routine care, most notably when accompanied by human guidance. However, compliance with digital interventions remains a major challenge, with little more than 50% of participants completing the full intervention on average.
Issue addressed: Smartphone apps have emerged as a mode for provision of information to women during pregnancy. More apps are available for pregnancy than for any other medical topic. This review ...aimed to assess the quality of Android pregnancy apps, including pregnancy-specific nutrition information.
Methods: A keyword search was conducted in the Google Play Store followed by the screening of app title, app store description and the downloaded app. To be included, apps needed to be free, in English, aimed at pregnant women and contain nutrition information. App quality was assessed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) and the presence of nutrition topics was reported.
Results: A total of 76 apps were included in the analysis. Mean overall MARS quality score was 3.52 (max 5; SD: 0.58) ("1" = inadequate and "5" = excellent). The functionality subscale scored the highest (mean 4.06) and information scored the lowest (mean 3.23). The median number of pregnancy-specific nutrition topics per app was four (range: 0-6), with the most common related to caffeine consumption (n = 55, 72% of apps) and fish intake (n = 53, 69%), although the quality and quantity of nutrition information varied greatly between apps.
Conclusions: Although there are a large number of pregnancy apps available, few are of high quality and most contain only a small number of pregnancy-focused nutrition topics. It is important to be aware of the limitations of current apps in providing dietary advice during this key life stage.
So what? The current review does not support the use of freely available android apps currently on the market as an appropriate nutrition resource for pregnant women.
Mobile apps are effective tools for administering health interventions and changing user behaviors in key lifestyle areas, such as physical activity, but the attrition rates of fitness app users are ...high. To understand how to increase user retention rates, the present study draws from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and investigates the role of exercise self-efficacy, in addition to the original TAM constructs, namely, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment, in predicting current users’ intention to continue using the apps. Moreover, this study extends TAM from a human-technology interaction perspective by elucidating the antecedents of perceived usefulness in terms of specific functions provided by fitness mobile apps. Samples were drawn from a large online Chinese subject pool to test the hypotheses via a survey (N = 449). The results showed that four technological functions—instruction provision, self-monitoring, self-regulation, and goal attainment—had an indirect effect on continuance intention through perceived usefulness, and this indirect effect was moderated by exercise self-efficacy such that the association between perceived usefulness and continuance intention was stronger for those with low exercise self-efficacy.
•Four technological functions had an indirect effect on continuance intention through perceived usefulness.•This indirect effect was moderated by exercise self-efficacy.•Perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment also predicted continuance intention.
•Local offline retail density has a negative impact on consumers’ shopping app usage.•Such negative impact is weaker for consumers with higher mobility.•Such negative impact is weaker for shopping ...apps that sell technically complex products.
Consumers residing in different areas have varying levels of access to local retail stores. In contrast, with the prevalence of mobile internet, consumers have gained widespread access to mobile shopping. This research examines the impact of local offline retail density on consumers’ mobile shopping app usage and heterogeneity across consumer segments and different types of shopping apps. We use a unique dataset of individual-level mobile app usage with real-time location information across 1622 counties in China and employ the control function approach to address the endogenous retail density. Overall, the findings show that local offline retail density has a negative effect on mobile shopping app usage frequency and duration, indicating that consumers in areas with lower offline retail density engage more in mobile shopping app usage. This negative effect is weaker for consumers with higher mobility. Also, we find that this negative effect is weaker for shopping apps selling more technically complex products such as electronics than for those selling less technically complex products such as clothing and cosmetics. These results offer managerial implications for online retailers to launch targeting strategies to enhance consumer engagement with their shopping apps.
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Mobile Traffic Classification (TC) has become nowadays the enabler for valuable profiling information, other than being the workhorse for service differentiation or blocking. Nonetheless, a main ...hindrance in the design of accurate classifiers is the adoption of encrypted protocols, compromising the effectiveness of deep packet inspection. Also, the evolving nature of mobile network traffic makes solutions with Machine Learning (ML), based on manually- and expert-originated features, unable to keep its pace. These limitations clear the way to Deep Learning (DL) as a viable strategy to design traffic classifiers based on automatically-extracted features, reflecting the complex patterns distilled from the multifaceted traffic nature, implicitly carrying information in “multimodal” fashion. Multi-modality in TC allows to inspect the traffic from complementary views, thus providing an effective solution to the mobile scenario. Accordingly, a novel multimodal DL framework for encrypted TC is proposed, named MIMETIC, able to capitalize traffic data heterogeneity (by learning both intra- and inter-modality dependences), overcome performance limitations of existing (myopic) single-modality DL-based TC proposals, and support the challenging mobile scenario. Using three (human-generated) datasets of mobile encrypted traffic, we demonstrate performance improvement of MIMETIC over (a) single-modality DL-based counterparts, (b) state-of-the-art ML-based (mobile) traffic classifiers, and (c) classifier fusion techniques.
•Mobile technology identity affects patients’ intention to adopt mHealth apps.•Self-efficacy affects patients’ intention to adopt mHealth apps.•Prior experience affects patients’ intention to adopt ...mHealth apps.•Education negatively affects patients’ intention to adopt mHealth apps.•Prior experience affects Mobile technology identity and self-efficacy.
Despite smartphone applications (apps) being key enablers of telemedicine, telehealth, and self-monitoring, adoption issues persist for mobile healthcare (mHealth) apps. This study diverged from the traditional adoption approach and drew on more innovative theories to predict the intentions of patients for adopting apps supported by clinics. More specifically, technology identity literature was explored to make this prediction and the study surveyed 292 patients who were seated in the waiting room of a local clinic. The results suggested that perceived mobile technology identity (MTI), perceived related IT experience, and perceived self-efficacy positively influences patients’ perceived intentions to adopt mHealth apps provided by clinics or hospitals. Furthermore, the results suggested that perceived related IT experience positively influences users perceived self-efficacy and perceived MTI. However, education was found to negatively influence patients’ perceived intentions to use mHealth apps. This study contributes to the growing literature on the use of these apps in trying to elevate the quality of patients’ lives. Moreover, there are implications for mHealth-app designers who are trying to make healthcare services accessible via smartphones.
An examination of dating app culture in China, across user demographics—straight women, straight men, queer women, and queer men. In this exploration of dating app culture in China, Lik Sam Chan ...argues that these popular mobile apps are not merely a platform for personal relationships but also an emerging arena for gender and queer politics. Chan examines the opportunities dating apps present for women's empowerment and men's performances of masculinity, and he links experiences of queer dating app users with their vulnerable position as sexual minorities. He finds that dating apps are both portals to an exciting virtual world of relational possibilities and sites of power dynamics that reflect the heteronormativity and patriarchy of Chinese society. Drawing on in-depth interviews with urban users of such dating apps as Momo, Tantan, Blued, Aloha, Rela, and Lesdo, Chan proposes “networked sexual publics” as a unifying concept to capture the dynamics of dating app culture. Devoting a chapter to each of four publics—straight women, straight men, queer men, and queer women—Chan documents how relationships are shaped and transfigured by this emerging technology. He considers whether dating apps can be a feminist tool; explores straight men's self-presentation on the apps and their interactions with women they meet there; discusses the constant cycle of deleting and installing the same apps seen among queer men; and examines how popular lesbian dating apps may connect queer women to their communities. Finally, Chan maps possible paths for future intersectional, queer, and feminist scholarship on emerging communication technologies.
Online-to-offline service platform (O2OSP) channels offer innovative means for customers to order local, daily services online (via apps) and have them delivered almost instantly offline. By ...comparing the business models underlying O2OSP, traditional online and offline, and platform-based e-commerce channels, this article aims to identify the short- and long-term impacts of adding an O2OSP channel on firms' offline and total sales and profits. The analysis focuses primarily on a recent set of daily data gathered from a Chinese fast-food restaurant chain with 35 physical stores that also participates in four food delivery O2OSP channels. The panel data regressions with fixed effects reveal that adding O2OSP channels hurts offline and total profits in the short run but improves offline and total sales and profits in the long run. Specifically, offline and total sales increase by 23.28% and 33.94%, respectively. Thus, the O2OSP channel can serve as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, the offline channel. These results challenge previous research on the sales effects of adding (pure) online or offline channels and highlight the attractiveness of O2OSP channels for improving sales and profits. However, negative interaction effects among different O2OSP channels also signal that adding more O2OSP channels does not necessarily lead to profitable growth.
•Adding O2OSP channels hurts offline and total profits in the short run.•Adding O2OSP channels improves offline and total sales and profits in the long run.•Offline and total sales increase by 23.28% and 33.94%, respectively.•Because O2OSP channels compete, adding more O2OSP channels does not necessarily lead to more growth in sales or profits.•The conceptual comparison of business models includes O2OSP, traditional online and offline, and e-commerce channels.
•Platform effects (appearance in top charts & features) on downloads are substantial.•Top charts have the largest effect, followed by features (esp. for paid apps).•Effects of updates by developers ...increase proportional to the degree of improvement.•Downloads (Users) become less sensitive to price changes (discounts) as apps mature.
Since its emergence, mobile applications market has been attracting the attention of all kinds of businesses due to the lucrative opportunities apps offer and the market’s low barriers to entry. Yet, in this crowded space, only a small portion of apps can survive. Using a unique data set of 979 newly released applications, acquired from a leading mobile analytics company and enriched with publicly available data, the authors shed light on the factors associated with app downloads during an app’s first year of existence. Results from time-varying-parameter models estimated separately for free and paid apps reveal that gaining traction with users shortly after release seems critical and that app platform owners can be very influential in these early days. However, as apps mature, affecting the number of downloads becomes increasingly more difficult. The findings add new insights to the growing literature on apps and provide practical implications for their developers.
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