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Background Although smartphone apps might support physical activity (PA), engagement with them tends to be low. Objective This study aimed to examine potential users’ needs and preferences regarding their engagement with PA apps during a first exposure to a never-used PA app and after 2 weeks’ usage. Methods A longitudinal, one-arm qualitative study was conducted with potential PA app users. At baseline, participants (N=20) were asked to explore 1 of 3 randomly allocated PA apps while thinking aloud. Semistructured interview techniques allowed participants to elaborate on their statements. After 2 weeks, follow-up interviews explored participants’ (n=17) lived experiences of real-world app use. Verbal reports from both time points were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results Features that promote a fair and simple user experience, support users’ self-regulation skills, and address users’ exercise motives were considered important for engagement both during a first exposure and after a 2-week use of PA apps. Features that support users’ need for relatedness as well as those that facilitate users to implement their intentions were expected to be important for engagement mainly during a first exposure to PA apps. Proactive and tailored features that integrate behavioral, psychological, and contextual information to provide adaptive exercise plans and just-in-time support were considered relevant to sustain engagement over time. Conclusions App features that address users’ exercise motives, promote self-regulation, and fulfill users’ need for relatedness might promote engagement with PA apps. Tailored and proactive features were expected to promote sustained engagement.

Objective Engagement with smartphone applications (apps) for alcohol reduction is necessary for their effectiveness. This study explored (1) the features that are ranked as most important for engagement by excessive drinkers and (2) why particular features are judged to be more important for engagement than others. Methods Two studies were conducted in parallel. The first was a focus group study with adult excessive drinkers, interested in reducing alcohol consumption using an app ( n groups = 3). Participants individually ranked their top 10 features from a pre-specified list and subsequently discussed their rankings. The second was an online study with a new sample ( n = 132). Rankings were analysed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess the level of agreement between raters for each study. Qualitative data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results There was low agreement between participants in their rankings, both in the focus groups (ICC = 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.03–0.38) and the online sample (ICC = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.06–0.23). ‘Personalisation’, ‘control features’ and ‘interactive features’ were most highly ranked in the focus groups. These were expected to elicit a sense of benefit and usefulness, adaptability, provide motivational support or spark users’ interest. Results from the online study partly corroborated these findings. Conclusion There was little agreement between participants, but on average, the features judged to be most important for inclusion in smartphone apps for alcohol reduction were personalisation, interactive features and control features. Tailoring on users’ underlying psychological needs may promote engagement with alcohol reduction apps.

Objective Goal setting is an effective strategy to promote physical activity. Commercial apps that tackle physical activity often include goal setting; however, it is unknown whether the implementation of the goal-setting components is congruent with the theory. This study evaluated the quality of goal setting in popular free and paid physical activity apps by assessing the presence of effective goal-setting components. Methods A six-item scale was developed based on the goal-setting literature and used for coding each app for the presence/absence of goal-setting components (i.e. specificity, difficulty, action planning, timeframe, goal evaluation and goal re-evaluation). Cohen’s Kappa was used to evaluate inter-rater reliability for each scale item. The number of goal-setting components included in the 40 apps was calculated and the difference between free and paid apps was assessed. Results All scale items achieved satisfactory inter-rater reliability except ‘goal evaluation’. The most frequently included goal-setting components in popular physical activity apps were ‘goal specificity’ (95% of the apps) and ‘goal timeframe’ (67.5%). Conversely, only 47.5% and 25% of the apps implemented ‘action planning’ and ‘goal difficulty’, respectively, and none included ‘goal re-evaluation’. No differences emerged between free and paid apps. Conclusions The quality of the goal-setting strategy in popular physical activity apps could be improved by introducing components scarcely implemented to date. In particular, tailoring the goal difficulty to the users’ ability level and re-evaluating the goals based on achievements should be implemented to increase the quality of goal setting.

September 5). Modelling multiple health behavior change with network analyses: Results from a one-year study conducted among overweight and obese adults.