Apps for Covid-19 in Germany: assessment using the German Mobile App Rating Scale

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of apps to help control the spread of Covid-19 in Germany and rate them according to standardized instruments. Materials and Methods The Apple App Store and Google Play Store were systematically searched to identify apps dealing with Covid-19 in Germany. The German Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS-G) was used to independently assess app quality by two trained reviewers. Results Overall, the quality of the six rated apps was good with a mean score of 4.15 (3.88 – 4.34). The best-rated apps were NINA app (4.34) and Corona Health App (4.29). The best-rated sections were Functionality (4.40), Aesthetic (4.25), and Information (4.25). In contrast, the worst-rated section was Engagement (3.63). Even though some of the apps were used by more people than others, there was no correlation between the MARS-G rating and app store rating. In addition, the MARS-G proved to be effective even with rating apps, which have different goals and methods to achieve them. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study that identified and evaluated German Covid-19 mHealth apps available in the German app stores. The review shows that despite the excellent quality in aspects like information and functionality, there is still a gap in the engagement section. To motivate more people to use the Covid-19 apps, new ideas are needed, besides more information and education about the functionality of the apps, to gain trust in app developers and raise the number of downloads. LAY SUMMARY The Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has put healthcare systems around the globe and many mobile health apps were developed to help control the spread. This study gives overview of the Covid-19 apps in Germany and rates them with a standardized instrument. Six apps were included in the analysis: Corona-Warn-App, Corona Health App, luca app, NINA app, SafeVac app, and STIKO app. The overall quality of the six rated apps was good. The review showed that despite the excellent quality in aspects like information and functionality, there is still a gap in the engagement section. To motivate more people to use the Covid-19 apps, new ideas are needed, besides more information and education about the functionality of the apps, to gain trust in app developers and raise the number of downloads. The findings from the study highlight the feasibility of quickly developing mHealth apps as a tool when responding to rapidly emerging health threads like a pandemic. It is important to pay attention to an app design that engages the user to use the app to ensure high utilization. Especially for communicable health treads, where contact tracing is important, high utilization is key.

Mobile applications in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic: systematic search, use case mapping, and quality assessment using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS)

“…The assessment of the apps resulted in an overall mean MARS score (objective only) of 3.62 points which could be interpreted as “acceptable” (score of 3) to “good” (score of 4). When compared to the current literature, the overall mean MARS score of this study is lower than those from other COVID-19-related app assessment studies [ 30 , 31 , 36 ] and other domain studies [ 22 , 25 , 28 ]. However, other literature had scores lower than 3.62 points [ 23 , 24 , 37 – 40 ].…”

“…Lastly, the study found no significant correlation between the scores and the number of reviews and star ratings. The current literature on this is mixed – some studies found an association between MARS score (total or dimension scores) and the number of reviews and app star ratings [ 22 , 23 ] while others did not [ 30 ]. This could indicate that the number of reviews and the star rating of apps are probably not good indicators of the quality of an app in the Philippines.…”

“…For example, MARS was used to assess the quality of apps for food allergies or intolerances [ 22 ], potential drug-drug interaction [ 23 ], hematological conditions [ 24 ], skin cancer-related [ 25 ], orthodontic apps [ 26 ], rheumatology [ 27 ], HIV/AIDS [ 28 ], and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus [ 29 ]. More recently, MARS has been used in other countries to assess COVID-19 apps [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Mobile Apps for COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Reviews

“…This review is limited by the timeframe of the database search and our narrow search strategy. Records published or updated after our search or research that did not meet our inclusion criteria were not considered [73]. It is possible that we thus unintentionally failed to include some relevant research.…”

Digital Survey-based Tracing of COVID-19 Over the Early Pandemic: A Comprehensive Geospatial and Symptomatic Analysis in Lebanon

“…The project demonstrated that real-time data collection and analysis, facilitated by technology, could signi cantly augment traditional public health strategies [17][18][19]. This approach, akin to the digital surveillance and response systems deployed in other countries [20][21][22][23][24][25], exempli es how early implementation and proactive management can enhance pandemic tracking and containment efforts.…”