Modern smart mobile devices offer media-rich and context-aware features that are highly useful for
electronic-health (e-health) applications. It is therefore not surprising that these devices have gained
acceptance as target devices for e-health applications, turning them into m-health (mobile-health) apps.
In particular, many e-health application developers have chosen Apple’s iOS mobile devices such as iPad,
iPhone, or iPod Touch as the target device to provide more convenient and richer user experience, as
evidenced by the rapidly increasing number of m-health apps in Apple’s App Store. In this paper, the top
two hundred of such apps from the App Store were examined from a developer’s perspective to provide
a focused overview of the status and trends of iOS m-health apps and an analysis of related technology,
architecture, and user interface design issues.
The top 200 apps were classified into different groups
according to their purposes, functions, and user satisfaction. It was shown that although the biggest
group of apps was medical information reference apps that were delivered from or related to medical
articles, websites, or journals, mobile users disproportionally favored tracking tools. It was clear that
m-health apps still had plenty of room to grow to take full advantage of unique mobile platform features
and truly fulfill their potential. In particular, introduction of two- or three-dimensional visualization and
context-awareness could further enhance m-health app’s usability and utility. This paper aims to serve
as a reference point and guide for developers and practitioners interested in using iOS as a platform for
m-health applications, particular from the technical point of view.
Modern smart mobile devices offer media-rich and context-aware features that are highly useful for
electronic-health (e-health) applications. It is therefore not surprising that these devices have gained
acceptance as target devices for e-health applications, turning them into m-health (mobile-health) apps.
In particular, many e-health application developers have chosen Apple’s iOS mobile devices such as iPad,
iPhone, or iPod Touch as the target device to provide more convenient and richer user experience, as
evidenced by the rapidly increasing number of m-health apps in Apple’s App Store. In this paper, the top
two hundred of such apps from the App Store were examined from a developer’s perspective to provide
a focused overview of the status and trends of iOS m-health apps and an analysis of related technology,
architecture, and user interface design issues.
The top 200 apps were classified into different groups
according to their purposes, functions, and user satisfaction. It was shown that although the biggest
group of apps was medical information reference apps that were delivered from or related to medical
articles, websites, or journals, mobile users disproportionally favored tracking tools. It was clear that
m-health apps still had plenty of room to grow to take full advantage of unique mobile platform features
and truly fulfill their potential. In particular, introduction of two- or three-dimensional visualization and
context-awareness could further enhance m-health app’s usability and utility. This paper aims to serve
as a reference point and guide for developers and practitioners interested in using iOS as a platform for
m-health applications, particular from the technical point of view.
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