Features and functionalities of smartphone apps related to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Knowledge of the quantity and quality of coronavirus apps is lacking. In addition, there is no directory containing all of the apps developed to address the coronavirus pandemic. OBJECTIVE To identify the smartphone apps designed to address the coronavirus pandemic and to analyze their characteristics. METHODS We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of all smartphone apps associated with COVID-19. Between April 27 and May 2, 2020, we searched the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android) for coronavirus apps. The search terms used were "coronavirus", "COVID-19", and "SARS-COV-2". Applications were downloaded and evaluated. The variables analyzed were name, platform, country, language, category of the app, cost, update date, size, version, downloads, developer, and purpose. Purpose was further classified into the following categories: news, general information, self-diagnosis, contact tracing, notices to contacts, notification of close cases, awareness, helplines, monitoring of clinical parameters, recording of symptoms and treatment, and messaging with healthcare professionals. RESULTS App characteristics: We identified a total of 114 apps on the platforms. Of these, 54.4% (62/114) were on Android and 45.6% (52/114) on iOS. Thirty-seven apps (32.5%) were developed in Europe, 32 (28.1%) in Asia, and 30 (26.3%) in North America. The most frequent languages were English (65/114) apps [57.0%]), Spanish (34/114) apps [29.8%]), and Chinese (14/114) apps [12.3%]). The most frequent categories were health and well-being/fitness (41/114) apps [41.2%]) and medicine (43/114) apps [37.7%]). A total of 113 apps (99.1%) were free. The mean time between the date of the analysis and the date of the last update was 11.1 days (SD = 11.0). Overall, 83.3% (95/114) apps were intended for the general population, 7.9% (99/114) apps for health professionals, and 2.6% (3/114) for both. Regarding the type of developer, 64 (56.1%) apps were developed by governments. Of these, 64.1% (42/114) were national governments, and 35.9% (23/114) were regional. The apps with the highest number of downloads (100,000+) were developed by governments (p= .13), except for the WHO app (500,000+). Purpose of the apps: The purposes were as follows: general information about coronavirus (66/107) apps [64.0%], coronavirus news (53/107) apps [51.0%], recording of symptoms (53/107) apps [51.0%], and contact tracing (51/107) apps [47.7%]. More than 1 purpose was identified in 92.5% (99/107) apps. CONCLUSIONS The article offers a comprehensive and unique review of all available coronavirus apps. Governments have opted for these tools, and more than half of the apps developed were developed by governments. The most frequent are based on providing information on the number of patients infected, recovered, and deceased, as well as on the recording of symptoms and contact tracing. CLINICALTRIAL