In this repository, we host the necessary data for reproducing our study on Covid-related Android apps. We believe this study to be of interest for the research community and encourage researchers to explore more in-depth our work.
The paper has been accepted to be published in Empirical Software Engineering, Springer (EMSE) - 2021
The paper is available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10664-021-09943-x
Due to the convenience of access-on-demand to information and business solutions, mobile apps have become an important asset in the digital world. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, app developers have joined the response effort in various ways by releasing apps that target different user bases (e.g., all citizens or journalists), offer different services (e.g., location tracking or diagnostic-aid), provide generic or specialized information, etc. While many apps have raised some concerns by spreading misinformation or even malware, the literature does not yet provide a clear landscape of the different apps that were developed. In this study, we focus on the Android ecosystem and investigate Covid-related Android apps. In a best effort scenario, we attempt to systematically identify all relevant apps and study their characteristics with the objective to provide a first taxonomy of Covid-related apps, broadening the relevance beyond the implementation of contact tracing. Overall, our study yields a number of empirical insights that contribute to enlarge the knowledge on Covid-related apps: (1) Developer communities contributed rapidly to the Covid-19, with apps released as early as February 2020; (2) Covid-related apps deliver digital tools to users (e.g., health diaries), serve to broadcast information to users (e.g., spread statistics), and collect data from users (e.g., for tracing); (3) Covid-related apps are less complex than standard apps; (4) they generally do not seem to leak sensitive data; (5) in the majority of cases, Covid-related apps are released by entities with past experience on the market, mostly official government entities or public health organizations.
We would be glad if the community helps provide more sample for further studies, hence we are open to contributions. Note that we only consider Covid-related apps, therefore submitted apps will be verified before being accepted.
For any question regarding this study, please contact us at: Jordan Samhi