A Structured Review and Evaluation of Android Mobile Applications for Yoga Support

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mobile Health (mHealth)
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Hundreds of mobile yoga applications exist, but their quality and utility remain largely unevaluated.
• Systematic quality assessments are crucial for understanding the current landscape of mHealth apps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a structured quality evaluation of mobile yoga applications available on the Google Play store.
• To identify areas of strength and weakness in existing yoga apps to guide future development.

Main Methods:

• A validated tool, the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS), was used for evaluation.
• Two independent raters assessed 18 selected yoga apps from the Google Play store after applying specific inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Main Results:

• The selected yoga apps achieved a mean MARS score of 4.11 out of 5, indicating good overall quality.
• High interrater reliability (ICC = .88) was observed, confirming the consistency of the ratings.
• Apps excelled in functionality and aesthetics but showed significant room for improvement in information quality and user engagement.

Conclusions:

• While mobile yoga apps demonstrate strong functionality and aesthetics, enhancing user engagement and the evidence base for informational content is critical.
• Designers and researchers should prioritize improving user engagement features and validating the information provided within these applications.