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With the ever-growing number of smartphones users, mobile
applications have increased rapidly worldwide. The total number of
mobile applications on Google Play and Apple Apps, the two biggest app
stores, was 5.7 million in the first quarter of 2021. These mobile
applications have been developed for different fields, including health.
The health apps category is known as mobile health apps or, in short, as
mhealth apps. The total number of mhealth apps from Google Play and
Apple apps stores was 107,000 in the first quarter of 2021,
constituting 2% of the total mobile apps. Mhealth refers to the
use of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable
devices, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs),
and other wireless devices to deliver healthcare services through apps
developed for these purposes . There are numerous functions, uses,
and applications of mhealth in different medical specialities and
disciplines such as medication management, chronic care management,
women’s health, personal health record, healthcare and fitness, nutrition
and diet, and patient education apps . Functions of mhealth apps
include providing distance healthcare services through virtual visits via
text, audio and video conversations, personal monitoring and tracking,
population health education, epidemic tracking, and making
appointments. These apps provide the users with the necessary
information, record and save the user’s data, provide medical guidance,
facilitate diagnosis and consultation, and alert the user when needed. In
Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health (MOH), in its vision, states that it
strives to deliver best-quality integrated and comprehensive healthcare
services to the population. To realize the vision, the MOH has developed
a business strategy that depends on eHealth as a primary transformation
policy to enhance the provision of healthcare services to meet the
growing demand and the increasing costs of these services. Moreover,
the MOH has also adopted mhealth to improve access to
healthcare services, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To
prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Saudi government took necessary
measures, including complete and partial curfew, the suspension of mass
gatherings like praying in mosques, domestic and international flights,
and social and sports events. In addition, all educational institutions
were closed. Other prevention measures included the practice of socialdistancing, mandatory use of masks, and the introduction of awareness
campaigns. In line with these measures, the Saudi MOH has developed
and launched different mhealth apps to continue the provision of
healthcare services, tracking the movement of individuals to ensure
social distancing, population education, virus tracking, test result
reporting, and tracking infection status. Most of the mhealth apps were
developed for the COVID-19 containment and healthcare provision
during the pandemic.