The present study aimed to systematically search in app stores and intended to carry out content analysis of free Persian mobile health apps in the management of COVID-19 and, ultimately determine the relationship between the popularity and quality of these apps. According to a researcher-made checklist including five axes of ease of use, privacy, data sharing, education, and monitoring, four app markets such as Myket, Bazzar, Google Play and App Store were searched from May 2021 up to now. The findings showed that all selected apps performed well in terms of ease of use and privacy but they needed to be improved in terms of education, monitoring, and data sharing. Also, there was no significant relationship between the popularity and quality of these apps. Owing to the high penetration rate of smartphones in Iran and the low popularity of COVID-19 apps, government, developers, and investors are required to improve the quality of apps and their marketing.
Keywords: COVID-19; Content analysis; Mobile health app; Persian app.