Characterization of early smartwatch apps

Jagmohan Chauhan; Suranga Seneviratne; Mohamed Ali Kaafar; Anirban Mahanti; Aruna Seneviratne

doi:10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170

Characterization of early smartwatch apps

Jagmohan Chauhan, Suranga Seneviratne, Mohamed Ali Kaafar, Anirban Mahanti, Aruna Seneviratne

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Wearable smart devices are already amongst us. Currently, smartwatches are one of the key drivers of the wearable technology and are being used by a large population of consumers. This paper takes a first look at this increasingly popular technology with a systematic characterization of the smartwatch app markets. We conduct a large scale analysis of three popular smartwatch app markets: Android Wear, Samsung, and Apple, and characterize more than 14,000 smartwatch apps in multiple aspects such as prices, number of developers and categories. Our analysis shows that approximately 41% and 30% of the apps in Android Wear and Samsung app markets are Personalization apps that provide watch faces. Further, we provide a generic taxonomy for apps on all three platforms based on their packaging and modes of communication, that allow us to investigate apps with respect to privacy and security. Finally, we study the privacy risks associated with the app usage by identifying third party trackers integrated into these apps and personal information leakage through network traffic analysis. We show that a higher percentage of Apple apps (62%) are connected to third party trackers compared to Samsung (36%) and Android Wear (46%).

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2016 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops
Place of Publication	Piscataway
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9781509019410
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170
Publication status	Published - 19 Apr 2016
Externally published	Yes
Event	13th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops, PerCom Workshops 2016 - Sydney, Australia Duration: 14 Mar 2016 → 18 Mar 2016

Conference

Conference	13th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops, PerCom Workshops 2016
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney
Period	14/03/16 → 18/03/16

Access to Document

10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170

Cite this

@inproceedings{9b5b45ecedb54f6d9f53b83f0a743c3d,

title = "Characterization of early smartwatch apps",

abstract = "Wearable smart devices are already amongst us. Currently, smartwatches are one of the key drivers of the wearable technology and are being used by a large population of consumers. This paper takes a first look at this increasingly popular technology with a systematic characterization of the smartwatch app markets. We conduct a large scale analysis of three popular smartwatch app markets: Android Wear, Samsung, and Apple, and characterize more than 14,000 smartwatch apps in multiple aspects such as prices, number of developers and categories. Our analysis shows that approximately 41% and 30% of the apps in Android Wear and Samsung app markets are Personalization apps that provide watch faces. Further, we provide a generic taxonomy for apps on all three platforms based on their packaging and modes of communication, that allow us to investigate apps with respect to privacy and security. Finally, we study the privacy risks associated with the app usage by identifying third party trackers integrated into these apps and personal information leakage through network traffic analysis. We show that a higher percentage of Apple apps (62%) are connected to third party trackers compared to Samsung (36%) and Android Wear (46%).",

author = "Jagmohan Chauhan and Suranga Seneviratne and Kaafar, {Mohamed Ali} and Anirban Mahanti and Aruna Seneviratne",

year = "2016",

month = apr,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170",

language = "English",

booktitle = "2016 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)",

address = "United States",

note = "13th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops, PerCom Workshops 2016 ; Conference date: 14-03-2016 Through 18-03-2016",

}

Chauhan, J, Seneviratne, S, Kaafar, MA, Mahanti, A & Seneviratne, A 2016, Characterization of early smartwatch apps. in 2016 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops., 7457170, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Piscataway, 13th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops, PerCom Workshops 2016, Sydney, Australia, 14/03/16. https://doi.org/10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170

Characterization of early smartwatch apps. / Chauhan, Jagmohan; Seneviratne, Suranga; Kaafar, Mohamed Ali et al.
2016 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops. Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2016. 7457170.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Characterization of early smartwatch apps

AU - Chauhan, Jagmohan

AU - Seneviratne, Suranga

AU - Kaafar, Mohamed Ali

AU - Mahanti, Anirban

AU - Seneviratne, Aruna

PY - 2016/4/19

Y1 - 2016/4/19

N2 - Wearable smart devices are already amongst us. Currently, smartwatches are one of the key drivers of the wearable technology and are being used by a large population of consumers. This paper takes a first look at this increasingly popular technology with a systematic characterization of the smartwatch app markets. We conduct a large scale analysis of three popular smartwatch app markets: Android Wear, Samsung, and Apple, and characterize more than 14,000 smartwatch apps in multiple aspects such as prices, number of developers and categories. Our analysis shows that approximately 41% and 30% of the apps in Android Wear and Samsung app markets are Personalization apps that provide watch faces. Further, we provide a generic taxonomy for apps on all three platforms based on their packaging and modes of communication, that allow us to investigate apps with respect to privacy and security. Finally, we study the privacy risks associated with the app usage by identifying third party trackers integrated into these apps and personal information leakage through network traffic analysis. We show that a higher percentage of Apple apps (62%) are connected to third party trackers compared to Samsung (36%) and Android Wear (46%).

AB - Wearable smart devices are already amongst us. Currently, smartwatches are one of the key drivers of the wearable technology and are being used by a large population of consumers. This paper takes a first look at this increasingly popular technology with a systematic characterization of the smartwatch app markets. We conduct a large scale analysis of three popular smartwatch app markets: Android Wear, Samsung, and Apple, and characterize more than 14,000 smartwatch apps in multiple aspects such as prices, number of developers and categories. Our analysis shows that approximately 41% and 30% of the apps in Android Wear and Samsung app markets are Personalization apps that provide watch faces. Further, we provide a generic taxonomy for apps on all three platforms based on their packaging and modes of communication, that allow us to investigate apps with respect to privacy and security. Finally, we study the privacy risks associated with the app usage by identifying third party trackers integrated into these apps and personal information leakage through network traffic analysis. We show that a higher percentage of Apple apps (62%) are connected to third party trackers compared to Samsung (36%) and Android Wear (46%).

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84966570080&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170

DO - 10.1109/PERCOMW.2016.7457170

M3 - Conference proceeding contribution

AN - SCOPUS:84966570080

BT - 2016 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

CY - Piscataway

T2 - 13th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops, PerCom Workshops 2016

Y2 - 14 March 2016 through 18 March 2016

ER -

Characterization of early smartwatch apps

Abstract

Conference

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this