MSR 2024
Mon 15 - Tue 16 April 2024 Lisbon, Portugal
co-located with ICSE 2024
Mon 15 Apr 2024 16:12 - 16:24 at Almada Negreiros - Mobile Apps Chair(s): Dario Di Nucci

App stores allow developers to globally distribute their apps to gain more users and attention. In the highly competitive market of app stores, developers need to cater to a large number of users spanning multiple countries. We posit that the characteristics of diverse geographical, linguistic, cultural, societal, and economic environments may impact the adoption of apps. In this paper, we take the first step to characterize popular apps across over 150 countries worldwide,
and explore the potential correlations to a number of underlying factors including geography, language as well as cultural, societal, and economic dimensions. Our study is based on a longitudinal (one-year) daily app popularity dataset that covers 154 regions around the world. We reveal that app popularity shows great diversity across the world, while similarities exist among countries that share geographical proximity and linguistic convergence. The differences in app popularity across regions can be further correlated with the cultural model and socioeconomic indices we adopt. On top of the dataset and findings, we implement a prediction task that contributes to app distribution, helping developers choose the right market to distribute and promote their apps. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to attempt to provide a global understanding of the characteristics of app popularity across the mobile app ecosystem. Our observations can benefit stakeholders in the ecosystem, striving to improve app uptake.

Mon 15 Apr

Displayed time zone: Lisbon change

16:00 - 17:30
Mobile AppsData and Tool Showcase Track / Technical Papers at Almada Negreiros
Chair(s): Dario Di Nucci University of Salerno
16:00
12m
Talk
Automating GUI-based Test Oracles for Mobile Apps
Technical Papers
Kesina Baral CQSE America, Jack Johnson , Junayed Mahmud George Mason University, Sabiha Salma George Mason University, Mattia Fazzini University of Minnesota, Julia Rubin University of British Columbia, Jeff Offutt George Mason University, Kevin Moran University of Central Florida
16:12
12m
Talk
Global Prosperity or Local Monopoly? Understanding the Geography of App Popularity
Technical Papers
Liu Wang Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Conghui Zheng Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Haoyu Wang Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Xiapu Luo The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Gareth Tyson Queen Mary University of London, Yi Wang , Shangguang Wang Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
16:24
12m
Talk
GuiEvo: Automated Evolution of Mobile App UIs
Technical Papers
Sabiha Salma George Mason University, S M Hasan Mansur George Mason University, Yule Zhang George Mason University, Kevin Moran University of Central Florida
16:36
12m
Talk
Comparing Apples to Androids: Discovery, Retrieval, and Matching of iOS and Android Apps for Cross-Platform Analyses
Technical Papers
Magdalena Steinböck TU Wien, Jakob Bleier TU Wien, Mikka Rainer CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, Tobias Urban Institute for Internet Security & secunet Security Networks AG, Christine Utz CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, Martina Lindorfer TU Wien
16:48
12m
Talk
Keep Me Updated: An Empirical Study on Embedded Javascript Engines in Android Apps
Technical Papers
Elliott Wen The University of Auckland, Jiaxiang Liu The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Xiapu Luo The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Giovanni Russello University of Auckland, Jens Dietrich Victoria University of Wellington
17:00
12m
Talk
Large Language Model vs. Stack Overflow in Addressing Android Permission Related Challenges
Technical Papers
Sahrima Jannat Oishwee University of Saskatchewan, Natalia Stakhanova University of Saskatchewan, Zadia Codabux University of Saskatchewan, Canada
17:12
4m
Talk
DATAR: A Dataset for Tracking App Releases
Data and Tool Showcase Track
Yasaman Abedini Sharif University of Technology, Mohammad Hadi Hajihosseini Sharif University of Technology, Abbas Heydarnoori Bowling Green State University
17:16
4m
Talk
AndroZoo: A Retrospective with a Glimpse into the Future
Data and Tool Showcase Track
Marco Alecci University of Luxembourg, Pedro Jesús Ruiz Jiménez University of Luxembourg, Kevin Allix Independent Researcher, Tegawendé F. Bissyandé University of Luxembourg, Jacques Klein University of Luxembourg