“WILL THIS HELP?” GEOSCIENCES AND THE STATE OF FREE MOBILE APPS

Mobile phone apps are widespread, and discipline specific apps are becoming more common as familiarity and demand for quick access increase. While these apps proliferate through student populations and hobbyists, geoscience professionals have largely been silent, and this lack of voice has allowed for a preponderance of misinformation and apps which do not supply the information, expertise, or tools needed to create a well-informed geoscience public. Compounding this issue is a lack of clear assessment criteria which could be used to assess these applications in an unambiguous and concise manner. For this study, we compared twelve of the top rated geology apps from the Google Play© store, and developed 82 criteria in order to assess usability, accuracy, bias, authority, currency, and scope. While many apps are developed for specific uses, these encompassing criteria allow for comparison of apps across a range of needs, and allows users to gauge the trustworthiness of an app. Analysis of the scores demonstrates that many apps lack key details which would be concerning for geoscience professionals, underlining the importance of experts in the development of popular applications.