Participant Enrollment Portal
Step 1: Your Information
Please fill out the following demographic information. This data is collected for research purposes only and will be kept confidential.
Step 2: Informed Consent
Please read the following consent form in its entirety. You must scroll to the bottom and agree before proceeding.
Research Study Consent Form
Open Usage Application Study
You are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by researchers at a university. The purpose of this study is to examine how people use their mobile devices for online activities and to better understand mobile browsing patterns and app usage behaviors.
What Will Happen
If you agree to participate, we will track your online behavior on your mobile phone for approximately 7 days. This tracking will include the websites you visit, the apps you use and how much time you spend in each app, and your general browsing patterns. Your participation will require minimal active involvement on your part, as the data collection will happen passively in the background.
Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You are free to decline to participate, and if you do choose to participate, you may withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
Privacy and Data Security
All data collected in this study will be completely anonymous, meaning that no personally identifiable information will be collected or linked to your data. The information gathered will be encrypted and stored securely, used only for research purposes, and reported only in aggregate form to ensure your privacy is protected.
Risks and Benefits
The risks associated with participating in this study are minimal. While there is no direct benefit to you personally, your participation may contribute valuable insights to our understanding of digital behavior that could benefit society more broadly.
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact us at support@openusage.app. For questions about your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Stanford University Institutional Review Board at irbnonmed@stanford.edu.
By proceeding, you acknowledge that you are at least 18 years old, have read and understood this consent form, and voluntarily agree to participate in this research study.
Step 3: Important Instructions
Installation Guide
1. Downloading from mobile browser
Upon completing the enrollment portion, you will enter the download page. This will contain some brief instructions, along with your assigned Participant ID and a download button. Please click "Download App (APK)", and once it has downloaded, click "Open" on the top right corner of your screen (circled in red in the image above).
If this is your first time installing an app from this browser, you may be prompted to grant permission for the browser to install applications. Select "Settings", then enable "Allow from this source" to continue.
After enabling permissions to allow your browser to install unknown apps, you will be able to install the app. Click on "Install", which will likely provide an extra prompt, seen in the image below.
You may choose to scan the app before proceeding, or can simply select "More details" and "Install without scanning", which will allow you to skip the scanning step.
If you choose to scan the app...
Due to the extensive data collection involved with this study, Google Play Protect may mark the application as harmful after scanning. If prompted with this, simply click "More details" > "Install anyway", as seen in the image above.
2. Enabling special permissions
Once the app has been successfully downloaded onto your device, please paste or manually type the granted Participant ID into the "Participant ID" section of the application, as seen in the image above. Once you fill this out, click "Begin Study", which will take you to the permissions page.
NOTE: Depending on your participant group, you will have to enable distinct permissions.
Upon trying to enable permissions, you will likely run into the issue of being unable to enable these permissions within the app. This will require the extra step of entering your settings, and looking for the Open Usage app within the "Apps" section of your settings, as seen below.
To be able to enable special permissions within the app, you must find the Open Usage app within the "Apps" section of your settings, and click on it.
Upon entering this page, to enable special permissions, hit on the "⋮" in the top right corner of your device, as circled in the image above.
Next, you will see a pop up that says "Allow restricted settings". Please click on it for the tracking capabilities to be enabled within the app.
3. App tracking permissions
After special permissions have been enabled manually through the settings, you will now be able to enable all required permissions within the application. Return to the Open Usage app, and enable all requested permissions. Again, permissions will vary depending on your assigned participant group.
After enabling all permissions, you will be prompted to enable the settings in the images above. Please click "Allow/Yes" whenever prompted to ensure that the app is granted the necessary permissions to collect data while it runs in the background, and to notify you of any important information.
If you have successfully completed all prior steps, you will see the page in the image above. You are all set to participate!
FAQs
Why did I get re-prompted to enable Media Projection?
Whenever you turn off your device, the application will re-prompt you to enable Media Projection permissions. Please re-enable this permission, as this will permit the application to continue collecting data.
Why is there a red "recording" icon when I enable Media Projection permissions?
Please note that this icon does not mean that the application is actively recording your device, rather it is an indicator that Media Projection permissions are currently enabled. It is required by the Android API that this icon be present, but no recording is being done, rather data is collected through periodic screenshots.
Enrollment Complete
Your Participant ID is:
Write this down or take a screenshot. You will need to enter this ID in the app after installation.
Next Steps
- Download the app using the button below
- Open the downloaded APK file to install it (you may need to allow installation from unknown sources in your phone settings)
- Open the app and enter your Participant ID:
- Grant the requested permissions
- The app will run in the background — use your phone normally
For more detailed instructions, return to the instructions page.
If you have trouble installing the app, please contact the research team.