Table 4. Illustrative quotations for qualitative findings.

Maintaining a sense of normalcy and social connections     1. “[Using mobile apps] has provided accountability to myself to do at least a little something of tracked exercise every day. I was furloughed from work, so [I] lost structure to my day and being able to track helped maintain a sense of structure.” (F, 28, US)     2. “My use of technology has been extremely helpful in bringing some sense of normalcy into my life. Since I have had limited ability to recreate outside like normal, it has helped me adjust the way that I maintain my fitness by providing me more workout options to do in my apartment (exercise videos, biking on trainer instead of outside, etc.), track progress so I can envision how it would compare to outside, and provide entertainment/ambiance of being outside (scenic videos/nature sounds).” (F, 28, US)     3. “As a family, we have started using the Couch to 10K app to train for a 10K run together. This has helped us stay in touch and keep us motivated.” (F, 49, Australia)     4. “Platforms such as WhatsApp, Zoom and Facetime have allowed me to maintain connections with my friends and family. This has been essential for mental health.” (F, 42, Australia)

Technologies as a double-edged sword     5. “Social media serves as diversion or entertainment and source of information as well during the pandemic.” (F, 41, Philippines)     6. “Keeping away from some of the apps made me less stressed. I was not checking any update on COVID19 patients. I avoided all those unsolicited health advices that bombard Facebook/YouTube in form of ads.” (F, 39, Australia)     7. “[My fitness tracker] has given me a guilty feeling that my exercise routine is reduced. [I feel] guilty when I see my counts barely reaching my expected goal due to working and not leaving my office.” (F, 37, Australia)

Desired features of technology Adaptability     8. “I am someone who has […] solidly incorporated several fitness apps into my daily life. BUT during COVID my use of them almost stopped […]. I was exercising less in solid blocks of a single activity (e.g., at the gym) and cooking more from scratch, both of which are more complicated to log. The impact of apps on my health experience any other time has been a great and positive one but that actually changed during COVID, as they weren’t designed for the highly restricted behavior people were forced into.” (F, 27, Australia)     9. “During COVID, I used physical activity apps to avoid passing by COVID-19 hotspots/where confirmed cases have been.” (M, 43, Vietnam)     10. “My use of apps has reduced as I took responsibility of my own fitness—walking. Because I could only walk in the same area, I developed my own challenges along the route.” (F, 61, Australia) Gamification     11. “I’ve also used games like Nintendo Switch ring fit and just dance for activity at home.” (F, 38, UK)     12. “Now I still use the Qantas Wellbeing app to track my steps (& you can ’compete’ with friends in weekly challenges).” (F, 31, Australia)

Notes: The bracket provides gender, age, and country of residence. F: female, M: male.