MASA is an Android application developed by research engineers at the New York University’s Center of Social Media and Politics (CSMaP) in collaboration with Audacious Software. The application collects information from registered and consenting research participants about the time they spend on specific apps they grant us access to.

The app collects real time app usage data–like how many minutes you used Facebook and X on your phone. You can only participate if you are recruited into a study and have been provided with a user ID at the start of the survey. The provided user ID is used throughout the study, including when registering and using the MASA app.

A successfully registered MASA app looks like below

USAGE: Provides information on real time app usage for apps that are being monitored in the study within the day

SUPPORT: Provides information on how to request for assistance for technical and other issues with the app and also inquire about the study

SETTINGS: Provides information about the user, app and, data transmission settings. Information about the app technology information is also provided. Within this tab a user can update apps to be monitored and update data transmission settings they authorized during the onboarding process