Mobile App
User’sGuide
REDCapMobileAppUser’sGuide6.21.2016 2
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INTRODUCTIONAbouttheAppREDCap software provides its online userswith the ability to create andmanagesurveysanddatabasesquicklyandsecurelytofacilitatedatacollection.TheREDCapMobileAppaddsanewdimensiontothesoftware'sversatilitybyprovidinguserswith a tool for offline data collection, particularly in environments with poorinternetconnectivity.REDCapuserscannowcollecttheirREDCapdatainamobileapponaniPhone,iPad,orAndroidphoneortablet.WithREDCapandtheREDCapMobile App, users have new options for electronic data capture for studies thatunderpreviouscircumstanceswouldhavedictatedpenandpaper.TheappcannotbeusedonitsownbutisacompanionappthatmustbeusedalongsideREDCapitself.AllusersoftheappmustalreadybeaREDCapuserbeforeusingtheapp.Toactivate theMobileApp inyourproject, there is a$1,000 fee (perproject).Usersupport for theMobile App is $85/hour. The $1,000 fee will be billed to the PIbeforeactivationoftheApp.
AppVideosClickonthefollowingvideolinksforanappoverviewandinstallationandsetupinstructions.
• REDCapMobileApp–Overview• REDCapMobileApp–Installation&Setup
AppWorkflowTheREDCapmobileappisanappthatcanbeinstalledonatabletormobiledevicesothatdatamaythenbecollected inanofflinefashiononthatdevice,afterwhich itmaythenbesyncedbacktothisprojectontheREDCap server. The app ismost usefulwhen data collectionwill be performedwhere there isno internetservice (e.g., noWi-Fi or cellular service) orwhere there is unreliable internet service. Once a user in theprojectisgiven'REDCapMobileApp'privileges,theycannavigatetothemobileapppageontheproject’sleft-handmenuandsetuptheprojectinsidethemobileappontheirdevice.Oncethemobileprojectissetuponthedevice,theusercancollectdata(whichisstoredlocallyonthedevice),andthenatsomepointsyncthatdatabacktothisprojectontheREDCapserver.
CreateProject(REDCap)
DownloadProject
DownloadData?
CollectData SendData
ResyncProject
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AppConceptThesearethestepsforahighlevelviewofhowtheMobileAppworks:1. CreateanddesignprojectonyourREDCapinstallation.2. ContacttheREDCapTeamtoactivatetheMobileAppandgettoken.Note:Thereisa$1000turn-onfee
perproject.Usersupportis$85/hour.3. SetUpproject.Whileonline,setuptheprojectontheappusingacodeprovidedinREDCap.4. Collectdatafromparticipants.Thiscanbedoneoffline,oronline(ifinternetaccessbecomesavailable).5. SendaffecteddatatotheREDCapserversecurely.Newrecordsaresentasapackage;modifiedrecords
havetheirvaluesadjudicatedagainstexistingservervalues.Theappuserwill thenbegivenachancetorefreshtheproject.Thisstepmustbedoneonline.
6. ViewandAnalyzedata.OncethedataisuploadedtoREDCap,itisalivingpartoftheproject.REDCapvs.theAppYouDONOTneedtousetheMobileApptoenterdataintoREDCapfromadevice.Ifyouhaveaninternetconnection,youcansimplyuseabrowsertocollectdatathroughsurveysordataentryforms.
Thetwooptionsforcollectingdatafromadevicearecomparedbelow:
DownloadingaProjectNewproject creation is not possible in the REDCapMobile App itself. The app’s purpose is to collect dataofflinethatwilllaterbeaddedtoanexistingprojectinthewebbasedREDCapapplication.Inordertodoso,acopyoftheproject’sdatacollectioninstrumentsmustbereconfiguredintheREDCapMobileApp.
REDCapOnlineBrowser REDCapMobileAppUseifthereisareliableandsecureandinternetconnection
Useifthereisno,oranunreliable,internetconnection
DataisdirectlyenteredintotheREDCapprojectonceaformissavedonthedevice.Nodataisstoredonthedevice.
Dataissavedonthedeviceonceaformissaved,andwillnotbeenteredinthemainREDCapprojectuntildataissynced(viaaninternetconnection).
Dataisalwaysup-to-dateintheREDCapproject. DatamightbeoutofsyncifthedatastoredonthedeviceisnotregularlysyncedtothemainREDCapproject.
Noadditionalsecuritymeasuresrequiredonthedevice.
Furthersecuritymeasuresmustbetakentoensuredatasecurity.
TheREDCapinterfaceisexactlythesameasitisondesktop.
Theinterfaceisadjustedtofituniquelyforamobiledevice,andlooksslightlydifferent.
UseraccountsandrightssetinREDCapareapplicable.
SeparateuseraccountsanduserrightsareneededtobecreatedintheAppandAPItokensarerequiredtolinkbacktouseraccountsinthemainREDCapproject.
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APPUSERSAdminInterfaceWiththespecially-createdpassword,theadminusercanlogin.Thiswillresultinaccessingaspecialinterfacethatenablestheadmintodojustabouteverythingintheappbutcollectdata.Thisallowsprojectstheabilityto separate data collection from app administration through user rights management. Or if full access isdesired for users, then full rights can be given, and the admin interface need not be used - which is thedefault.Anadmincanaddusersandcustomizeuserrights.Userpasswordscanberesethere.Whenauseriscreated,fullrightsareautomaticallygiven.Theadmin(andonlytheadmin)canrevokerights.Ifallrightsarerevoked,theusercanonlycollectdatafornewrecords.Thisallowsasortofusermanagementforprojectsdependingonthetrustandtheabilityofthedatacollector.Projectscanbemanagedbytheadmininterfaceforeachuser.Onecansetupamobileappproject.Onecanalsosendanydataforaproject.DatacanbedumpedtotheMobileAppFileRepositoryonREDCap,logscanbesent,andprojectscanberefreshed.Everythingbutdatacollectionispossiblethroughthisinterface. UserResponsibilitiesREDCapProjectCreator:
• CreateanddesigntheREDCapproject.• GrantmobilerightsaccesstotheappropriateREDCapusers.
REDCapUser:• CreateatokenfortheprojectsothatitcanbedistributedtotheAppUser.• Coordinatedatareceptionfromtheapp(s).Noactionisrequiredotherthanmonitoringtheproject.
App(Device)User:• Downloadtheprojectontotheapp.
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• Collectdataontheapp.• Senddatafromtheapptotheserveratanappropriatetime.• Keeptheprojectup-to-datebyreinitializingtheprojectafterdataissent.
UserManagementYoucanaddmultipleuserstothedeviceintheAdd&ManageUserssection.EachuserwillhaveauniquePINthatyouassigntoprovideaccess.Eachappuser,however,maintainsuniqueprojectcopiesonthedeviceandcannotsharethesameREDCapMobileAppprojects.AnappuserdownloadsthemainprojectfromaREDCapuserontheserverwiththeopportunitytodownloadalldatathathasbeenenteredoruploaded.Thisappusercollectsdata separately fromanyoneelse (i.e., thedata is siloed toeachappuser and thenagain, toeachREDCapMobile App project).When the app user sends data to the server, the process handles duplicaterecordID’sandconflictingdata,andconflictsarepresentedtotheappuser.(ThisisdescribedintheSendingDatasection.)Afterthedataissent,theREDCapusercanviewthedata.UserRightsItisimportanttonotethattheuserprivilegesinsidetheREDCapMobileAppmimicauser'sprivilegesintheprojectontheREDCapserverwithregardtodatacollection.Forinstance,ifauserhas'NoAccess'DataEntryRightsforaspecificdatacollectioninstrument,thentheuserwillalsonothaveaccesstothatinstrumentintheapp.Thereisanadditionaluserprivilegeassociatedwiththeappthatallowsyoutochoosewhetherornottheuserisabletodownloaddata(i.e.,recordsinthisproject)tothemobileappontheirdevice.Forexample,youmaychoosenottoallowthemtodownloadrecorddatatotheappifthisprojectcontainsverysensitivedata(e.g.,PHI).
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USINGTHEAPPGettingStarted1. LogintoREDCapandselectyourcorrelatingprojectfromyour“MyProjects”page.
2. Contact the REDCap Team to turn on theMobile App and grantmobile apps user rights. Locate theApplicationsfeaturesontheleftsidebar.ChoosetheUserRightsapplicationandaddREDCapMobileApprightsforyourselforanotherappropriateuser.Byrule,youwillnowbeabletodownloadthefulldatasetandrequestanAPItokenregardlessofpreviouspermissionslevels.
The‘REDCapMobileApp’userrightallowsusersto:• SetuptheprojectinsidetheMobileApponyourdevice.• Collectdatawhichisstoredlocallyonthedevice.• SyncthatdatabacktothisprojectontheREDCapserver.• TheREDCapMobileAppsectioniswhereuserscanviewtheApplogandfilearchive.The‘Allowusertodownloaddataforallrecordstotheapp?’userrightallowsusersto:• Downloadrecordsfromtheservertotheapp.• Uncheckingthisprivilegepreventsusers fromunwittingly (orwittingly)downloading lotsofsensitive
datatotheirmobiledevice.• Ifauserisgiventhisprivilege,thenwhentheyinitializetheprojectintheAppandtheprojectcontains
at least one record, then the Appwill prompt the user to choose if theywish to download all therecordstotheAppornot.
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3. Requesttokenandgetappaccesscode.ClicktheREDCapMobileApplinkonthesidebarandrequestanAPItoken.Oncethetokeniscreated,returntothatpage(orrefreshthepage).AQRcodeisnowavailableundertheInitializeProjectinMobileApptab.IfyouhavetroublewiththeQRcode,clickthe“Can’tgettheQRcodetowork?”linktoaccessa10-characteraccesscodethatcanbeenteredmanually.
4. Downloadandopentheapponyourdevice.DownloadtheMobileApponyouriOSorAndroiddeviceby
searchingtheAppStoreorGooglePlayStorefor'REDCap'onyourmobiledevicetofindtheapptheretodownload.Theappisavailableforthefollowingplatforms:iOS6.0orlater(iPhone4andup,iPad2andup)andAndroid4.3orlater(phonesandtablets).BelowarethelinksfordownloadingtheappfromtheAppleAppStoreorfromtheGooglePlayStore(dependingonwhattypeofmobiledeviceyouhave).
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iOSapponAppStore:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/redcap-mobile-app/id972760478
AndroidapponGooglePlay:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.vanderbilt.redcap
5. Setuptheproject.Clickthe‘SetUpMobileProject’button.
Optionallydownloadingdata:Inadditiontothedatacollectioninstruments,youcanchoosewhetheryouwant to download data from the project or not. This process happens while online immediately afteradding or resynchronizing the mobile project. When resynchronizing a mobile project on the REDCapMobileApp, all existingdata for thatprojecton the appwill bedeleted. (Thiswill not affect anyotherprojectsthatyouhaveaddedintheapp.)
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6. Providethecode.ClicktheScanQRCodeandInitializebutton.ScantheQRcodethatyouseedisplayedor
enterthe10-characteraccesscodehere. Ifcorrect,eitherwillgrantyouaccesstotheprojectwhichhasnowbeenreplicatedonyourdeviceforofflinedatacollection.
DataCollectionWiththeprojectinplace,youcanbegindatacollectionforbothnewandexistingrecords.• Tap the Collect Data button and choose an instrument and a record. (This selection order is slightly
differentforclassicalprojects,one-armedlongitudinalprojects,andmulti-armedlongitudinalprojects.)• Ifthisisanewrecord,youmustchoosethefirstinstrument.Ifthisisanewrecordonaprojectwithout
auto-numberingenabled,youwillalsohavetochoosearecordname.• Enterdataandsettheformstatusatthebottomasneeded.• Saveyourdatainoneofthreeways:
o SaveRecord(tosavedataenteredandreturntotherecordslist)o SaveandContinue(tosavedataenteredandremainonthesamescreen)o Save and go to Next Instrument (to save data entered and move on to the next instrument in
sequence)
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Datacollectionfeatures:• Besidesfreetextandstructureddataentry,pictures,videos,andaudiocanbeuploadedintodesignated
filefields.Signaturescanbecapturedaswell.• Recordscanberenamedonthefirstform.Notethatrenamedrecordswillappearasnewrecordswhen
uploaded to the main database, so you will need to delete the original record there to complete thereplacementprocess.
• Instrumentscanbesecuredsothatparticipants/userswillonlyhavetheoptionofenteringdata(andnottraversingtherestoftheapp,whichcanjeopardizeconfidentiality).Theycanbeunlockedviatheprimaryuser'spin.
• Theamountofdatacollectionisonlyrestrictedbywhatyourdevice'sharddrivewillallow.• Alldatacollectioncanbeoffline–withoutInternetaccess.SendingDataWhenbackonline,youcansenddatatotheproject’sREDCapserver.Thiswillcoordinatethemobiledevice’sdatawiththemainREDCapproject.Ifrecordnamesordatavaluesconflict,youwillbegiventheopportunityto make adjustments before completing the upload. If the instruments themselves have been modified
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significantly in the main REDCap project since REDCapMobile App project setup, you will not be able tocompletetheupload.• Intheapp,clickonSendDatatoServer.• ClicktheBeginSendbutton.• NewrecordswillbeaddedtothemainREDCapprojectimmediatelyifnoconflictsexistorifconflictsexist
butareautomaticallyresolvedbytheapp.o If there are no duplicate record names/numbers, records will upload with the names/numbers
assignedattheapp.o Ifauto-numberingisenabledandthereisarecordnameconflict,REDCapwillautomaticallyupdatethe
recordnumberstothenextnumericalseriesofnumbersbeforeuploadingandprovidedetailsontheapppage.
o Ifauto-numberingisnotenabled,anewIDnumberissuggestedbutcanbemodifiedunlessitsnameconflictswithanewrecordontheserver.
• Existingrecordsthathavebeenmodifiedontheappwillhavemodificationsdetailedontheapppage.o Anoptiontosendthedatatotheserverforeachmodifiedrecordappears,aswellastheopportunity
toviewdetailsof thedifferencesbetween serverdataandappdata for that record. Individual fieldvaluescanbeselectedfromthedetails(i.e.,servervs.mobiledevice).
o Eachrecordthathasbeenmodifiedisusuallyauto-filledwitha“Yes”responsetothe“Senddatatotheserver?”question.Ifafterreviewingthescheduledchangesforthatrecord,youdecidenottomaketheupdate,changetheresponseto“No”toremoveitfromtheuploadqueue.
o Tochoose field-levelchanges,clickon thecells thathave the informationyouwant toenter for therecord.Youcanchoosefromeithertheappsideortheserversideofthetable.
o Specialscenariostonote:§ Ifarecordisdeletedfromthemainprojectafterithasbeenreplicatedintheappandachangewas
not made to the app record, the record will not upload from the app to the project as areplacement.Youwillnotreceiveanotificationfromtheapporserverthattheoriginalrecordhasbeendeleted.
§ Ifarecordisdeletedfromthemainprojectafterithasbeenreplicatedintheappandachangewasmadeto theapprecord,youwill receiveanotificationandoptiontochangethe IDnumberanduploadasanewrecord,ornottouploadtherecordatall.
§ Ifarecord isdeletedfromtheapp, itwillnotbedeletedfromtheserverafterdatasyncing.Youmayonlydeleterecordsfromthemainprojectontheserver.
§ Forcaseswhereauto-numbering isdisabled, ifanewrecordwasenteredontheserverwiththesame ID as a new record entered on the app, you are given the options tomerge the data, touploadtheappdatawithanewID,ornottouploadthedata.
§ ClickSendRecordswithChangestocompletedatauploadwhenready.§ ClickClean&ResetMobileProject(recommended)toremoveoldmobiledataandreplacewiththe
most current project information from the main REDCap project, or choose Back to Project tocontinueworkingwiththesamedata.IfyouchooseBacktoProject,uploadeddatawillnolongerbemarkedasnewormodified;thatis,itwillnolongerbequeuedforupload.
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EmergencyDataDumpWhensomethingpreventstheappfromsendingdatabacktotheservernormally,usethe“SendEmergencyDataDump”optiontosenddatatotheserverasaCSVfile.
ThefilewillshowupunderMobileAppFileArchivetab,readyforimport.
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ActivityLogsMobileAppLog:ProjectlogforactivityontheREDCapMobileAppisstoredinthemainprojectMobileAppFileArchive.Thesecanbetransmittedtotheserver(foronegivenproject)viatheSendProjectLogsbuttonontheProjectmenu.
ThefilewillshowupunderMobileAppFileArchivetab.
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REDCapMobileAppDashboardtabdisplaysalogofallmobileapprelatedactivity.
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APPSECURITYSecurityFeatures• SecureDataTransmission:DataistransmittedsecurelytoandfromtheREDCapserverviaSSL(https)ifit
issetupontheserver.IfSSLisnotsetupontheserver,theREDCapMobileAppwillalerttheuserwhentheprojectisdownloaded.
• Device’sHardDrive:Thedatabaseisencryptedonthemobiledevice'sharddriveusingSQLCipher(publickey/private keyencryption). Thisprevents someone frombreaking into the file in theeventof a stolendevice.
• Application:Aloginwitha6-digitpinisrequiredtoaccesstheapplication.Fiveloginattemptsareallowedbeforelockout,anda15-minutelockoutperiodisinitiated.Whentheapplicationissenttothebackgroundoriscloakedwithascreensaver,thepinisrequiredagaintoaccesstheapplicationifauserisloggedon.Similarloginattemptrulesandlockoutrulesapplywhentheuserreenterstheapplication.
• Instrument:TheSecuretheInstrumentfeaturerestrictsaccessbyaparticipanttoasingleform.Enablingthisfeatureallowsyoutohandoverthedevicetoaparticipanttoenterinformationdirectly,butlockstheparticipantoutoftherestoftheapplicationaswellasotherforms.REDCapMobileAppuser’s6-digitpinisrequired to unlock the form. Similarly, the 6-digit pin is required to reenter the form if the participantminimizestheapplicationorifascreensaverinterruptsformentry.
• Logs: Project logs for activity on the REDCapMobile App are stored in the database’sMobile App FileArchive.Thesecanbetransmittedtotheserver(foronegivenproject)viatheSendProjectLogsbuttonontheProjectmenu. These logs recorddata creation,modifications, anduploads; renaming,deletion, andviewingofrecords;anddownloadsofprojectinstrumentsandrecords.
AdditionalSecurityInformationSecureDataTransmissionSSL/HTTPS:Alldata in theREDCapMobileAppthat isdownloaded fromoruploadedtoaREDCapserver istransmitted using the REDCap API, which is a RESTful web service API. Therefore, as with all REDCap APIrequests,datatransmittedto/fromtheapp isdoneusingasecure,encryptedtransmission(SSL/HTTPS).Forincreased security, the app additionally verifies the SSL certificate of the REDCap server that it iscommunicatingwith inorder tovalidatetheserver’s identity.ByverifyingtheSSLcertificateof theREDCapserver, this precludes the possibility of a so-called “Man in theMiddle” attack during data transfer. If theREDCapserverdoesnothaveasignedcertificatefromaCertificateAuthority(CA)–eitheritisnotusingSSLorinsteadhasaself-signedSSLcertificate-thenawarningpopupwillappeartotheuserintheREDCapMobileApp whenever sending data to/from the REDCap server. This will ultimately not prevent the user fromproceedingwithaninsecuredatadownload/upload,butitwillstronglyencouragethemtowaitandtrytofindasaferconnectionatalatertimebeforeproceeding.Note:UsersconnectingtoaREDCapserverwithaself-signedSSLcertificatewillreceivethiswarningeverytime.
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SecureDataStorageEncryption:TheREDCapMobileAppemploysencryption-at-restonthemobiledevice’sharddrivesothatallimportantdataand information storedon thedevice isproperlyprotected fromunauthorizedormalicioususers.EncryptingtheREDCapdataonthedevicepreventsanyunauthorizedusersfromaccessingdataintheapp,eveniftheyweretogainaccesstothedevice’sfilesysteminsomeway(whetherusingadirecthardwareconnectionorviaothersoftwareonthedevice).AlluserPINsarecipheredusingSHAcryptography,andallstoredREDCapdatavalues (potentialPHIorPII),API tokens,andREDCapapp logsareencryptedusingAESencryptionstandardonthemobiledevice’sharddrive.TheencryptionkeysarestorediniOS’sKeychainandAndroid’sKeyStore,which isstandardpractice forachievingthehighest levelofsecurity forencrypteddatastorediniOSandAndroid.Noteaboutexternal/detachabledrives:TheREDCapMobileAppdoesnotallowanydatatobestoredonexternalharddrives(e.g.,USBFlashdrives)connectedtothemobiledevice.Tomaintainthegreatestlevelofsecurity,theapponlyallowsthedevice’sinternalharddrivetobeusedfordatastorage.Built-inSafeguardstoPreventUnauthorizedAccessUsernameandPIN:EachuserontheREDCapMobileApphasausernameandfour-digitPINthat isusedtoauthenticate the user before accessing their REDCap projects and data in the app. User PINs are cipheredusingSHAcryptographyandstored intheapp’s localdatabaseonthemobiledevice.Foradditionalsecuritypurposes,theapponlyallowsfiveloginattemptswithinafifteenminutewindow(acrossallusers),afterwhichthe user gets temporarily locked out. This severely restricts any unauthorized user from gaining access tosomeone’saccountintheapp.RemoteLockout:Incertainsituationsitmaybenecessarytoremotelylockoutapersonsothattheycannot(ornolonger)accessthedatastoredintheapportopreventthemfromdownloadingoruploadingdatatotheREDCap server from the app. Such situationswould assume that 1) theyhavedirect physical access to themobiledevice,and2)theyknowthePINforaccessingauser’saccountontheapp.Ifthisoccurs,thepersonwhoseREDCap account is connected to the devicewill need to go to the REDCap server to have their APItokenrevokedforeachprojectthathasbeeninitializedintheapp.ThiscanbedonebytheusersthemselvesontheREDCapMobileApppageintheproject(ontheREDCapserver).OncetheirAPItokenhasbeendeletedorregenerated,thepersonwithunauthorizedaccesstotheappwillnolongerbeabletodownloaddatafromoruploaddatatotheREDCapserverforthatprojectintheapp.Furthermore,iftheappis“online”(detectsthat ithasWiFiorcellularconnectivity),thentheappwillcheckiftheAPItokenfortheproject isstillvalid.Andifnot,itwilladditionallypreventtheunauthorizeduserfromevenaccessingtheprojectintheapp,thuspreventing them from viewing or accessing the REDCap data currently stored in the app. In this way, theremotelockoutfeatureprovidesyetanotherwayforuserstoprotecttheirdata,bothontheREDCapserverandintheapp.
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FREQUENTLYASKEDQUESTIONS1.WhenshouldIusetheapp?Use the app when you need offline data collection, particularly in environments with poor internetconnectivity.WithREDCapandtheREDCapMobileApp,usershavenewoptionsforelectronicdatacaptureforstudiesthatunderpreviouscircumstanceswouldhavedictatedpenandpaper.2.Whatdevicesaresupported?• iOSiPhone4andup,iPad2andup.RequiresiOS6.0orlater.• Android-phoneortablet.RequiresAndroid4.3andup.3.Whattypeofdeviceisbestforwhatprojects?Sincethesedevicesaresupportedbythesamecode,theuserexperienceisalmostthesameonanydevice.Usershaveprovided some feedback,however, related to theirparticularprojects thatmaybehelpful. TheAndroiddeviceshavebetterglobalreach,sotheyarebetterwithglobalhealthprojects.TheAndroiddevicesalsoseemslightlybetterwithextremelylargeprojects(1000+records).AppledeliversbetterqualityofdeviceintheiriPads,whichisgenerallyrecognizedasthebestdeviceonthemarket.4.WhatfeaturesofREDCaparesupported?• Dataentry• DAGS• GPS• Pictures,videos,andaudiocanbeuploadedintodesignatedfilefields.• Signaturesfields• Actiontags• Instrumentscanbesecuredsothatparticipants/userscanentertheirowndata.5.WhatnoteworthyfeaturesofREDCaparen’tsupported?• CATS(ComputerAdaptiveTestSurveys)• Doubledataentry• Surveyspecificfeatures• Surveyqueue• Randomization• Viewingfiles• Inlineaudio/video• Surveyinstructions• Surveystopactions• Surveythankyoutext• Downloadablefilesinfilefields
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6.Howaresurveysandformshandled?NormalREDCapSurveyfeaturesarenotusedforMobileAppdatacollection.Theyaretreatedasentireformswithout thepagination. Instrumentscanbesecuredwithapinso thatparticipants/userswillonlyhave theoptionofenteringdatawhenthedeviceishandedovertothem.Theinstrumentcanbelocked/unlockedviatheprimaryuser’spin.7.Whataretheweaknessesoftheapp?If youhaveonline access, REDCapMobile is a better platformbecause it inputs datadirectly intoREDCap.Sendingdatasimultaneouslyfrommultipledevicesisnotsupported.Sendingdatais,atpresent,acomplicatedprocess.8.Whatistheworkflowoftheapp?• Viaanadmin:Createauser;pushprojectstothem;letthemcollectdata;allowthemtosenddataorsend
datayourself;clean&refreshtheproject;repeat;removeproject.• Via a user: Set up a project or multiple projects; collect data; send data; clean & refresh the project;
repeat;removeproject.9.CanIlimitusersofmyappsothattheycannotdoallfunctions?User access can be restricted through the administrator interface. An administrator on the app can assignuserstheappropriatelevelofdataaccessrights.10.CanIusedataaccessgroups?Yes,DataAccessGroups (DAGs) are supportedby the app.WhicheverREDCapuser supplies thedownloadcode–thisuser’sDAGisused.11.CanIrestrictaccesstodata?AccesstodatacanberestrictedbyusingDAGs.Youcanalsorestrictalldataviatheuserrights.12.Whathappensiftheappcrashes(i.e.,closesunexpectedly)?This is a memory problem and probably occurred while sending data. It is probably best to perform anEmergencyDataDump.ThiswillsendaCSVtotheMobileApp’sFileRepository.ThisCSVcanthenbeusedtofeedtheDataImportTool.Thisonlyworkswhilethedeviceisonline.13.Whatactiontagsaresupported?@HIDDEN@HIDDEN-APP@READONLY@READONLY-APP@LATITUDE@LONGITUDE@PASSWORDMASK
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@NOW@TODAY@[email protected]/QR-codeencodingsaresupportedby@BARCODEand@BARCODE-APP?• Androidonly
o CODE_93o CODABARo RSS14o PDF417o RSS_EXPANDED
• AndroidandiOS
o QR_CODEo DATA_MATRIXo UPC_Eo UPC_Ao EAN_8o EAN_13o CODE_128o CODE_39o ITF
15.Whatsecurityfeaturesareusedbytheapp?• SecureDataTransmission:DataistransmittedsecurelytoandfromtheREDCapserverviaSSL(https)ifit
issetupontheserver.• SecureDataStorageEncryption:Encryptionpreventsanyunauthorizedusersfromaccessingdata inthe
app, even if theywere to gain access to the device’s file system in someway (whether using a directhardwareconnectionorviaothersoftwareonthedevice).o PINsarecipheredusingSHAcryptography,andallstoredREDCapdatavalues(potentialPHIorPII),API
tokens,andREDCapapplogsareencryptedusingAESencryptionstandardonthemobiledevice’sharddrive.
o TheencryptionkeysarestorediniOS’sKeychainandAndroid’sKeyStore,whichisstandardpracticeforachievingthehighestlevelofsecurityforencrypteddatastorediniOSandAndroid.
o Noteaboutexternal/detachabledrives:TheREDCapMobileAppdoesnotallowanydatatobestoredon external hard drives (e.g., USB Flash drives) connected to the mobile device. To maintain thegreatest level of security, the app only allows the device’s internal hard drive to be used for datastorage.
• Application:Aloginwitha6-digitpinisrequiredtoaccesstheapplication.Fiveloginattemptsareallowedbeforelockout,anda15-minutelockoutperiodisinitiated.Whentheapplicationissenttothebackground
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oriscloakedwithascreensaver,thepinisrequiredagaintoaccesstheapplicationifauserisloggedon.Similarloginattemptrulesandlockoutrulesapplywhentheuserreenterstheapplication.
• Instrument:TheSecuretheInstrumentfeaturerestrictsaccessbyaparticipanttoasingleform.Enablingthisfeatureallowsyoutohandoverthedevicetoaparticipanttoenterinformationdirectly,butlockstheparticipantoutoftherestoftheapplicationaswellasotherforms.REDCapMobileAppuser’s6-digitpinisrequired to unlock the form. Similarly, the 6-digit pin is required to reenter the form if the participantminimizestheapplicationorifascreensaverinterruptsformentry.
• Logs:Project logs for activity on the REDCapMobile App are stored in the database’sMobile App FileArchive.Thesecanbetransmittedtotheserver(foronegivenproject)viatheSendProjectLogsbuttonontheProjectmenu. These logs recorddata creation,modifications, anduploads; renaming,deletion, andviewingofrecords;anddownloadsofprojectinstrumentsandrecords.
16.Whathappensifatabletorphoneisstolen?GotoREDCapandrevoketheAPItoken–unlessthereismorethanonedevicedistributedwiththistoken.Ifthereisonlyonedevice,revokingtheAPItokenwillnotallowthethieftosenddata,downloadnewdata,orrefresh the project. Further, when online, the thief cannot access any existing data. If there are multipledevices,revokingtheAPItokenwilldisableALLdevices.Usewithcare.Eitherway,accessisprotectedwithaPIN.17.IsGPSsupportedbytheapp?Yes,viaactiontagsinfieldannotations:@LONGITUDEand@LATITUDE.18.Whatissuesareinvolvedwithprojectswithalargeamountofrecords?Theamountofdatacollection isonlyrestrictedbywhatyourdevice’sharddrivewillallow.Sendinga largeamountofrecordstoREDCapcouldcauseamemorycrashoncertaindevices.__________________________________________________________________________________________
USEFULHINTSInstrumentDesignHints• Youcanincludeanyfieldsandimages(includingsignatures).• Youcan’tincludevideooraudioasthosewillnotbedownloaded.• Youcan’tincludeexternalPDFsasthosewillnotbedownloaded.• Signatureswillbedownloadedasthoseseemimportantenoughinformationforasmallamountofbytes.• Regularfilefieldswillnotbedownloaded.Theirfilenamesandsizeswillattempttobedownloaded.• Don’tmakeyourformstoolong.Shorter(<100fields)fieldsseemtoworkbetterwithusers.1000+field
formscaninducefrustration.Makingyourformtoolongcancrashyourdevice.Breakupalongformintosmallerformsandusethe“SaveandGotoNextInstrument”button.
• Heavyamountsofbranchinglogicandcalculationswillslowdowntherenderingofyourform.
DeviceHints• ThemostpopularAndroiddevicesaretheGoogleNexus7/9andtheSamsungGalaxyTablet.• Androiddeviceshandlelargeprojectsbetter,forsomereason.
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• iOSdevicesreceivethebestmarksforhardware,buttheyarealsothemostexpensive.• AndroiddeviceshavemoreofaglobalappealbecauseGoogleisinmorecountriesthanApple.• Wi-Fi-only devices are ok in places where Wi-Fi is readily accessible. Devices that support data
transmissionovercellularnetworksarerequiredforplaceswithoutmuchWi-Fi.