Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis
| First author, year, country* | Participants† | N (I, C),‡ women (n) | Duration |
| True control group: no tracker or app component | |||
| Wyke, 2019, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal38 | Men, BMI≥27, 30–65 years | 1113 (560, 553), 0 | 3months |
| Donoghue, 2018, USA39 | 17–50 years, first year medical students | 3-arm N 120 (40, 40), 41 | 10months |
| Pope, 2018, USA40 | Inactive,§ BMI≥18.5, 18–35 years | 38 (19, 19); 28 | 3months |
| Vandelanotte, 2018, Australia41 | Inactive,§ BMI 25–40,≥18 years | 243 (121, 122), 182 | 3months |
| Ashton, 2017, Australia42 | Men, inactive,§ 18–25 years | 50 (26, 24), 0 | 3months |
| Brakenridge, 2016, Australia43 | Desk-based office workers | 153 (66, 87), 70 | 3months |
| Finkelstein, 2016, Singapore44 | 21–65 years, office workers (13 worksites) | 4-arm N 800 (203, 201), 212 | 6months |
| Poirier, 2016, USA45 | Office workers | 265 (133, 132), 175 | 1.5months |
| Ashe, 2015, Canada46 | Women, inactive,¶ 55–70 years | 25 (13, 12), 25 | 6months |
| Cadmus-Bertram, 2015, USA47 | Women, inactive,** BMI≥25, postmenopause | 51 (25, 26), 51 | 4months |
| Martin, 2015, USA48 | Inactive,†† 18–69 years, CVD prevention centre | 3-arm N 48 (16;16); 15 | 5 weeks |
| Thorndike, 2014, USA49 | 21–45 years, medical residents | 104 (52, 52), 54 | 1.5months |
| Active control with a tracker or app component | |||
| Patel, 2019, USA50 | BMI≥25 | 4-arm N 602 (150, 151), 175 | 6months |
| Ellingson, 2019, USA51 | Inactive,§ 24–65 years | 91 (45, 46), 48 | 3months |
| Zhang, 2019, USA52 | Women, 18–35 years, African–American | 91 (44, 47), 91 | 3months |
| Patel, 2018, USA53 | BMI≥27, university staff | 4-arm N 209 (44, 65), 160 | 13 weeks |
| Robinson, 2018, USA54 | Inactive,§ 35–69 years | 63 (31, 32), 45 | 5 weeks |
| Fanning, 2017, USA55 | Inactive,** 30–54 years | 4-arm N 116 (29, 87), 93 | 3months |
| Patel, 2017, USA56 | Family members in Framingham Study | 206 (102, 104), 112 | 3months |
| John, 2016, USA57 | Inactive,‡‡ AchieveMint users | 2055 (1027, 1028),NR | 2 weeks |
| King, 2016, USA58 | Inactive** or sedentary,§§ ≥45 years | 4-arm N 95 (22, 27), 36 | 2months |
| Melton, 2016, USA59 | African–American women, 18–24 years | 69 (28, 41), 69 | 2months |
| Patel, 2016, USA (I)60 | Employees | 4-arm N 304 (68, 80), 108 | 13 weeks |
| Patel, 2016, USA (II)61 | Employees/family members of employees | 4-arm N 288 (64, 100), 124 | 13 weeks |
| Walsh, 2016, Ireland62 | Healthy adults | 58 (29, 29), 40 | 5 weeks |
| Cowdery, 2015, USA63 | 18–69 years | 40 (20, 20), 34 | 3months |
| Wang, 2015, USA64 | Inactive,§ BMI≥25, 18–69 years | 67 (33, 34), 61 | 1.5months |
| Glynn, 2014, UK65 | Adults | 90 (45, 45), 58 | 2months |
*Ordered by study year.
†Participant eligibility criteria, organised by gender, level of physical activity, BMI, age, other characteristics, where reported.
‡In studies with more than two arms, the intervention of interest and control groups were selected as per defined in the methods.
§<150–300 min/week of MVPA.
¶<30min/week MVPA.
**<60 min/week MVPA.
††<90 min/week MVPA.
‡‡<70th percentile for mean daily steps in AchieveMint platform.
§§Sitting time ≥10 hours/day.
app, smartphone application; BMI, body mass index; C, control; CVD, cardiovascular disease; I, intervention; MVPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; NR, not reported.