  The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and the significant growth in
the use of food consumption tracking and recommendation-related apps in the app
stores have created a need for an evaluation system, as minimal information is
available about the evidence-based quality and technological advancement of
these apps. Electronic searches were conducted across three major app stores
and the selected apps were evaluated by three independent raters. A total of
473 apps were found and 80 of them were selected for review based on inclusion
and exclusion criteria. An app rating tool is devised to evaluate the selected
apps. Our rating tool assesses the apps' essential features, AI-based advanced
functionalities, and software quality characteristics required for food
consumption tracking and recommendations, as well as their usefulness to
general users. Users' comments from the app stores are collected and evaluated
to better understand their expectations and perspectives. Following an
evaluation of the assessed applications, design considerations that emphasize
automation-based approaches using artificial intelligence are proposed.
According to our assessment, most mobile apps in the app stores do not satisfy
the overall requirements for tracking food consumption and recommendations.
"Foodvisor" is the only app that can automatically recognize food items, and
compute the recommended volume and nutritional information of that food item.
However, these features need to be improvised in the food consumption tracking
and recommendation apps. This study provides both researchers and developers
with an insight into current state-of-the-art apps and design guidelines with
necessary information on essential features and software quality
characteristics for designing and developing a better app.
