AWARE Framework

Overview

The latest smartphones have advanced sensors that enable context recognition, but Android and iOS follow different policies, requiring careful consideration during research planning and data collection. AWARE is an open-source sensing framework that passively collects sensor data from multiple hardware, software, and human sensors in smartphones. It has been used in over 200 academic papers worldwide. I am responsible for iOS, macOS, and watchOS development.

Features

• Multi-platform support: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and Android with a plugin architecture for custom sensor modules
• Passive sensing: Collects data from hardware sensors (accelerometer, GPS, Bluetooth, etc.), software sensors (app usage, notifications), and human sensors (ESM/experience sampling)
• 30+ sensors on iOS: Motion, device, and environment sensors, plus Apple Watch integration (motion, heart rate, location, UWB, Bluetooth) and multiple upload backends (AWARE Micro, AWARE Legacy, AWARE Light)
• Sustainable sensing guidelines: Performance evaluations and case studies over 288 hours on four device types to identify optimal sensor settings for improved data collection

Adoption

• The framework has been adopted in over 200 academic papers worldwide for mobile sensing research
• AWARE-iOS addresses strict background data collection and application distribution regulations, enabling sustainable, long-term mobile sensing research on iOS
• The latest client, AWARE Client V3, is freely available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch

Significance

AWARE-iOS enables sustainable, long-term mobile sensing research on the iOS platform, which was previously challenging due to strict background execution policies. The sensing guidelines and open-source framework lower the barrier for researchers across various fields to conduct large-scale, in-the-wild studies using smartphones.