The importance of a healthy lifestyle for adolescents cannot be denied, considering that adolescence is important in forming future habits and lifestyles (Carrizales et al., 2024; Yuliani et al., 2022). Early recognition and understanding of healthy lifestyles will contribute significantly to long-term health outcomes (Anggela et al., 2022; Billah & Sarwanto, 2021). A healthy lifestyle includes various aspects, from balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, adequate rest, to effective stress regulation (Kang et al., 2024; Sayekti et al., 2020). However, information on reproductive health is often poorly conveyed to adolescents, resulting in various problems that stem from a lack of knowledge and awareness (Nasution & Manik, 2020; Sayekti et al., 2020). However, delivering health education—especially regarding healthy lifestyle habits—remains monotonous and less effective when using traditional teaching methods. This has led to a gap in students' understanding and engagement, resulting in low motivation and learning outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to present health materials in more interactive, appealing ways that align with students' digital habits.

In today's digital age, where mobile devices have become part of teenagers' daily lives, education needs to adapt to their learning styles. Delivering health education through interactive, technology-based digital media can increase student motivation and be more accessible and in line with their digital habits. Therefore, a more contextual and relevant learning approach is needed to address the challenges in adolescent health education.

The role of technology in supporting learning is becoming more significant (Han & Geng, 2023; Sutiasih & Saputri, 2019). In this digital era, technology and optimizing digital literacy are becoming increasingly important for all levels of society (Lestari et al., 2023). Social media has become an integral part of modern society, becoming the primary means of obtaining and disseminating information (Zonyfar et al., 2022). This aligns with the increasing use of smartphones as educational media and learning resources. Using smartphones as learning tools offers high flexibility and accessibility, allowing students to learn anytime and anywhere, especially in today's dynamic learning context (Danial & Muyasaroh, 2023; Joshi et al., 2025).

Learning conditions at State Junior High School 29 Semarang illustrate the need for innovation in instructional media. Android-based platforms offer a potential solution to improve the delivery and accessibility of healthy lifestyle materials (Delungahawatta et al., 2022; Sutiasih & Saputri, 2019). These technologies provide opportunities to create interactive, engaging learning experiences that address the limitations of conventional methods. A study by Fauziyah & Suryobroto (2024) showed that Android-based media significantly improved student learning outcomes, with average test scores rising from 53.83 to 67.50—a 25% increase in understanding physical fitness concepts.

This growing need for technology-based learning media reflects the challenge of delivering health information in a compelling and easy-to-understand manner (Dunleavy et al., 2019; Lestari et al., 2023). Learning can become more relevant and personalized by integrating mobile devices—tools already deeply embedded in students' daily routines. The development of Android-based learning media is expected to overcome conventional limitations and foster greater motivation among students. Developing such media requires an in-depth understanding of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design principles, as well as technical programming skills (Chandran et al., 2022; Putra et al., 2020). Android-based educational apps offer flexibility, allowing students to access learning materials whenever needed, thus encouraging independent study and review (Pangalo, 2020).

Previous studies have developed Android-based learning media in Physical Education, such as sports skill learning (Wicaksono et al., 2018) and healthy lifestyle education (Sudrajat et al., 2024). Wicaksono et al. (2018) developed an Android-based multimedia learning application for basketball learning aimed at junior high school students. This study focused on improving students' understanding and skills in basketball through digital media. The results showed that the product was feasible and practical, receiving positive feedback from teachers and students. However, this study was limited to sports skills (basketball). It did not cover health education materials or assess learning outcomes regarding cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains related to healthy lifestyles. Sudrajat et al. (2024) created an Android-based learning media for promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in Physical Education. Their research involved small and large group trials, with results showing significant improvement in students' pre- and post-test scores. However, this study mainly focused on students' knowledge improvement only and lacked detailed validation from media experts or evaluations from teachers' perspectives. Furthermore, it did not analyze the quality of the application's interactive design or user interface in depth.

However, these studies have been limited to knowledge-based aspects, lacking comprehensive validation from media experts and teachers, and have not holistically measured effectiveness from the perspectives of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. This indicates a research gap that has not been extensively explored, particularly in developing holistic, curriculum-based digital educational media.

At State Junior High School 29 Semarang, existing teaching methods for healthy lifestyle education—relying on textbooks, worksheets, and PowerPoint slides—have become overly repetitive and uninspiring. This has diminished students' enthusiasm for learning. Incorporating Android-based media on basic healthy living techniques can offer teachers alternative instructional strategies while enabling students to reinforce learning at home. Books and videos can remain core classroom tools, while mobile apps are supplementary materials for independent study.

Based on the researcher's observations, these issues highlight the need for a more effective learning approach. To address this, the researcher developed an Android-based application named Healthy Habits. This application aims to enhance learning in Physical Education, particularly on healthy lifestyle topics, by offering an engaging and accessible platform that addresses the existing shortcomings in instructional delivery.

Therefore, to assist teachers in delivering material on healthy living habits more effectively, this study is titled "Development of Android-based Healthy Lifestyle Learning Media." The study aims to design and develop an Android-based learning media application that teachers and students can use during the learning process.

This study offers something new by developing an interactive Android-based learning app that contains healthy lifestyle material and features practice questions, a user-friendly interface, and multi-party validation (subject matter experts, media experts, teachers, and students). The app, called Healthy Habits, is specifically designed to support the learning objectives of Physical Education at the junior high school level with an approach that suits the characteristics of digital natives at the adolescent age.

Healthy Habits is a healthy lifestyle learning application explicitly designed for Android devices. It focuses on key components of healthy living, such as diet and sleep hygiene. While similar applications exist, Healthy Habits offers more innovative and creative features tailored for educational use, including built-in practice questions. This functionality distinguishes it from other health-related apps that lack a pedagogical focus.

The main contribution of this study is to provide empirical evidence that Android-based digital learning media can effectively improve students' understanding of healthy lifestyles while increasing their motivation and engagement in learning. These findings show that developing applications such as Healthy Habits can be a practical and applicable solution to help teachers deliver health material more interestingly and effectively, and can be adapted to the learning context in other schools with similar characteristics.

Based on the systematically conducted research stages, the final product was successfully developed as an Android-based multimedia learning application designed to support the learning process of healthy lifestyle material. This application has been proven effective in enhancing the teacher's role as a facilitator and providing students with an alternative for independent learning at the Junior High School level, particularly in Physical Education, Sports, and Health (Physical Education) subjects. The developed product, Healthy Habits, is presented as an interactive application with an easily accessible menu structure.

The application contains several main menus, namely:

Based on the validation process, the Healthy Habits application was rated "Good" by material experts (average score: 4.05) and "Very Good" by media experts (average score: 4.24), indicating its content accuracy and strong technical design. Physical Education teachers also gave a "Good" overall rating (4.07), highlighting its relevance, layout, and support for learning. Student trials showed positive outcomes, with small-scale testing scoring between "Fairly Good" and "Very Good," and large-scale testing resulting in a "Very Good" average score of 4.23. Additionally, effectiveness tests across cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains produced an average score of 85.6%, confirming the app's success in supporting learning objectives in health education.

The findings of this study are consistent with the results of a school-based health promotion intervention study conducted by KOICA and Yonsei Global Health Center in Peru, which showed that a multi-component approach can significantly impact adolescent health behavior (Sharma et al., 2018). In that study, interventions such as health education, screening, psychological counseling, teacher training, and parental involvement increased vegetable consumption and reduced depressive symptoms among secondary school students. Additionally, although there was no direct reduction, the intervention also successfully prevented an increase in risky behaviors such as suicide attempts, sedentary habits, unhealthy food consumption, and fights. This supports findings from the Healthy Habits app development study, which demonstrated effectiveness in students' cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects. The involvement of an Android-based app as part of interactive learning media is one form of digital intervention that promotes a healthy lifestyle in the school environment (Sudrajat et al., 2024). Therefore, developing media like Healthy Habits can be viewed as a strategic step in strengthening school-based health education through a more contextual and accessible technological approach for students.

Findings from a systematic literature review conducted by Triantafyllou et al. (2025) indicate that gamification has excellent potential to increase student engagement and motivation and encourage behavioral changes that support the learning process. Although various gamification models, theories, and elements have been applied in educational and training contexts, their effectiveness still requires further testing through in-depth research. The study emphasizes that gamification will be most effective if designed with appropriate learning principles to align with learners' needs and expectations. This is relevant to developing the Healthy Habits application, which has incorporated interactive elements and practice question features as a form of simple gamification to enhance the appeal of healthy lifestyle learning. Thus, the integration of gamification in Android-based educational media like Healthy Habits not only supports the achievement of students' cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects but also opens opportunities to enhance overall learning motivation (García-Peña & Rodriguez-Ayala, 2023; Yadav & Dixit, 2024). These findings underscore the importance of a structured instructional design approach in developing digital educational media to achieve more optimal learning outcomes.

Findings from a study by Liu (2020) indicate that mobile learning positively impacts reading self-efficacy in English, particularly for non-English major students. The results of the t-test indicate that students who use mobile learning applications have significantly higher reading self-efficacy compared to those who do not use such applications, both overall and across the four dimensions of reading skills: basic reading skills, applied reading skills, task-based reading skills, and advanced reading skills. However, for students with lower reading abilities, the increase in self-efficacy is only significant in basic and applied reading skills. These findings reinforce the relevance of digital media in learning, including in the context of the Healthy Habits app, which is also designed to boost students' confidence and learning abilities through a technology-based approach. By leveraging devices that students are already familiar with in their daily lives, mobile learning not only improves accessibility but also supports increased motivation and self-confidence in understanding the material, including healthy lifestyle content in Physical Education.

Findings from research conducted at Elementary School Panca Budi Medan show that developing an Android-based interactive learning application about healthy lifestyles has proven effective in improving elementary school students' understanding and interest in learning (Hariyanto et al., 2024). This application was developed using the Multimedia Development Life Cycle (MDLC) method, which includes the stages of conception, design, material collection, assembly, testing, and distribution. Through black box testing, all features such as navigation, quizzes, and content materials functioned well, indicating the application's technical quality is suitable for use. The final results show that digital media can convey health and hygiene-related content in an engaging and easily understandable manner for children. This aligns with developing the Healthy Habits application in this study, which is to provide an alternative learning medium that is engaging, easy to use, and suitable for the characteristics of school-age students. Using a simple interface and interactive features can enhance student engagement in learning, particularly in topics related to healthy lifestyles, which are often perceived as monotonous in conventional methods.

This research recognizes the existence of potential external variables that influenced the results, such as students' prior familiarity with technology, individual learning motivation, and access to supporting devices outside of school. These factors could have affected students' engagement and learning outcomes when interacting with the application.

Future research is encouraged to expand the implementation of the Healthy Habits application to different schools across various regions to validate its effectiveness in diverse educational settings. Further development of the application should focus on enhancing content depth, adding adaptive learning features, and potentially integrating it with other subjects, such as Science or Home Economics, to strengthen interdisciplinary learning related to health education. Longitudinal studies could also be conducted to examine the sustained impact of the application on students' behavior and lifestyle over time.

This study successfully developed an Android-based learning application, "Healthy Habits," to enhance students' understanding of healthy lifestyles in Physical Education at State Junior High School 29 Semarang 29 Semarang. The application proved effective and well-received, with teachers rating it "Good" and students rating it "Very Good."

To optimize its use, developers are encouraged to add more interactive features—quizzes, animations, and gamification—and ensure broad device compatibility. Teachers are advised to integrate the app into lesson plans, use it as a complementary learning tool, and assign in-app tasks to reinforce learning.

The positive outcomes highlight the app's potential as a model for integrating digital media into health education, promoting greater student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes.

The author expresses his deepest appreciation to all parties who have helped in completing this research.

All data supporting the findings of this study are included in the article and its supplementary materials. Additional datasets are available from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.

This research did not receive external funding.

The author states that this study was carried out independently, with full integrity, and without any conflicts of interest involving any organization, institution, or individual. There were no financial, professional, or personal affiliations that could have influenced the design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the research.