Quit Guide app

This app aims to support people who are trying to quit smoking. Users are prompted to set a quit date and record a personal message, together with a picture, about their reason for quitting. This message is a source of motivation and going forward, every time the user opens the app, the message and picture appear as a reminder. There are options to share on Facebook, track smoking habits such as when cravings occur, or specific moods that prompt smoking and set motivational messages about smoking cessation at the places and times the user is most likely to smoke.

For a more detailed description of the app, see Google Play(external link) or iTunes(external link) and for a detailed review, see reviews below.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Lena Estrin, Community Pharmacist
Date of review: November 2022
Platform: Android
Version: 2.1.26
Comments: This is a useful free app which helps people understand their smoking habits and support them to quit smoking. By tracking cravings and moods people can get a sense of what their triggers are, and then put in place actions to prevent smoking in these circumstances. For example, if there is a time or place that you often crave cigarettes, you can set a reminder message to come up at this time. Or, if it’s when you feel a certain way (eg, lonely or stressed), it will come up with a suggestion to help manage this without smoking. All your efforts to quit smoking are reinforced with the app showing you the number of days you have been smokefree, and the time and money this will have saved you. It has been made by a reputable organisation and has no pesky ad popups. Drawbacks are that it is not New Zealand based and so referrals are to American based quit lines.
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: Most of the content of the app is relevant to New Zealanders. Tracking and message prompts and advice on ‘how to quit’ (including medicines you can use to support quitting) are all similar to what we recommend in New Zealand. The money saved is in US dollars and so underestimates the true savings made from quitting smoking. Being a US based app, it does not link to New Zealand quit smoking services or references.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Brendon McIntosh, Community Pharmacist, Māori Pharmacist Association
Date of review: November 2017
Comments: This app is most helpful for people who like to track how they are going daily and record their feelings as a part of the smoking cessation journey. It's useful for anyone who has tried to quit but wants an extra hand this time or something to help them be accountable. It's a very encouraging app that has new alerts pop up each day and allows the person to keep track of how many days they have been smokefree. This app makes quitting fun and more like a game. But also has serious reminders about why you are quitting and the benefits that will come. If only it had NZ links then it would be perfect.  
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: The general advice and the medicines talked about are the same as in New Zealand. The only difference is that it links to the American Quitsmoking website and for the money saved part it is in US dollars which only goes up to $10 for a packet of cigarettes. This doesn’t reflect New Zealand prices therefore the money saved part of the app is highly underestimated.