Fun vaping apps always accessible on smartphones

An analysis of the Apple and Google app stores highlights the persistence of games and simulators related to e-cigarettes, despite restrictions targeting content promoting tobacco and nicotine.[1]. Mobile apps associated with vaping remain widely accessible on major digital platforms, particularly on Android, according to a study published in the scientific journal Tobacco Control. Researchers identified dozens of entertainment apps featuring e-cigarettes, some of which use visual and playful elements likely to enhance vaping's appeal to teenagers. This research comes amid growing concern about young people's exposure to digital content related to tobacco and nicotine products.

A study focused on content available on smartphones

The research team, composed of specialists from the Truth Initiative and researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, undertook a systematic analysis of applications available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. To build its corpus, it used an automated tool (a Python script using the Requests package) to query both app stores using 41 keywords related to vaping, such as "vape," "vaping," "e-cigarette," and "vape tricks." The results were then manually reviewed by two independent evaluators to eliminate duplicates, irrelevant applications, and content not actually related to e-cigarettes. The researchers then categorized the remaining applications, distinguishing between smoking cessation and consumption tracking apps, commercial brand-related apps, and entertainment apps, including games, vaping simulators, virtual vapor generators, and playful content.

A significant difference between Apple and Google

The study highlights a marked contrast between the two platforms. On the App Store, researchers identified 42 vaping-related apps. Almost all of them were for smoking cessation support or nicotine consumption tracking. Very few e-cigarette-related entertainment apps were available at the time of the analysis. On the Google Play Store, however, 73 vaping-related apps were identified, including 33 entertainment apps focused on e-cigarette use. This difference suggests, according to the authors, distinct moderation and control policies between Apple and Google. Gaming apps thus represented nearly half of the vaping-related apps available on Android.

Numerous mechanisms, visuals, and narratives that appeal to teenagers

The entertainment apps analyzed frequently incorporated mechanisms borrowed from mobile games: scoring, progression, game levels, challenges, and virtual rewards. Several apps allowed users to simulate inhaling e-cigarettes by blowing into the phone's microphone, while others visually reproduced aerosol clouds or offered tutorials on "vape tricks"—figures created with exhaled vapor. The researchers emphasize that this type of content can contribute to associating vaping with a recreational, creative, or performative activity rather than with a product containing an addictive substance.

The team also noted numerous visual and narrative elements likely to increase the apps' appeal to minors. These included bright, contrasting colors, graphics similar to those found in video games aimed at teenagers, characters with a youthful and sometimes underage appearance, references to digital culture and social media, visual effects such as smoke, light, or movement, and elements of fantasy and science fiction. Some apps also contained humorous, violent, or sexualized scenes, demonstrating the apps' recreational purpose.

The authors point out that, according to scientific literature, the aesthetic characteristics of tobacco and nicotine products (colors, flavors, characters, graphic designs) strongly influence perceptions and appeal among young people, this favorable perception itself playing a role in their curiosity and intention to experiment with the products. They place their findings within the broader context of the growth of digital usage and the communication strategies of the nicotine industry, which is increasingly investing in the worlds of entertainment, social networks, and interactive content.

A digital exhibition that cannot be properly framed without strict regulations.

Although it mainly concerns the United States, this study remains enlightening in general on the inadequacy of so-called "good conduct" rules by actors and the consequent need to enforce the restrictions and prohibitions provided for in the regulations.

While tobacco and nicotine advertising is heavily restricted in traditional media in many countries, mobile apps often face less stringent regulations. Digital platforms primarily enforce their own internal rules, the scope and interpretation of which can vary. Researchers believe this situation creates a space where content promoting vaping can remain accessible, sometimes without effective age verification. They also point out that smartphones are now one of the primary media devices used by teenagers, which underscores the importance of this repeated digital exposure.

Like any observational study, this research has several limitations. Nevertheless, the authors believe their work provides a useful snapshot of the content available on two of the main mobile platforms at the time of the survey, and that current self-regulation by digital platforms appears insufficient to prevent minors from accessing vaping-related entertainment content. They call for increased monitoring of mobile applications associated with tobacco and nicotine products and for the integration of these new platforms into prevention policies.

This issue could become increasingly important as nicotine product promotion strategies shift towards digital environments, gaming, social media, and interactive content. Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) provides for a global ban on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, which France has extended to e-cigarettes, including online. At the European level, the ongoing revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD) is expected to broaden this scope to include new products and could allow for with the support of countries like France And Ireland to strengthen the regulation of digital marketing, social media, influencers and sponsored content for vaping products.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AD

[1]Pearson GD, Azadi M., Goyette RM, et al., ‘'Vape Master' and other apps: an analysis of e-cigarette entertainment mobile apps, Tobacco Control, published on July 28, 2026, accessed on July 29, 2026

National Committee Against Smoking |