Last Updated on November 14, 2019 by

Smartphones and Electronic Cigarettes – Will Apps Play a Role?

While much of the focus has been up on health issues and cost issues, there is a growing understanding that the mobile phone apps market could play a major role in the future electronic cigarette industry. It may sound a little bizarre to suggest that mobile phone apps have a place in the future electronic cigarette market but you would be surprised!

A number of surveys over the last few months have suggested that heavy smokers aged between 18 and 24 are amongst the highest users of electronic cigarettes. It is also common knowledge that it is this particular age bracket, which has a fascination with mobile phone applications and is therefore a potential target for the future. However, surely electronic cigarettes are about the smoking experience as opposed to any kind of mobile phone technology?

Are electronic cigarettes cool?

If you asked 10 different people about electronic cigarettes you would likely get 10 different answers as to whether they are trendy or cool. Many people believe that the look, feel and shape of electronic cigarettes, and the fact that they are effectively mimic tobacco cigarettes, is not particularly cool. So, why are electronic cigarettes so popular amongst 18 to 24-year-olds who were heavy tobacco smokers?

It would be wrong to suggest that mobile phone apps have opened up a brand-new market to the electronic cigarette industry but there is no doubt that joining this new technology with mobile phone applications has great mileage. There are now mobile phone applications which will not only tell you how many tobacco cigarettes you have managed to avoid and how much you have saved but also how many years you have put back on your life. Yes, there are mobile phone applications which will literally translate the number of tobacco cigarettes you have managed to avoid into months and years on your life!

Development is the key

It will be interesting to see where the mobile phone application market goes in the short, medium and longer term with regards to electronic cigarettes (See our Smokio review for starters) . The mobile phone applications available today are helpful, proving very popular but they will eventually begin to wear thin with tech savvy tobacco smokers looking for more excitement. This will be a challenge for the electronic cigarette industry although there are high hopes that integrating these two life changing technologies will keep the market fresh and encourage more people to switch.

The integration of mobile phone applications into the world of electronic cigarettes is not unique, not recent and certainly not groundbreaking. However, by advertising electronic cigarette mobile phone applications to tobacco smokers between 18 and 24 years of age can and does have an impact upon their appreciation for ecigs.

Conclusion

In many ways the mobile phone application industry has helped to open up the electronic cigarette sector and make it more appealing to the wider public. The more tech savvy 18 to 24-year-olds who are heavy smokers of tobacco cigarettes seem particularly enamoured with the mobile phone apps and more likely to switch to electronic cigarettes as a result. The great challenge now is to ensure that future mobile phone apps continue to intrigue and attract more tech savvy smokers in larger numbers and at least make them aware of the electronic cigarette market.

This may not be the key, but it will certainly help to promote electronic cigarettes to the wider public especially with the various advertising restrictions in place.

Check out our review of the Smokio electronic cigarette for a look at the potential of smartphone applications and ecigarettes. –

Mark Benson

Mark Benson is a contributing author for Spinfuel eMagazine. His continuing columns will bring a levelheaded approach to the dynamics involved in realizing a positive future for the e-cigarette industry. For more information on OK Eliquids and other products available please visit the OKCigs website.