I built a free app to help me quit smoking - would love feedback from people actually going through it
I've been trying to quit for a while now. Like most of you, I downloaded a bunch of apps and most of them either want $ for premium features or show you a timer and call it a day.
So I built something for myself. It's called Zerø - a free web app that runs in your browser. No downloads, no accounts, no payments.
The main idea: when a craving hits, instead of white-knuckling it, you pick a quick game (there's about 20 of them - stuff like Snake, Tetris, a breathing exercise, Wordle, etc.) and play for a couple minutes until it passes. After that, it asks what triggered the craving so you can start seeing patterns over time.
Other stuff it tracks:
- How long you've been smoke-free, money saved, cigarettes avoided
- Health recovery milestones (based on WHO/CDC data - when your heart rate normalizes, when lung function improves, etc.)
- Mood and energy check-ins so you can actually see things getting better over weeks
- A "Why I Quit" page where you write down your personal reasons - for those moments when you're about to break
- Slip tracking that doesn't reset everything if you have one cigarette. Because that's how real quitting works for most of us.
It's not perfect. Some of the games are better than others, the UI could use work in places, and I'm sure I'm missing features that would actually help.
That's why I'm posting here. You all are actually living this. What would make something like this useful to you? What do the paid apps do that's actually worth it? What's just fluff?
Try it here: https://zero-app-sage.vercel.app/ (works best on a mobile browser)
(Hit "Try Demo" to see it with sample data, or start fresh with your own quit date)
Everything is stored locally on your device, nothing is sent anywhere. I'm planning to open-source it soon so anyone can contribute or run their own copy. I don't think people should have to pay to quit smoking.
Would really appreciate any honest feedback even if it's "this is pointless :)"
Posted Mar 30, 2026, 6:16 AM UTC