Background: In response to health concerns about vaping devices (eg, youth nicotine use, lung injury), Apple removed 181 previously approved vaping-related apps from the App Store in November 2019. This policy change may lessen youth exposure to content that glamorizes vaping; however, it may also block important sources of information and vaping device control for adults seeking to use vaping devices safely. Objective: Understanding the types of nicotine and cannabis vaping–related apps still available in the competing Google Play Store can shed light on how digital apps may reflect information available to consumers. Methods: In December 2019, we searched the Google Play Store for vaping-related apps using the keywords "vape" and "vaping" and reviewed the first 100 apps presented in the results. We reviewed app titles, descriptions, screenshots, and metadata to categorize the intended substance (nicotine or cannabis/tetrahydrocannabinol) and the app’s purpose. The most installed apps in each purpose category were downloaded and evaluated for quality and usability with the Mobile App Rating Scale. Results: Of the first 100 apps, 79 were related to vaping. Of these 79 apps, 43 (54%) were specific to nicotine, 3 (4%) were specific to cannabis, 1 (1%) was intended for either, and for the remaining 31 (39%), the intended substance was unclear. The most common purposes of the apps were making do-it-yourself e-liquids (28/79, 35%) or coils (25/79, 32%), games/entertainment (19/79, 24%), social networking (16/79, 20%), and shopping for vaping products (15/79, 19%). Of the 79 apps, at least 4 apps (5%) paired with vaping devices to control temperature or dose settings, 8 apps (10%) claimed to help people quit smoking using vaping, and 2 apps (3%) had the goal of helping people quit vaping. Conclusions: The majority of vaping-related apps in the Google Play Store had features either to help users continue vaping, such as information for modifying devices, or to maintain interest in vaping. Few apps were for controlling device settings or assisting with quitting smoking or vaping. Assuming that these Google Play Store apps were similar in content to the Apple App Store apps that were removed, it appears that Apple’s ban would have a minimal effect on people who vape with the intention of quitting smoking or who are seeking information about safer vaping via mobile apps.

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中文翻译：

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苹果禁令发布后，Google Play商店中提供了与电子烟相关的移动应用：内容审核

背景：为应对有关电子烟设备的健康问题（例如，青年尼古丁的使用，肺部损伤），苹果于2019年11月从App Store中删除了181个先前批准的电子烟相关应用程序。此政策变更可能会减少青少年对吸引电子烟的内容的接触; 但是，它也可能会阻止重要的信息源和对寻求安全使用电子烟设备的成年人的电子烟设备控制。目标：了解竞争性Google Play商店中仍提供的与尼古丁和大麻雾相关的应用程序的类型，可以阐明数字应用程序如何反映消费者可用信息。方法：在2019年12月，我们在Google Play商店中使用关键字“ vape”和“ vaping”搜索了与vaping相关的应用，并审查了结果中显示的前100个应用。我们审查了应用标题 说明，屏幕截图和元数据，以对预期的物质（烟碱或大麻/四氢大麻酚）和应用程序的目的进行分类。已下载每个用途类别中安装次数最多的应用程序，并使用移动应用程序等级量表对它们的质量和可用性进行了评估。结果：在前100个应用中，有79个与电子烟相关。在这79种应用中，有43种（54％）专门针对尼古丁，有3种（4％）专为大麻，其中1种（1％）专为其中一种而定，其余31种（39％）所涉物质尚不清楚。这些应用程序最常见的用途是制作自己动手的电子液体（28/79，35％）或线圈（25/79，32％），游戏/娱乐（19/79，24％），社交网络（16/79，占20％），以及购买电子烟产品（15/79，占19％）。在这79个应用中，至少有4个（5％）应用与vaping设备配对以控制温度或剂量设置，8个应用程序（占10％）声称可以帮助人们使用电子烟戒烟，而2个应用程序（占3％）的目标是帮助人们戒烟。结论：Google Play商店中与vaping相关的大多数应用程序具有帮助用户继续vaping的功能（例如，用于修改设备的信息）或保持对vaping的兴趣。很少有用于控制设备设置或辅助戒烟或吸烟的应用程序。假设这些Google Play商店应用的内容与已删除的苹果应用商店的应用相似，那么看来，苹果的禁令对以戒烟为目的吸烟或通过烟囱寻求更安全吸烟信息的人们的影响最小。移动应用。Google Play商店中与vaping相关的大多数应用都具有帮助用户继续vaping的功能（例如，用于修改设备的信息）或保持对vaping的兴趣。很少有用于控制设备设置或辅助戒烟或吸烟的应用程序。假设这些Google Play商店应用的内容与已删除的苹果应用商店的应用相似，那么看来，苹果的禁令对以戒烟为目的吸烟或通过烟囱寻求更安全吸烟信息的人们的影响最小。移动应用。Google Play商店中与vaping相关的大多数应用都具有帮助用户继续vaping的功能（例如，用于修改设备的信息）或保持对vaping的兴趣。很少有用于控制设备设置或辅助戒烟或吸烟的应用程序。假设这些Google Play商店应用的内容与已删除的苹果应用商店的应用相似，那么看来，苹果的禁令对以戒烟为目的吸烟或通过烟囱寻求更安全吸烟信息的人们的影响最小。移动应用。

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