Counting days since you quit smoking

The free services first, then what a plain counter is for.

Start with the free help, because it works better

Stopping smoking is one of the few areas where free public programmes measurably beat doing it alone, so they come first on this page:

• United Kingdom: the NHS Quit Smoking app and your local Stop Smoking Service — free, and they can arrange nicotine replacement.
• United States: 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which routes you to your state's quitline, and quitSTART, the National Cancer Institute's free app from smokefree.gov.
• Elsewhere: most health services run an equivalent line. Ask for it before paying anyone for an app.

If you want a programme, use one of those. The rest of this page is about the much smaller thing some people want instead: a number.

What a plain day counter is for

After the first fortnight, many people do not want a coach. They want to glance at their phone and see that it has been 43 days, without being asked how they feel or shown anyone else's progress. That is what a day counter with a Lock Screen widget does, and it is the whole job.

Counting two things at once

Quitting drinking and smoking in the same month is common, and most counters assume one habit. Kern keeps each count separate — its own name, start date, milestones and reminders — and you swipe between them on the main screen, still one number at a time. A widget can show every count at once, or just the one you pick.

The first count is free, forever. Keeping more than one at the same time is a single one-time purchase: no subscription, nothing that renews, and nothing you already have moves behind it.

What Kern does

Kern is a sobriety counter for iPhone with a Lock Screen widget. It shows one number — the days — on the Lock Screen, in a home-screen widget, and in a plain app. No account, no ads, no subscription, and no data collected.

• Your own label — call it smoke-free, vape-free, or anything
• Backdate the start — the date can be in the past
• Optional money-not-spent — what a week used to cost, off unless you turn it on
• Milestones from day 1 to 1000 — marked, not celebrated loudly
• Personal best kept across a reset — the weeks you did are not erased

Honest limits

Kern has no coaching, no craving exercises, no health-recovery timeline and no advice. It is a counter, not a clinical tool, and it is not affiliated with any health service. If you need help rather than a number, the services at the top of this page are free.

More answers

Tracking Dry January on an iPhone · A sobriety counter on the Lock Screen · Sobriety counters without a subscription