MPF Rebuilds and Reimagines My QuitBuddy as the Nation's Leading Digital Cessation Companion
SYDNEY, June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On World No Tobacco Day, Miroma Project Factory (MPF) launched the next evolution of My QuitBuddy, Australia's flagship smoking and vaping cessation app, commissioned by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The My QuitBuddy app aims to help Australians kick the habit for good.
Modernised, rebuilt, and ready to support a new generation of quitters, this multi-phase redevelopment is the most significant upgrade in the app's history. MPF has led the product redesign, technical delivery, and strategic roadmap across seven structured phases - replatforming, refreshing, and relaunching a vital public health tool for the digital age.
"The My QuitBuddy app has already helped more than 1 million Australians quit smoking and vaping since it was first released in 2012, and the new developments will make it even easier for people to kick the habit," said Mark Butler, Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing. The upgraded app is part of a suite of measures the Australian Government has put in place to tackle the health scourge of tobacco and nicotine use, particularly to support priority populations such as young people to quit smoking and vaping."
Originally launched in 2012 to support a broad range of smokers, My QuitBuddy has evolved to address broader and more complex needs, including support for people who vape. The app features stronger motivational goal setting, badges and achievements, challenges for testing situations and a more intuitive user experience; all designed to make quitting feel more achievable - and more personal.
MPF was first engaged in late 2023, to reimagine the journey to be smoke/vape free, initially to restore the Android version of My QuitBuddy. This was followed by five additional phases from stabilising the app and migrating to a new environment (Flutter), which laid the foundation for a modern, cross-platform foundation without altering core functionality.
Launching today marks the most transformative release that MQB has gone through. A full reimagining of the app with multiple quit pathways, advanced tracking, enhanced gamified features, dynamic onboarding, and personalised messaging for a wide range of users.
"Every click, swipe, and prompt in My QuitBuddy 2.0 is grounded in behavioural science and backed by deep user insight," said Kat Robinson, Global CEO of MPF. "We're not just building a better-looking app, we're building a better quit journey for every Australian."
Built for Real Impact and Reach
The updated My QuitBuddy app has been shaped by years of behavioural insights, user testing, and direct feedback from the quitting community. From cravings to milestones, every screen is designed to support users when it matters most - without judgment, pressure, or gimmicks. The result is a flexible, evidence-informed platform that encourages long-term behaviour change while generating meaningful insights into user engagement, relapse patterns, and help-seeking behaviours.
These insights not only guide future improvements but also provide public health teams with a clearer understanding of how different quit strategies perform across priority populations, including young vapers, dual users, and those using NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) as part of their quitting strategy.
Whether users are quitting cold turkey, tapering off, or using NRT, My QuitBuddy now offers them tailored support, contextual encouragement, and real-time tools to track progress, celebrate wins, prove their resilience and recover from slips. Features include:
Daily motivational messages and nudges, related to your personal circumstances
Richer community features and reactions, with selected featured messages
Challenges you can set for yourself
Games and distractions to help with cravings or withdrawal symptoms
Achievements and badges that recognise how far you have come
The app's new pathway selections support complex quit journeys - including simultaneous smoking and vaping cessation or staggered approaches - ensuring each user receives a personal, adaptive experience from day one.
MPF now turns their efforts to continual support, enhancement, and performance monitoring. My QuitBuddy is positioned to remain a world-class cessation tool - stable, scalable, and ready to adapt with evolving policy and public health needs.
Backed by MPF's long-standing partnership with the Department of Health, Disability and Aging; My QuitBuddy is more than a support app - It is a model for meaningful digital health tools, practical, evidence-based, and deeply human.
DOWNLOAD ANDROID HERE
DOWNLOAD IOS HERE
About My QuitBuddy
My QuitBuddy is a free smoking and vaping cessation app funded by the Australian Government and developed by Miroma Project Factory. Since 2012, the app has supported millions of Australians on their quit journey. Now fully rebuilt with advanced personalisation, flexible quit pathways, and updated gamified elements, My QuitBuddy is one of the most comprehensive digital cessation tools available.
About Miroma Project Factory (MPF)
MPF is a multi-award-winning digital strategy and product studio that delivers innovative digital solutions across web, platforms, and systems. Specialising in purposeful technology, MPF works at the intersection of strategy, design, and engineering to create impactful digital products for organisations ready to lead. With deep expertise in healthcare, MPF helps clients scale responsibly, communicate clearly, and connect meaningfully with their audiences. For more information, read about My QuitBuddy here.
Press Contact:Miroma Project Factoryinfo@theprojectfactory.com
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/mpf-rebuilds-and-reimagines-my-quitbuddy-as-the-nations-leading-digital-cessation-companion-302478657.html
SOURCE Miroma Project Factory
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
WIRED
4 hours ago
- WIRED
RFK Jr.'s Appointees to CDC Vaccine Panel Are Not Good
Jun 12, 2025 6:30 AM Robert Malone, a mainstay in conspiratorial circles, and Martin Kulldorff, a coauthor of the widely criticized Great Barrington Declaration, are two of the most concerning picks. Photograph:Anti-vaccine advocate and current Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media Wednesday to announce the names of eight people he is appointing to a critical federal vaccine advisory committee—which is currently empty after Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 previous members Monday. In the past, the vetting process for appointing new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) could take years. But Kennedy has taken just two days. The panel, typically stocked with vaccine, infectious disease, and public health experts, carefully and publicly reviews, analyzes, and debates vaccine data and offers recommendations to the CDC via votes. The CDC typically adopts the recommendations, which set clinical practices nationwide and determine insurance coverage for vaccinations. Yesterday, Kennedy pledged that none of the new ACIP members would be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.' However, the list of today's appointees includes Robert Malone, who falsely claims to have invented mRNA vaccines and has spent the past several years spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about them. Speaking at an anti-vaccine rally in 2022, Malone spread dangerous falsehoods about mRNA Covid-19 vaccines: 'These genetic vaccines can damage your children. They may damage their brains, their heart, their immune system and their ability to have children in the future. Many of these damages cannot be repaired.' Troubling List Malone aligned with the anti-vaccine crowd during the pandemic and has become a mainstay in conspiratorial circles and an ally to Kennedy. He has claimed that vaccines cause a 'form of AIDS,' amid other nonsense. He has also meddled with responses to the measles outbreak that erupted in West Texas in January. In April, Malone was the first to publicize news that a second child had died from the highly infectious and serious infection, but he did so to falsely claim that measles wasn't the cause and spread other dangerous misinformation. In a newsletter post earlier this week, Malone proclaimed: 'Some people still believe that the term anti-vaxxer is a pejorative. I do not—I view it as high praise.' Malone is just one of the eight names released today. Another is Martin Kulldorff, one of the coauthors of the widely criticized Great Barrington Declaration, which called for letting Covid-19 spread largely unabated. Health experts called it 'unethical.' Vicky Pebsworth is also on the list, as well as on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center, one of the nation's oldest anti-vaccine groups that promotes the false claim that vaccines cause autism. Kennedy also appointed Retsef Levi, who has penned articles alleging dangers of Covid-19 vaccines, including a flawed 2022 article that was later corrected and an unpublished article coauthored with Covid-contrarian and Florida surgeon seneral Joseph Ladapo. The other four appointees are Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist; Cody Meissner, a pediatrician; James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician; and Michael Ross, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology. The appointments are likely to increase concern that federal vaccine recommendations will be corrupted and lead to Americans losing access to lifesaving vaccines. This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.
Fox News
5 hours ago
- Fox News
RFK Jr. picks eight for vaccine panel after firing all 17 members
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday that he has selected eight new people to join the national vaccine panel after firing all 17 of its members. In an X post, Kennedy revealed that he "took a major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines" on Monday by reconstituting the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). "I retired the 17 current members of the committee. I'm now repopulating ACIP with the eight new members who will attend ACIP's scheduled June 25 meeting," Kennedy wrote on Wednesday. "The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America's most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense." The new members are: Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD; Martin Kulldorff, MD, PhD; Retsef Levi, PhD; Robert W. Malone, MD; Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; Vicky Pebsworth, OP, PhD, RN; and Michael A. Ross, MD. The secretary said all eight people "have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations." He said the committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule." Notably, Kulldorff was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which was written alongside Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University. The declaration, published in October 2020, promoted lifting lockdown orders sooner and allowing COVID-19 to spread among young, healthy people to more quickly reach herd immunity. The strategy also included precautions to shield those most vulnerable to severe illness, and the authors said the approach would help mitigate the long-term societal and economic harms of prolonged lockdown orders. It was condemned harshly at the time by the World Health Organization and Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said, "We're going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel – not anti-vaxxers – bringing people on who are credentialed scientists." Kennedy on Monday ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria. ACIP members typically serve staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members all have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one "consumer representative" who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kennedy provided a brief biography of each of his new picks. Hibbeln is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with a career in clinical research, public health policy and federal service. "As former Acting Chief of the Section on Nutritional Neurosciences at the National Institutes of Health, he led research on immune regulation, neurodevelopment, and mental health," Kennedy wrote. "His work has informed U.S. public health guidelines, particularly in maternal and child health. With more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and extensive experience in federal advisory roles, Dr. Hibbeln brings expertise in immune-related outcomes, psychiatric conditions, and evidence-based public health strategies." Kulldorff is a biostatistician and epidemiologist formerly at Harvard Medical School and a leading expert in vaccine safety and infectious disease surveillance. "He has served on the Food and Drug Administration's Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC's Vaccine Safety Subgroup of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, where he contributed to national vaccine safety monitoring systems," Kennedy wrote, adding that he developed tools used "for detecting disease outbreaks and vaccine adverse events.," and has expertise that "includes statistical methods for public health surveillance, immunization safety, and infectious disease epidemiology." Levi is the Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a leading expert in healthcare analytics, risk management, and vaccine safety. "Dr. Levi has collaborated with public health agencies to evaluate vaccine safety, including co-authoring studies on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and their association with cardiovascular risks. His research has contributed to discussions on vaccine manufacturing processes, safety surveillance, and public health policy," Kennedy wrote, adding that Levi "has also served on advisory committees and engaged in policy discussions concerning vaccine safety and efficacy," and that his "work continues to inform national and international debates on immunization safety and health system resilience." Malone is a physician-scientist and biochemist known for his early contributions to mRNA vaccine technology, specifically "foundational research in the late 1980s on lipid-mediated mRNA delivery, which laid the groundwork for later developments in mRNA-based therapeutics," Kennedy wrote, adding that Malone's "expertise spans molecular biology, immunology, and vaccine development." Meissner is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and a nationally recognized expert in pediatric infectious diseases and vaccine policy. "He has served as Section Chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and has held advisory roles with both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," Kennedy wrote, adding that Meissner was a voting member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, through which "he has contributed to national immunization guidelines and regulatory decisions." "His expertise spans vaccine development, immunization safety, and pediatric infectious disease epidemiology. Dr. Meissner has also been a contributing author to American Academy of Pediatrics policy statements and immunization schedules, helping shape national standards for pediatric care." Pagano is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician with over 40 years of clinical experience following his residency at UCLA. "He has worked in diverse emergency settings, from Level 1 trauma centers to small community hospitals, caring for patients across all age groups, including infants, pregnant women, and the elderly," Kennedy wrote, adding that he has also served on various committees and medical executive boards. "He is [a] strong advocate for evidence-based medicine." Pebsworth earned a doctorate in public health and nursing from the University of Michigan. "She has worked in the healthcare field for more than 45 years, serving in various capacities, including critical care nurse, healthcare administrator, health policy analyst, and research scientist with a focus on public health policy, bioethics, and vaccine safety," Kennedy wrote, pointing to her current leadership role with the National Association of Catholic Nurses, and previous positions with the FDA's Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee's 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group and Vaccine Safety Working Group. Ross is a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, with a career spanning clinical medicine, research, and public health policy. "He has served on the CDC's Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer, where he contributed to national strategies for cancer prevention and early detection, including those involving HPV immunization," Kennedy wrote, pointing to his experience with "clinical investigations with immunologic relevance," advising organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and advocacy efforts related to women's health. "His continued service on biotech and healthcare boards reflects his commitment to advancing innovation in immunology, reproductive medicine, and public health," Kennedy added.
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Bloomberg
RFK Jr.'s Moves Leave Insurance Coverage of Vaccines in Doubt
Public health experts are taking it upon themselves to counter recent moves by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that could dramatically change US vaccine policy. They have formed a shadow group of specialists who can give recommendations on who should receive which vaccines, and are urging insurers to continue paying for shots.
