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Long before we all got surgically-attached to our smartphones, cannabis was there, lovingly held in the palm of your hand, a constant companion in daily life. But as cannabis has become more mainstream – and our lives have become more and more online – the cannabis industry has also gone mobile. Today, there are a host of smartphone apps to help people find, grow, talk, and write about weed, and bring it into their daily life like never before.
Weed apps on Android and iOS – what you should know
First things first – it’s not a free-for-all on the app stores.
Google announced in May, 2019 that they had updated their policy section of the Google to ban apps “that facilitate the sale of marijuana or maijruan products, regardless of legality.” The company stated that this includes apps that allow users to order marijuana through an in-app shopping cart feature, assist users in managing delivery or pickup of marijuana, or facilitate the sale of products that contain Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
That said, a Google spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that “these apps simply need to move the shopping cart flow outside of the app itself to be compliant with this new policy.”
Indeed, Cannabis delivery apps like Eaze can be found on the Google apps store, but users must go to the website, a mobile web browser, (or use an iPhone) if they want to order cannabis delivery. To make things clearer, the bottom of the Eaze entry on the apps store clearly states “Eaze does not cultivate, distribute or deliver marijuana.”
But on the Apple store, it’s a different story altogether.
In July, Eaze announced the launch of a shoppable marijuana delivery app for iPhone users, following a decision by Apple to allow cannabis ecommerce apps on the app store.
Under the new Apple policy, an app must be submitted by a legal entity and geo-restricted to places where cannabis is legal. The current policy states that “facilitating the sale of controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies and licensed or otherwise legal cannabis dispensaries), or tobacco is not allowed.”
Will Google follow suit? It’s too early to say, but in the meantime, the Android app store still has a wide variety of helpful cannabis apps available.
Here are some of the best cannabis apps anywhere:
Best app for ordering weed – Emjay
In an interview in 2020, Emjay CEO Chris Vaughn said there are three keys to success in running a cannabis delivery company:
- great selection
- competitive prices
- getting the product to customers quickly
Launched in 2019 following Apple’s updates to its app store rules, Emjay is a California-based cannabis delivery app that promises 30-minute delivery across Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the San Diego area – though more delivery zones in the Golden State will open soon, according to Emjay.
There is no delivery charge and the minimum order is only $25. Also, deliveries are made within an hour of the order, and can also be scheduled for a specific time. The company also provides 3% cashback on every order to be used on the next purchase.
But beyond all that, Emjay also has a truly impressive selection of products, including 764 different options for flower. The brands represented include some of the most highly-acclaimed names in cannabis, including Sherbinski’s, Alien Labs, and Cookies.
And while Emjay doesn’t cover as large a delivery area as competitors like Eaze or WeedMaps, we’re big fans of their selection, their free delivery and low minimum delivery, and the 3% cashback feature.
Best app for optimizing cannabis consumption – Jointly
Encouraging purposeful cannabis consumption is the stated goal of Jointly, a smart phone app devoted to helping cannabis fans and patients find the most reliable, safest, and effective cannabis products for them, so they can achieve their wellness goals.
The makers of Jointly state that the app can help users take control of a wide variety of aspects of their cannabis usage, including defining their goals and tracking the results of their sessions.
The app also tracks the user’s preferred products, doesgae levels, how hungry they are afterwards, how much sleep they got afterwards, methods of consumption, and much more. When signing in, the user is asked to state their goal for the session, and then complete their report and product rating for the product. The feedback is gathered and used to provide tailor made recommendations for products and doses.
The Jointly database includes a very comprehensive assortment of flower stains, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, and topicals, and vows that “if it’s legal, we include it on our platform for the benefit of our community.”
Best app for weed journaling – Tetragram
Launched in 2020, Tetragram is a free “smart, digital journal that helps you get the most out of medical cannabis.”
Tetragram does this by letting you detail your cannabis experiences in a diary of sorts – one session at a time.
Tetragram users log their sessions by data points like strain, product, intake method, how it helped their symptoms, how it looked and tasted, and where they bought it. The user ratings can be seen by other users, who can then see exactly where to get the same cannabis they read about in that rave review.
Oh, and users can always upload photos as well.
As co-founder Otha Smith said, “through data, we aim to empower not only cannabis consumers, but the entire industry.”
Smith said the company believes that the data can help cannabis retailers, producers, and medical marijuana professionals communicate directly with consumers, with the goal of developing better cannabis products.
“Cannabis is such a communal plant. We encourage consumers to share their personal experiences with cannabis, fostering a community where people can learn from each other,” Smith told The Cannigma.
He added that in just one year, the company has managed to build relationships with more than 100 dispensaries who promote the app.
Best app for medical marijuana patients – PotBot
Dubbed “Leafly + WebMD” by PC Mag, PotBot is an app designed to build tailor-made recommendations for medical marijuana treatment.
Users simply open the app, enter their symptoms and conditions, and receive recommendations for strains, potencies, and various cannabis delivery methods that could help them, as well as the details of the closest medical dispensaries that can assist them.
Users receive recommendations based on their tolerance and desired symptom relief, and are provided with the means to record, rate, and track the cannabis formulations they have tried.
The app provides recommended strains for a wide variety of health conditions, and for each strain, includes a detailed readout of the cannabis and terpenes profile.
The company states that the app can help patients save time and money, by streamlining the trial and error phase of determining which cannabis products work best for them.
Not only that, unlike cannabis apps and sites that use user generated reviews, PotBot relies instead on published, peer-reviewed scientific and medical research on cannabis and how it affects the body.
Best app for growing weed – GrowBuddy
The slogan may be “Built for Growers by Growers,” but GrowBuddy is a great smartphone app for anyone looking to grow their own weed, no matter their level of experience.
GrowBuddy has a data-based approach that helps growers gain a wide variety of insights about their garden and what they could be doing better.
GrowBuddy also puts a big focus on helping users connect with other growers in order to talk shop and share advice and tips in the “case files” section of the app. And once they have that knowledge in hand, growers can also find all sorts of solutions on the app’s “growers marketplace,” including nutrients, lights, pesticides, seeds, and more.
Think of GrowBuddy as a digital grow journal of sorts, where users can record the progress of their plants on a daily basis with photos, and gain feedback from the community of users. It is also a task manager that can be used to schedule tasks like watering and feeding, and also to keep notes on the progress of the plants.
GrowBuddy is set to launch GrowBuddy 2.0, which the company says will include new advanced hardware to use in concert with the app. These include the “growtower” which will allow growers to analyze micro-climates through an array of sensors.
Apps for weed IOT devices
Much like the rest of the business world, the cannabis industry is also exploring ways to develop more and more connected “Internet of Things” devices to simplify the lives of cannabis users – or to just make marijuana a little more fun.
These devices – be they smart grow boxes or wireless stash boxes – can all be accessed by way of a smartphone app developed by the company.
KEEP
A good example of this is the KEEP, an IoT cannabis storage box that has an eye-catching design and allows the user to remotely monitor the temperature and humidity of their stash box – and whether or not they’re running low.
And arguably, while most cannabis users know when their stash is running low, there is also a safety matter at play here. According to KEEP Labs co-founder Philip Wilkins, the KEEP was designed “to discreetly blend into any home, allowing cannabis to be kept responsibly, not hidden.”
In other words, it’s a great option for parents who smoke weed and want a good-looking, safe and secure stash box that they can monitor at all times no matter where they are – by way of their smartphone app.
Grobo
IoT cannabis grow boxes are also a great look at how smartphone technology can make the life of a cannabis fan a little bit easier. The Grobo for instance, is a 4 foot tall automated grow box that comes fully assembled with lighting, ventilation, and more.
LEAF
Or the LEAF, an automated grow box that comes with an HD camera so that at any point in the day, you can whip out your cell phone and gaze at a live surveillance camera view of your plant.
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