How to Set Up a GrayScale Automation on Your iPhone

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my tech(less) stack — the collection of tools & tactics that I use to keep my digital wellness in check.

Any guesses on that issues most clicked link? A guide to setting up a shortcut to toggle your phone on and off grayscale by triple-clicking the power button.

But I’ve also gotten a fair amount of people asking a valid question…

If I only want to limit grayscale to specific apps (say social media and games for example), is there a way to do that automatically, without having to triple-click the power button each time?

Yes, you can! And I’m here to show you how. Shout out to my guy Matt Yao for putting me onto this one.

Step 1: Set up Grayscale.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings > Accessibility
2. Select Display & Text Size
3. Scroll and select Color Filters
4. Toggle Color Filter On and then check Grayscale. You can then toggle Color Filter off once it’s checked (if you prefer)

Step 2: Create an Automation to Enable Grayscale for Specific Apps

1. Open the Shortcuts app and go to the Automation tab
2. Tap the blue "+" icon in the top right corner
3. Select "App" from the menu
4. Choose the apps you want to trigger grayscale (you can select multiple)
5. Select "Is Opened" and "Run Immediately", then tap "Next"

This is what the screen should look like

1. On the next page, tap "Add Action"
2. Search for "Color Filters" and select "Set Color Filters"
3. Ensure it says "Turn Color Filters On"
4. Tap "Done" to save the automation

Step 3: Create an Automation to Disable Grayscale When Apps Are Closed

1. Return to the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app
2. Tap the blue "+" icon again
3. Select "App" from the menu
4. Choose the same apps as in Step 2
5. This time, select "Is Closed" and "Run Immediately", then tap "Next"
6. Tap "Add Action"
7. Search for "Color Filters" and select "Set Color Filters"
8. Ensure it says "Turn Color Filters Off"
9. Tap "Done" to save the automation

If your screen looks like this, you’re good to go

Now, when you open the selected apps, they should switch to grayscale after 1-2 seconds. When you close these apps, color should be restored.

Boom, easy and effective. Give this a shot and let me know what you think.

Resources

Digital Wellness Coaching: If you’re interested in digital wellness coaching to help you build healthier, more intentional relationships with your technology (either individual or group), feel free to book a call here.

Digital Detox Tools: A free directory of 75+ digital wellness products, software, and services. Access it here.

Accountability Group: I’m creating an accountability group for people who are dedicated to reducing their screen time and building more intentional relationships with technology. It will be paid, but reasonable (gotta have some skin in the game). Reply to this email if you’re interested.

Contact Me: If any of my writing resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you. You can reply to this email or DM me on Twitter.

Short Form Video: Still getting the hang of the video side of things, but was able to get another one up in the last couple of days.

The likes:views ratio here was pretty strong, which means I probably need to play around with the hook & script but the content resonated. Good to know!