Mamori / Guides

How to Make Your Phone Less Tempting: Grayscale, Notifications and Home Screen

Updated

On this page
  1. A word on "phone addiction"
  2. Step 1: Try grayscale
  3. Step 2: Make notifications quieter
  4. Step 3: Clear the Home Screen
  5. Step 4: Add limits and quiet hours
  6. Honest limits
  7. FAQ
  8. Where Mamori fits

Short answer: You can make a phone less tempting by changing what it shows and when it speaks up: switch the screen to grayscale, silence the apps that pull you in, clear the Home Screen, and add app limits or a Focus schedule. These are built into iPhone and supported Android phones and are free. They add friction rather than remove the pull, and the research on them is limited, so treat them as experiments you can switch off.

Version note: iPhone steps checked against Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 18 and iOS 26, with iOS 27 differences flagged. Android steps follow Google's Android Help pages, which say some steps vary by device. Read on 27 Oct 2026.

A word on "phone addiction"

"Phone addiction" is a common phrase, not a formal diagnosis. WHO's list of ICD-11 categories under "Disorders due to addictive behaviours" names gambling disorder (6C50) and gaming disorder (6C51), plus "other specified" and "unspecified" categories, and has no category for phone or smartphone use.

So this guide does not label anyone. If you feel your phone use is out of your control or is harming your sleep, work or relationships, a GP or a licensed therapist is the right person to talk to. If the pull is toward porn specifically, our guide on what to do in the moment of an urge goes deeper: How to Stop Porn Urges: What to Do in the Moment.

Step 1: Try grayscale

Grayscale removes colour from the whole screen, so apps may be a little less eye-catching.

On iPhone (Apple's page for iOS 18 and iOS 26; the iOS 27 version of the page shows the same text):

  1. Open Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
  2. Tap Color Filters, turn on Color Filters, then tap a color filter to apply it. Apple says you can apply a filter "to view the entire screen in grayscale".

Apple notes that color filters "can change the look of images and videos", so photos and videos may look different. Apple's Accessibility Shortcut page says you can choose features under Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and triple-click the side button to switch them on or off. Check whether Color Filters is offered there on your iPhone.

On Android, Google's Digital Wellbeing page describes grayscale only as a Bedtime mode option: Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Bedtime mode > Bedtime routine, then choose when Bedtime mode turns on. Under screen options, "Grayscale: Changes your screen to black and white." That means grayscale runs on your bedtime schedule. For all-day grayscale, check your device's settings.

What the evidence says

The evidence is early. A 2026 cross-over feasibility trial in Frontiers in Digital Health had first-year medical students use grayscale for one week and the normal colour display for another. Of 61 people enrolled, 51 completed both phases. The authors report that grayscale was associated with "a statistically significant reduction in mean daily screen time compared to color display (mean reduction 28 min per day; p < 0.05)", and call the results "preliminary evidence".

Keep in mind: it was a small study of one group, people were not blinded to which display they had, screen time was self-recorded from the phone's built-in tracker, and each phase lasted one week. The authors say their sleep and productivity measures did not show consistent or statistically significant differences, and one participant said they may have shifted their screen time to other devices.

Step 2: Make notifications quieter

Every alert is a prompt to pick up the phone. In our view, turning off notifications for apps you open out of habit is a sensible first cut.

On iPhone (iOS 18 and iOS 26):

  1. Open Settings > Notifications.
  2. Tap an app, then turn off Allow Notifications for the ones you do not need.
  3. To batch the rest, tap Scheduled Summary, turn it on, schedule times, and choose which apps go into the summary.

For lock screen privacy, Show Previews lets you choose Always, When Unlocked or Never. On iOS 27, Apple's page adds a per-app Badges switch for the red number on the app icon.

On Android, Google's page for controlling notifications gives this path: open Settings > Notifications > App notifications, tap the app, and turn its notifications off. You can also turn off the Notification dot on app icon setting under Settings > Notifications. Google notes these steps can vary by phone.

Step 3: Clear the Home Screen

A Home Screen full of the apps you struggle with puts them one tap away.

On iPhone, Apple says to touch and hold the app on the Home Screen, tap Remove App, then tap Remove from Home Screen to keep it in App Library. The app stays installed. Our suggestion: remove the apps you open on autopilot, and keep the ones you use on purpose.

On Android, Home screen layouts differ between makers and we could not verify one official path, so check your phone's help pages.

Step 4: Add limits and quiet hours

App limits on iPhone (iOS 18 and iOS 26): open Settings > Screen Time > App Limits, tap Add Limit, choose categories or individual apps, tap Next, and set the time. Customize Days lets you set different limits for different days. On the iOS 26 page, Apple warns: "By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached." To stop that, that page points to Block at Downtime in the Downtime settings. Our night guide covers that and having someone else hold the passcode: How to Stop Watching Porn at Night.

On iOS 27, Apple's page describes Time Allowances and schedules instead: go to Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances. Apple says this needs iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices.

Focus on iPhone: open Settings > Focus, tap a Focus, then use People and Apps to choose who and what can notify you. Apple's iOS 18 page lists an Options setting, Hide Notification Badges. On the iOS 26 page, Add Schedule has the Focus turn on automatically at a set time, location, or while using a certain app.

App timers on Android: open Settings > Digital Wellbeing > App timers, tap Set timer next to an app, choose the time and tap OK. Google says "App timers reset at midnight" and that when time runs out "the app closes and its icon dims".

To make timers harder to cancel, Google's page describes an App limits PIN: Settings > Digital Wellbeing > App limits > App limits PIN, and it says not to share the PIN with others. A PIN you know yourself is easy to undo, so consider asking someone you trust to set it: How to Find a Porn Accountability Partner (and Make It Work).

Focus mode on Android: Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Focus mode. Choose apps to pause; Google says "you can't use these apps and won't get notifications from them". Set a schedule starts it automatically. Take a break temporarily unpauses apps, so it is easy to undo on impulse.

Honest limits

  • Grayscale, notification and limit settings reduce cues. They do not remove urges, and they are easy to switch off on your own.
  • They are not a web filter, and you can pick up another device.
  • They do not address why you reach for the phone. For the wider plan, see: How to Stop Watching Porn: A Practical Plan.

FAQ

Is phone addiction a real diagnosis?

Not as a formal one. WHO's ICD-11 category list includes gambling disorder and gaming disorder under addictive behaviours, with no category for general phone use. That does not make the struggle imaginary.

Does grayscale actually work?

It may help some people. One small two-week trial of 51 completers found about 28 minutes less screen time per day with grayscale. That is preliminary evidence, not proof it works for you.

Will these settings block porn?

No. They change how the phone looks, sounds and limits apps. For blocking websites, see our iPhone guide How to Block Porn on iPhone (and Adult Websites on iPad Too) or our Android and Samsung guide How to Block Porn on Android and Samsung Phones (Free Methods First).

Where Mamori fits

Everything above works without any app. What it does not do is stop a web page loading. Mamori is a newer app for iPhone, iPad and Android that blocks 2.5M+ adult sites across the whole phone, not just one browser, and forces SafeSearch on Google, Bing and other search engines. You can also block specific apps.

The extra friction is the lock: before protection can be switched off you meet a cooldown timer, a random phrase, or a PIN or passphrase, and a trusted person can hold the PIN. When protection is off, everything is off and Mamori can be uninstalled normally. That is deliberate: the friction is the lock you chose in advance.

Honest limits: Android allows only one VPN at a time, so another VPN or blocker that takes the slot switches Mamori's filter off. Mamori has no accountability reports and does not replace support from people or a professional. There is a 7-day free trial on the monthly and annual plans, plus a one-time lifetime option.

Related guides

How to Block Apps on iPhone: Screen Time Limits and What They Cannot DoBlock apps on iPhone with Screen Time: App Limits, Downtime, Always Allowed and Content & Privacy Restrictions, with exact menus and what they cannot do. Porn Triggers: Stress, Boredom, Loneliness and How to Plan for ThemStress, boredom and loneliness are common porn triggers in research. See what studies show, how to map your own triggers and plan if-then responses. Is There a Porn Blocker That Can't Be Turned Off?Honest answer: not on a phone you control. Here is what makes a porn blocker hard to undo: delay, a code someone else holds, uninstall protection.

Sources

Last checked 27 Oct 2026. This guide is general information, not medical advice.