After months of development and testing, StayGray is officially available on the App Store. The app brings system-wide greyscale control to iPhone and iPad, backed by peer-reviewed research showing that greyscale can meaningfully reduce screen time.
What is StayGray?
StayGray is a digital wellbeing app that turns your phone screen to greyscale. Research suggests that removing colour from your display reduces the visual reward signals that keep people scrolling. Multiple studies have found that greyscale can reduce daily screen time by around 38 minutes on average, and by roughly one hour for habitual social media users.
Unlike simply toggling the accessibility greyscale filter manually, StayGray gives you fine-grained control over when and where colour is allowed.
Key features at launch
The iOS app ships with a full set of tools designed to make greyscale practical for everyday life:
- One-tap toggle from the home screen widget, Control Centre, or Siri voice commands.
- App-specific exceptions so colour-dependent apps like maps, camera, and photo editors continue to work normally.
- Time-based scheduling to automatically enable greyscale during focus hours, work hours, or before bedtime. You can set different schedules for weekdays and weekends.
- Location-based rules that switch to colour automatically at places like supermarkets or restaurants where you might need it.
- Timed colour breaks for when you need colour temporarily. Set a timer from 5 minutes to 24 hours, and greyscale returns automatically when time is up.
- Usage analytics to track your screen time patterns and see how greyscale is affecting your daily habits.
Free and premium tiers
StayGray is free to download and use. The free tier includes one-tap greyscale toggle, 3 app exceptions, 1 schedule, timed colour breaks, and basic usage stats.
StayGray Plus unlocks unlimited app exceptions, unlimited schedules, location-based rules, advanced analytics, and priority support.
Privacy by design
StayGray is built with privacy as a core principle. The app does not require creating an account for basic use. Settings and usage data stay on your device or in your personal iCloud. The website does not use analytics tools, tracking cookies, or third-party embeds.
Why greyscale works
The idea behind StayGray is grounded in published research. A 2020 study by Holte and Ferraro found that university students using greyscale reduced their daily screen time by an average of 38 minutes. A 2023 study by Wickord and Quaiser-Pohl showed that habitual phone users (those who scroll out of boredom) saw reductions of roughly one hour per day. More recent 2025 research confirmed that greyscale reduces player retention in mobile games by breaking the immersive colour experience.
You can explore all the studies on the research page.
What is next
An Android app and a browser extension are currently in development.
For now, StayGray is available for any iPhone or iPad running iOS 18.0 or later.