DetoxDroid: Grayscale & Focus

FLX Apps

In-app purchases

About this app

Your phone is designed to hook you. DetoxDroid is designed to unhook you.

Most digital detox apps make you sign a contract with yourself: no phone for the next X minutes, no more than Z minutes in app Y — and they punish you when you fail. DetoxDroid flips that approach. Instead of relying on willpower, it strips the attention-grabbing tricks out of your phone, so healthy screen time is your default — not something you have to opt into every day.

Use your phone. Don't let your phone use you.

WHY DETOXDROID?

★ Opt-out instead of opt-in: protection is always on — take deliberate breaks with the pause button
★ No punishments, no guilt-tripping, no "fines" when you slip
★ Open source, no ads, no tracking, no account
★ A one-time premium unlock instead of yet another subscription

FEATURES

🎨 Automatic Grayscale
Color is a big part of what makes feeds addictive. DetoxDroid turns your screen grayscale to dampen compulsive scrolling — with exceptions for apps that need color (camera, gallery, maps), an optional daily budget of colored screen time, and an extra-dim mode for calmer evenings.

📵 Doomscroll Breaker
A scroll guard for endless feeds: DetoxDroid detects when you are stuck doomscrolling (Shorts, Reels, TikTok & co.) and steps in with a prompt to stop. Sensitivity, warning time and cooldown are configurable — after a break, the feed that trapped you stays locked for a while.

🚫 App Blocker
Block or fully deactivate distracting apps — including their launcher icons and notifications. Or give them a daily screen time budget after which they lock until tomorrow.

🔕 Automatic Do Not Disturb
Make Do Not Disturb your default. Notifications wait for you — not the other way around.

⏸️ Pause Button
Need a distracting app for a moment? Pause DetoxDroid for a set time from Quick Settings, your assistant, or by long-pressing a hardware button. It resumes automatically, and a minimum gap between pauses keeps "just one more pause" in check.

🔒 Commitment Password
For the moments when future you shouldn't trust present you: lock DetoxDroid's settings behind a password — keep it yourself, or hand it to a partner or friend for real accountability.

PREMIUM

DetoxDroid is open source and its core features are free to use. A single one-time purchase — no subscription — unlocks the power-user extras and directly supports development.

HOW DETOXDROID USES THE ACCESSIBILITY SERVICE API

DetoxDroid uses Android's AccessibilityService API — with your explicit consent during setup — to power its core self-control features. The service detects scroll events in the apps you use, so the Doomscroll Breaker can recognize endless scrolling and prompt you to take a break. It also detects which app is in the foreground, so DetoxDroid can apply the rules you have configured: block or budget distracting apps, keep color on in your grayscale exception apps, and react to a long press of your hardware pause key. Everything is processed locally on your device — DetoxDroid does not collect, store, or share any personal or sensitive data, and nothing ever leaves your phone.

ONE-TIME SETUP REQUIRED

For the grayscale feature, Android requires a special permission (WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS) that has to be granted once from a computer — or directly on the phone if it is rooted. It usually takes only a few minutes, and there is a step-by-step guide: https://github.com/flxapps/DetoxDroid#installation

Cut your screen time, break the doomscrolling habit, beat phone addiction — and get your focus back. DetoxDroid is developed openly on GitHub; issues, ideas and contributions are always welcome.

What’s new

New: a screen filter that makes distracting apps dull and blurry, with no computer or root needed. Choose shade, blur, or both, and switch grayscale, extra dim and the filter on and off separately. DetoxDroid now warns you when the phone stops it in the background.

Fixed: the screen no longer stays gray and dimmed after DetoxDroid stops, features start when their schedule opens instead of only ending with it, and effects no longer stick when you switch apps.