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A new app has been created to help people decrease their screen time and stop doomscrolling by touching grass.
It even states it can block other apps until the user takes the time to physically take a photo of themselves touching a patch of grass.
The user will have control over what apps to block, but the full details as to the extent of this is not yet known. In a screenshot on the App Store Preview, the Instagram logo can be seen under the ‘your distracting apps’ section with space to add more.
This comes after a study looking at how young people aged between 13 and 17 are using their smartphones and technology found that teens are spending the majority of their time online, browsing platforms each day.
i built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass pic.twitter.com/ZWRLY0uGQe
— Rhys Kentish (@RhysKentish) February 24, 2025
Built by Rhys Kentish, ‘touch grass:reduce screentime’ is described as being perfect for people who want to break phone addiction, build healthier habits, find balance with technology, reconnect with nature, and be more mindful about their technology usage.
How was the touching grass app created?
The tool uses smart grass detection using computer vision to verify that the user has actually spent the time doing what the app suggests. This then unblocks the desired apps, with the creator detailing in a Reddit post that he has achieved this by using the screen time APIs.
To get access to this, Kentish responded to someone sharing his experience: “Yeah you need to apply for special permission to use the APIs then the screen time data itself is contained in a sandbox extension so your main app can’t actually read it at all.”
When asked if something similar could be made for Android, the creator said: “It’s defo in the back of my mind, although im an iOS dev by trade and this took me 4 months so it won’t be anytime soon.”
On the roadmap for future design changes include letting the user touch what they want, rather than grass being the go-to. In response to a Reddit user writing “Soon: installing fake grass on my room,” the creator said “If you do let me know if the app recognises it like genuinely…I’ve tried to add a couple safe guards so fake grass and pictures on screens don’t register.”
The app is expected to launch in Apple’s App Store on Friday, March 14.
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
