Do Not Disturb by default
Do Not Disturb is on for as long as DetoxDroid runs. Notifications still arrive, they just have to wait until you come looking.
Digital detox for Android. Free and open source.
A boring phone, by default.
DetoxDroid takes the bait out of your Android phone, all the things that make it so hard to put down: the colour, the pings, the feed that never ends. And it stays out until you pause it on purpose. Go on, try it right here.
It does to this page what it does to a phone.
Android 8 and newer · GPL-3.0 · 500+ stars on GitHub · no ads, no account
The other way round
Most digital detox apps want you to sign a contract with yourself. No phone for the next 30 minutes, no more than half an hour of Instagram a day. A few even take your money as a penalty when you break it. And the later it gets, the harder it is to stick to.
DetoxDroid has nothing to start and no session to survive. The calm phone is simply the phone you have. When you do need it in full colour you pause DetoxDroid on purpose, and a few minutes later it is back on without asking.
Timer apps
loud all day, calm while a session lasts
DetoxDroid
calm all day, loud while a pause lasts
Make apps boring
The apps on your list lose their colour. Or they go blurry on top of that, until a feed is nothing but shapes: you still find your way around, but watching Reels just isn't fun any more. The camera, maps and anything else where colour really matters go on the exception list.
Feed is on the list, so the switches below apply to it.
Notice when you're stuck
Try it: scroll the feed in the phone. DetoxDroid watches how far and how fast you scroll, and when it looks too much like doomscrolling it steps in and interrupts you. After that the feed stays locked for a while, 30 seconds in this demo.
- metres
- 0
- posts
- 0
- seconds
- 0
Nothing scrolled yet.
A moment to think twice
The apps that distract you most can take a moment before they open. Five seconds is enough to break the muscle-memory reflex and give you a second to think about whether you really meant to open it. You can also give those apps a daily budget: once it is used up they stay locked until tomorrow, or get deactivated outright, launcher icon and notifications included.
Today's budget
Tap Feed or Clips in the phone. Camera and Maps aren't on the list.
Everything at a glance
Pause button
For when you really need your phone: you can pause DetoxDroid for a moment. It picks up again by itself, and a minimum gap between two pauses keeps them from turning into a habit.
Commitment password
A commitment password locks the settings, so the you at 1am can't overturn what the sensible you once decided.
Emergency brake
For the moments you notice you're slipping: for a set time every DetoxDroid feature runs as strictly as it can. The whole screen goes grey, your listed apps are locked (whatever is left of their budget), and pausing is off too.
A text-only launcher
A home screen widget that lists the apps you meant to open, as plain words. No icons, no badges.
Where the time went
Screen time per app, how often you opened it, even how far you scrolled. DetoxDroid gives you numbers about your phone use that you actually understand.
No judgement. Time is just easier to feel this way.
Get started
Google Play F-Droid APK from GitHub
Free. No account, no ads, no tracking. Android 8 or newer.
Optional, and worth it: real grayscale
Android only lets an app touch the system colour filter if it holds a permission called WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS, and there is no dialog to tap for it. Grant it once and the grey wash becomes actual grayscale. Extra Dim comes with it, which takes the screen below the minimum brightness Android normally allows. The permission survives reboots.
Shizuku
No computer needed. The app walks you through it on the phone, in about five minutes. Shizuku itself has to be started again after every reboot. The permission stays.
Root
One tap inside the app.
From a computer
Switch on USB debugging, connect the phone and run the install script for your system. It fetches adb and grants the permission. Or type the one line yourself:
adb shell pm grant com.flx_apps.digitaldetox android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGSWhat doesn't work
- The blur needs Android 12, and Android drops it while battery saver is on. Nothing I can do about that one.
- Some phones are ruthless about closing apps that run in the background. DetoxDroid has settings to work around that, but it doesn't always work with every manufacturer.
- It's Android only.
- If you really want to, you can get around all of it. With a commitment password DetoxDroid just makes that very hard, so you hopefully have enough time to think it over.
Free and open source
No ads, no tracking, no account. Whatever the app works with stays on the phone. Every feature is there for everyone.
I'm Felix, and I build DetoxDroid on my own in my spare time. If it has earned a place on your phone and really helps you: I'm happy about ideas, feedback and a small donation. :)
The tip jar
It's on the exception list, so it stays in colour.
Spare one coffee of that?
3 and 5 € go through PayPal, the 10 through Ko-fi. Or: monthly via Liberapay