Turn Instagram black and white (and only Instagram)
Black and white makes Instagram much less appealing: one study measured 39 minutes less phone use per day. The problem is that you don't want your whole phone in grey, photos and maps included. Here is how to apply it to Instagram only.
Why it works
Bright colors, red notifications, saturated photos: everything is designed to catch the eye. In black and white, the feed turns dull, and the urge to keep going drops. In a study of about 220 students, switching the phone to black and white cut its use by 39 minutes a day (Holte and Ferraro, 2020).
On iPhone: the Shortcuts app
The iPhone can switch the screen to black and white, and the Shortcuts app can do it whenever a specific app opens.
- In Settings, open Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, then Color Filters. Choose Grayscale, then turn the filters off: the setting is ready, without being active.
- Open the Shortcuts app, Automation tab, and create a personal automation triggered by an App: Instagram, when it Is Opened. Choose to run it immediately.
- Add the action that sets color filters, set to On.
- Create a second automation: Instagram Is Closed, color filters set to Off.
From now on, Instagram opens in grey, and the rest of the phone keeps its colors. The exact menu names vary a little depending on the version of iOS.
On Android
Android can't, on its own, put a single app in black and white. There are two ways to do it:
- With Livetime. Instagram custom has a Black and white option: Instagram shows up in grey, the rest of the phone in color. The same option exists for YouTube.
- With Bedtime mode. In the settings, the Digital Wellbeing section offers a Bedtime mode that switches the whole screen to grayscale, at the times you choose. It's not limited to Instagram, but it's effective in the evening.
To turn your whole phone black and white, the complete guide is here: Switch your phone to black and white.
Frequently asked questions
Are my photos posted in black and white?
No. Black and white only changes what's displayed on your screen. What you post keeps its colors, and your friends see everything as normal.
Can you put a single app in black and white on Android?
Not with Android's settings alone. Livetime does it for Instagram and YouTube, thanks to their lighter view.
Written by Emile Clement, a student and the creator of Livetime, after two years of testing almost every screen-time solution out there.
