3 ms·

By way of an experiment - set your phone screen to black & white (in iOS, settings -> accessibility -> display -> color filters -> [on] -> grayscale, on android

By way of an experiment - set your phone screen to black & white (in iOS, settings -> accessibility -> display -> color filters -> [on] -> grayscale, on android, settings -> accessibility -> color & motion -> color correction -> [on] -> grayscale), and leave it that way for a day of normal use. Then, turn it off, and note how you react to the change. Folks aren't calling it calmer because they're trying to look erudite, they're calling it calmer because modern applications put a lot of work into capturing your attention, and color is one of the tools they use (quite aggressively) to do so. Disabling color on the device isn't some way to look snobbish, it's a way to reduce the number of ways the device and applications are attempting to grab your attention.

card_zero 2y ago
Just ignore them? Don't use manipulative apps? I suppose for some people this is an issue and they genuinely want a physical solution in order to stop habitually doing things they don't like, like Odysseus wanting to be tied to the mast to avoid the Sirens. I can predict how my behavior would change if I tried this: I'd be pissed off because you'd ruined my game of Heroes III (1999). And Brogue would be slightly less pretty. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead would be much the same, and news sites and coding wouldn't change much. So my reaction would just be "this is gloomy", it's not like I need freeing from a hypnotic spell.
- roughly 2y ago
  Again, I'd encourage you to actually give it a try. It's quick, and I think it would give you some insights into the things people are actually saying and why they're saying them.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- coldtea 2y ago
  >it's not like I need freeing from a hypnotic spell. Well, that's exactly what many social media addicts do need.
- ohmyiv 2y ago
  Hmmm..the way you're arguing against makes it seem like you're being manipulated. Maybe you have an issue too? If you don't want to use it then don't. I'm not even sure why you're in here arguing against it. > People often believe that "other people can be persuaded, but not me. I’m the smart one. It’s only those other people over there that can’t control their thought." https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-our-phones-tristan-harris-wants-to-rescue-them/ https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-...
  - card_zero 2y ago
    > I'm not even sure why you're in here arguing against it. To recap, somebody mentioned addiction, to colors presumably, as a reason to prefer a monochrome display, and I thought that was ridiculous. So I said so. People didn't react well. I've read a little part of the article. I don't much like the giant tech and social media companies. However, when I come to phrases like this: > hijacking of the human mind > hooking kids to send messages back and forth I can't bear to continue wading through it. This is just moral panic. A marginal effect of keeping an audience's attention - sometimes - for a little while - is exaggerated by people who (again, like me) dislike the big tech companies, and described like an actual addictive drug. This seems dishonest. But perhaps they actually believe it. No doubt there have been studies that tell them what they want to hear. But yeah, moral panic, or maybe virtue signalling, or tribalism - something like that is going on here, and realism suffers, and I don't like that, so I said something. I don't know if anybody appreciated me saying something, because maybe it was off-message, but I'm saying it anyway. I'm not claiming to be super-smart, I'm generally a foolish person, and I'm getting a lot of veiled insults here, I suppose because I pissed on your oddly monochrome strawberries.
    - ohmyiv 2y ago
      Yawn. You started off calling the use of greyscale "snobbery". Just because people use something you don't, doesn't make them snobs. Maybe if you were more open and honestly questioning, you wouldn't perceive "veiled insults", which I haven't noticed so far. Nice projection, buddy. But, like I said, if you don't think it works, fine don't do. But when people explain why it works for them, don't diss them for using something that works. Don't act like you're some perfect moral compass of everybody's experience. You started this thread with insults. And every comment you've made since includes them. Maybe grow up and accept that people like something _you've never tried before_.
adriand 2y ago
I had no idea this was possible, wow, very cool! I turned this on and I’m going to try it out. I kind of love the idea of a grayscale screen and I had no clue I owned one already!
idl8t3 2y ago
I created a shortcut to toggle grayscale for iOS. Try it out! https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/371d5ced520d40e984d626ae3043a44c https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/371d5ced520d40e984d626ae304...
- hollerith 2y ago
  Since IIRC Shortcuts is actually pretty clunky, it's probably easier to use Control Center to toggle grayscale, which is possible after you add the control named "accessibility shortcuts" using {settings > control center}. That is what I use. (And on Gnome, I use and recommend the following: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4012/gnome-bedtime/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4012/gnome-bedtime/)
  - roughly 2y ago
    On iOS, you can also set up the “accessibility shortcut” (settings -> accessibility -> accessibility shortcut), which lets you triple-click the home button to enable it.
    - zimpenfish 2y ago
      You can also have the back tap (double or triple) run the accessibility shortcut. I use triple-back for "grayscale" (because I found myself double-tapping the back accidentally all the time.)
    - StephenCanis 2y ago
      Thank you so much for this! Not having to dig through the settings to toggle B&W makes it much more workable.
- dash2 2y ago
  You can also create automations to turn grayscale back off for apps that need it. I have ones for maps, photos and whatsapp (since people send a lot of pics in my group). They run when the app is activated/deactivated.

card_zero 2y ago

Just ignore them? Don't use manipulative apps? I suppose for some people this is an issue and they genuinely want a physical solution in order to stop habitually doing things they don't like, like Odysseus wanting to be tied to the mast to avoid the Sirens. I can predict how my behavior would change if I tried this: I'd be pissed off because you'd ruined my game of Heroes III (1999). And Brogue would be slightly less pretty. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead would be much the same, and news sites and coding wouldn't change much. So my reaction would just be "this is gloomy", it's not like I need freeing from a hypnotic spell.

roughly 2y ago
Again, I'd encourage you to actually give it a try. It's quick, and I think it would give you some insights into the things people are actually saying and why they're saying them.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
coldtea 2y ago
>it's not like I need freeing from a hypnotic spell. Well, that's exactly what many social media addicts do need.
ohmyiv 2y ago
Hmmm..the way you're arguing against makes it seem like you're being manipulated. Maybe you have an issue too? If you don't want to use it then don't. I'm not even sure why you're in here arguing against it. > People often believe that "other people can be persuaded, but not me. I’m the smart one. It’s only those other people over there that can’t control their thought." https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-our-phones-tristan-harris-wants-to-rescue-them/ https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-...
- card_zero 2y ago
  > I'm not even sure why you're in here arguing against it. To recap, somebody mentioned addiction, to colors presumably, as a reason to prefer a monochrome display, and I thought that was ridiculous. So I said so. People didn't react well. I've read a little part of the article. I don't much like the giant tech and social media companies. However, when I come to phrases like this: > hijacking of the human mind > hooking kids to send messages back and forth I can't bear to continue wading through it. This is just moral panic. A marginal effect of keeping an audience's attention - sometimes - for a little while - is exaggerated by people who (again, like me) dislike the big tech companies, and described like an actual addictive drug. This seems dishonest. But perhaps they actually believe it. No doubt there have been studies that tell them what they want to hear. But yeah, moral panic, or maybe virtue signalling, or tribalism - something like that is going on here, and realism suffers, and I don't like that, so I said something. I don't know if anybody appreciated me saying something, because maybe it was off-message, but I'm saying it anyway. I'm not claiming to be super-smart, I'm generally a foolish person, and I'm getting a lot of veiled insults here, I suppose because I pissed on your oddly monochrome strawberries.
  - ohmyiv 2y ago
    Yawn. You started off calling the use of greyscale "snobbery". Just because people use something you don't, doesn't make them snobs. Maybe if you were more open and honestly questioning, you wouldn't perceive "veiled insults", which I haven't noticed so far. Nice projection, buddy. But, like I said, if you don't think it works, fine don't do. But when people explain why it works for them, don't diss them for using something that works. Don't act like you're some perfect moral compass of everybody's experience. You started this thread with insults. And every comment you've made since includes them. Maybe grow up and accept that people like something _you've never tried before_.

adriand 2y ago

I had no idea this was possible, wow, very cool! I turned this on and I’m going to try it out. I kind of love the idea of a grayscale screen and I had no clue I owned one already!

idl8t3 2y ago

I created a shortcut to toggle grayscale for iOS. Try it out! https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/371d5ced520d40e984d626ae3043a44c https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/371d5ced520d40e984d626ae304...

hollerith 2y ago
Since IIRC Shortcuts is actually pretty clunky, it's probably easier to use Control Center to toggle grayscale, which is possible after you add the control named "accessibility shortcuts" using {settings > control center}. That is what I use. (And on Gnome, I use and recommend the following: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4012/gnome-bedtime/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4012/gnome-bedtime/)
- roughly 2y ago
  On iOS, you can also set up the “accessibility shortcut” (settings -> accessibility -> accessibility shortcut), which lets you triple-click the home button to enable it.
  - zimpenfish 2y ago
    You can also have the back tap (double or triple) run the accessibility shortcut. I use triple-back for "grayscale" (because I found myself double-tapping the back accidentally all the time.)
  - StephenCanis 2y ago
    Thank you so much for this! Not having to dig through the settings to toggle B&W makes it much more workable.
dash2 2y ago
You can also create automations to turn grayscale back off for apps that need it. I have ones for maps, photos and whatsapp (since people send a lot of pics in my group). They run when the app is activated/deactivated.