How to Make Your iPhone Dumb for Free

In today’s hyper-connected world, our smartphones can often become a significant source of distraction. The constant notifications, colorful app icons, and engaging content can make it difficult to focus on what truly matters. However, if your iPhone is a constant source of distraction, there are several free, built-in features you can use to make it dumb and less distracting. This article will guide you through making your iPhone less appealing and thus less distracting using Focus Mode, the Greyscale color filter, and the Shortcuts app.

Steps to Make Your iPhone Dumb

It mainly consists of three steps:

• Create a Dumb Phone Mode in Focus Mode
• Enable Greyscale Color Filter in Settings
• Automate the Grayscale when enabling Dumb Phone with Shortcut

Step 1. Set Up a New Focus in Focus Mode

Focus Mode on iOS is a powerful tool designed to help you stay focused on what you need to do by filtering out distractions. You can create custom Focus Modes for different activities, such as work, personal time, sleep, or even a "dumb" phone mode where only essential functions like calls and messages are allowed.

1. Extend Focus in the Control Center.

2. Tap on the "+" icon in bottom to create new focus. 

You can choose from pre-defined Focus Modes such as Do Not Disturb, Work, Personal, or Sleep. However, for a dumb phone mode, it's best to create a custom Focus Mode by selecting Custom and giving it a name such as Minimalist or Dumb Phone. Once you’ve named your Focus Mode, tap Next.   

3. Customizing Your Focus Mode. 

• You can now customize which people and apps can send you notifications while this Focus Mode is active. For a dumb phone mode, consider allowing only calls and messages from your contacts and disabling notifications for all other apps.   
• You can also set a home screen that only displays essential apps such as Phone, Messages, and Settings. To do this, tap on Customize Screens and select Home Screen. Here, you can choose to show only the pages that contain the apps you need while in this Focus Mode.

After setting up and customizing your Focus Mode, you can turn it on manually from the Control Center by tapping on the Focus icon and selecting your new Focus Mode.  

Step 2. Enable Greyscale Color Filter

Another effective way to make your iPhone less appealing is by enabling the Greyscale color filter. By removing colors from your display, apps and notifications become less enticing and thus less likely to distract you.

1. Open the Settings> Accessibility> Display & Text Size.  

2. Scroll down until you find Color Filters and tap on it. Then, toggle on the Color Filters switch at the top.

3. From the list of color filter options, select Grayscale. 

4. To make it easier to switch between color and grayscale, you can add an Accessibility Shortcut. (Go back to the main Accessibility settings to open the Accessibility Shortcut, and then check the box next to Color Filters.) 

Now, you can switch to this greyscale mode by manually turning it on during your work sessions via Settings or through an Accessibility Shortcut in the Control Center. 

Step 3. Use the Shortcuts App for Further Customization

Our goal is to automatically turn the phone screen greyscale when Dumb Phone mode turns on and revert to full color when it's off. The Shortcuts app can make it easy by creating custom automations. 

1. Turn off the Grayscale color filter for now. 

2. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. 

3. Tap on the Automation tab at the bottom.  Then tap on the "+" icon in the top-right corner and select Create Personal Automation.

4. Scroll through to find the Dumb Phone trigger you created before. 

5. Check both options: When Turning On and When Turning Off. Select Run Immediately to not getting a confirmation prompt every time the Dumb Phone mode turns on or off. Tap Next to go on. 

6. Select New Blank Automation, search for the color filter, and add the action Set Color Filters. We want this to be turned on. 

7. Tapping on the Turn field pops up options to choose Toggle instead of Turn. Tap Done to save it. 

That’s it. Now you can turn on or turn off the Dumb Phone from Control Center to see the layout and screen color effects of your iPhone. 

If you prefer to use apps to turn your iPhone into a Dumb Phone, you can try Dumb Phone or other similar programs. It will be more thorough, but not that convenient because you need to adjust lots of things like change Wallpaper, add multiple Widgets, remove apps from Home Screen manually, and more.  And they are not all free. 

Conclusion

By combining Focus Mode, the Greyscale color filter, and the Shortcuts app, you can significantly reduce the distractions caused by your iPhone. These free, built-in features help make your device less appealing and more like a dumb phone, enabling you to focus on what truly matters.

This process not only makes your iPhone less distracting but also helps you regain control over your digital life. By making your phone “dumb,” you can make your life "smart" by focusing on real-world interactions and important tasks.